East Bengal’s three best performers from 2025 Durand Cup group stages

East Bengal topped their group with three wins.

East Bengal made a real statement of intent with their impressive performances at the group stages of the 2025 Durand Cup. The Red & Gold Brigade have been able to start their 2025-26 season on a promising note and showed how ruthless their newly-formed squad can be with some eye-catching performances in the group stages.

The Kolkata giants won all three of their group matches, scoring an impressive 12 goals and only conceding one goal. They absolutely barged their way through most of the opponents, being clinical in the final third and showing that extra spark of their current squad.

A number of East Bengal players performed really well at the 2025 Durand Cup group stages, but a few individuals managed to stand out from the rest. Here we look at East Bengal’s three best performers from the 2025 Durand Cup group stages.

3. Naorem Mahesh Singh

Naorem Mahesh Singh was blessed to receive the East Bengal captaincy honor before the start of the 2025-26 season. He does not seem to be burdened by the weight of the captaincy and is actually thriving under the pressure of having to act like a leader. Mahesh has produced some really efficient performances in the 2025 Durand Cup, which included a brilliant performance in the 5-0 win over South United. He scored a fantastic long-range goal in the opening game and also maintain his influence going forward.

Mahesh was quite lively in creating chances and driving his side forward in the wins over Namdhari and Indian Air Force, creating a number of major chances in both games. Mahesh’s threat from set-piece and ability to find spaces in the empty areas make him a major theat for East Bengal and is allowing him to be a major issue for opposition sides.

2. Bipin Singh

Bipin Singh was a prized free signing for East Bengal in the 2025 summer window and comes to the club with a wealth of experience behind him. The 29-year-old winger has also proven that he won’t be needing that much time adapting to the change of playstyle and has made an instant impact in the Durand Cup.

Bipin produced a clinical performance in the win over South United, scoring an impressive goal in his East Bengal.

He brought a lot of pace and spark in the wide areas in the Durand Cup group stages and was also able to score a smart goal in the win over the Indian Air Force. Be it as a starter or even as an impact substitute, Singh looks hungry and focused on succeeding at East Bengal.

He’s using his speedy movement and ability to get into key areas well to amplify East Bengal’s goal-scoring threat and help his side take the fight to opposition backlines.

1. Hamid Ahadad

Oscar Bruzon had taken a bold decision in bringing in Hamid Ahadad to his East Bengal squad as Cleiton Silva’s replacement, despite having an experienced striker in Dimitrios Diamantakos at his disposal. However, Hamid has proven why the gaffer was so keen on getting him by proving himself to be a really menacing threat inside the box.

The Moroccan forward had a memorable debut for East Bengal, scoring the winner after coming on as a substitute against Namdhari SC.

He also scored an impressive header in the win over the Indian Air Force side, troubling their defenders with his intelligent position in the box and overall link-up play. The good thing is that Hamid is still integrating himself to East Bengal’s system and will get only better.

But if his prolific performances in the Durand Cup group stages is any proof, then East Bengal seem to have gotten their proficient goal machine who can guide them a lot of joy.

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