The 2023 Hero Super Cup group stage was played from 8th to 19th April.[1] A total of 16 teams, consisting of 11 ISL and 5 I-League, competed in the group stage to decide the 4 places in the knockout stage.
Draw
The draw for the group stage was held at the AIFF headquarters, Football House in New Delhi on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. The 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots, each of four teams, based on the following principles:[2]
Each group was played in a single round-robin format. The top team advanced to the knockout stage.
Tiebreakers
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). When tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:[3]
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Drawing of lots.
Centralised venues
On 7 March, the AIFF announced that for the first time the tournament would be played in Kerala, across two cities— Kozhikode and Manjeri.[4]
