Kalinga Super Cup 2025: Jamshedpur FC's road to final

This is the first-ever major finals for the Red Miners.

The 2024-25 season has been the best ever season for Jamshedpur FC since their inception back in 2017. From being labelled as a mid-table side, Jamshedpur FC, during their early days, came very close to knocking on the playoff doors. However, fate has been cruel to them, and they have never reached the playoffs, even once in their first four years of existence.

The 2021-22 season was a rare exception for the Red Miners as Owen Coyle’s miracle took them to become the Champions of India after they won the ISL Shield. Their dreams of playing at the AFC Champions League, however, got demolished after they had to square off against Mumbai City FC, the succeeding Shield Winners, to vie for India’s solitary spot in the ACL.

After Owen Coyle departed, things have been downstream for the club after they failed to make it to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. This season, this was a different story altogether. Jamshedpur FC scripted one of the most favourite underdog stories ever after making it to the ISL Semi-Finals and Finals of the Kalinga Super Cup.

Let’s take a close look at their journey into the Kalinga Super Cup Finals.

Kickstarting the campaign against the Nizams on a positive note

Jamshepdur FC were drawn alongside Hyderabad FC in the Round of 16 clash. Hyderabad FC had already defeated Jamshedpur FC in the regular ISL season once, and Khalid Jamil’s men were determined not to take the Nizams lightly as they were keen to cause a possible upset.

However, Jamshedpur performed well up to their expectations. They got the better of Hyderabad FC in style as two goals from the Red Miners were enough to seal the victory for Jamshedpur FC and propel themselves into the ISL Quarter Finals.

Jamshedpur held their nerves to defeat the Highlanders in penalties.

Jamshedpur FC and North East United FC were familiar foes. After the Highlanders netted eight goals against the Red Miners in two matches in the regular season, Khalid Jamil’s men handed them a 2-0 defeat in the ISL Playoffs in Shillong to advance to the semi-finals.

History repeated itself as Jamshedpur got the better of Juan Pedro Benali’s side to progress into the Kalinga Super Cup. The match ended in a goalless stalemate, and even penalty shootouts couldn’t separate these two sides; finally, Jamshedpur triumphed in the sudden death.

Decimating Mumbai to enter their first major Finals.

Previously, Jamshedpur FC have made it to two ISL semi-finals and two Super Cup Semi-Finals. Their track record in the Semis has been nothing but disheartening as they lost all four of their semi-final games in aggregate score.

This time, the story was different as Jamshedpur FC got the better of Mumbai City FC in the Semi-Finals after a 1-0 win in the Kalinga Stadium. A solitary goal from the Japanese Samurai, Rei Tachikawa, was enough to seal a final spot for the Red Miners.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.