Top five foreign teams to take part in IFA Shield

Bayern Munich are the last foreign team to lift the IFA Shield title.

The IFA (Indian Football Association) Shield is one of the most prestigious competitions in Indian football history. It is one of the oldest football competitions in the world and the third-oldest in India. Over the years, it might’ve been reduced to a youth tournament, but the IFA Shield has been an extremely important one in the subcontinent's history. Notably, on 25 May, the first-ever Women's IFA Shield was organised.

For many decades, the IFA used to invite teams from foreign countries to take part in the competition. This included some European teams as well as major clubs from South America and Asia. This was done to increase the competitiveness in the IFA shield as well as add more star power to the competition.

Here, we take a look at the top five foreign teams who took part in the IFA Shield.

5. PAS Tehran FC

One of the first major foreign clubs to have participated in the IFA Shield was Iran’s PAS Tehran FC. They had won the Iranian football league three times before travelling to India to play in the competition in 1970. PAS Tehran FC were among the top Asian sides at the time and home to many prominent Irani players like Mohammed Sadeghi, Hassan Habibi and Majid Halvaei.

They had an impressive outing in the 1970 IFA Shield, dominating their way to the final. However, the Irani club ended up suffering a loss to East Bengal in the final. They were frustrated by the Red & Gold Brigade's prominent backline all game long. A winner from super-sub Parimal Dey in the 90th minute in front of a jam-packed Eden Gardens crowd helped East Bengal produce a major upset and prove they could fight with Asia’s best.

4. Pakhtakor Tashkent FK

When Pakhtakor Tashkent FK visited India for the 1993 IFA Shield, it was after they had won the Uzbekistan Super League and Uzbekistan Cup in the recent past. The 15-time Uzbekistan top division champions started their reign of dominance from that period and had a really strong team in the 1993 edition.

Pakhtakor managed to oust all Indian teams that tried to eliminate them and move into the finals, where they faced Kazakhstan club Irtysh Pavlodar. The two teams played out a closely-fought, gritty game that forced a penalty shootout. Ultimately, the Uzbekistan giants piped the Kazakh club to a 1-1 (5-4) win to lift the IFA Shield and become only the second foreign team (at that time) to win the trophy.

3. FC Bayern Munich II

Bayern Munich have shown their support towards Indian football by visiting the country multiple times over the last few decades. They, of course, played Oliver Kahn’s farewell match when a star-studded Bayern side played against Mohun Bagan in 2008. But before that, the Bavarians had even sent a team to take part in the IFA Shield. It happened in 2005, when Bayern Munich II – the team’s reserve side, travelled to Kolkata for the major competition.

They were given a direct entry to the semi-final, where they met Mohammedan Sporting. Bayern II defeated the Mohammedan 2-0 to book a place in the final against EverReady SA (now known as United SC). Bayern routed them 5-1 in the showpiece battle, in which the likes of Stefan Maiehofer (who played for Bayern’s main team and even Wolves in his career) and Jose-Luis Ortiz scored. They became the second European team to have won the IFA Shield and Ortiz made history by becoming the first foreign player to have scored more than one goal in an IFA Shield final.

2. Shakhtar Donetsk

At a period when they were still recognized as FC Shakhtar Donetsk, the Ukrainian giants actually played in the IFA Shield in 1985. At that point, Shakhtar were still not that decorated – having won the Ukrainian Cup and the Soviet Cup four times, but only when they were a part of the Soviet Union.

However, they arrived in India for the 1985 IFA Shield with a relatively strong team – consisting of legends like Ihor Petrov and Mykhaylo Skolovsky – who both rank among their highest-ever goal scorers. Shakhtar dominated their way to the 1985 IFA Shield final – before facing their match in Uruguayan giants Athletico Penarol. Despite fighting hard, the Ukranian side went down 1-0 and ended the competition as runners-up.

1. Atletico Penarol

The first-ever foreign invitee to have actually won the IFA Shield were Uruguayan giants Atletico Penarol, now known as just Penarol. The team is among the most decorated ones in south American football history. They’ve won the Uruguayan top division 51 times and the Copa Libertadores five times. They had won the premier South American continental crown four times before arriving to India in 1985 for the IFA Shield. The Uruguayan side, predictably, outclassed every team they faced.

They ended up defeating European heavyweights Shakhtar Donetsk in what is still regarded as one of the most star-studded, prestigious finals in not only the IFA Shield, but in the history of any domestic competition in Indian football. Penarol remain one of the biggest clubs to take part in the IFA Shield to this day and definitely gave Indian football fans with some wonderful football to watch in 1985.