2023–24 Independence Cup (Bangladesh)

2023–24 Independence Cup
Tournament details
Host country	Bangladesh
Dates	Qualifying:; 20–23 October 2023; Competition proper:; 27 October – 18 December 2023
Teams	13
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Bashundhara Kings (3rd title)
Runners-up	Dhaka Mohammedan
Tournament statistics
Matches played	22
Goals scored	45 (2.05 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Jonathan Fernandes; (Bashundhara Kings); Higor Leite; (Sheikh Jamal DC); Dorielton Gomes; (Bashundhara Kings); (3 goals each)
Best player(s)	Rakib Hossain; (Bashundhara Kings)
Fair play award	Dhaka Mohammedan
	← 2022–23 2024–25 → (Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs)

The 2023–24 Independence Cup, also known as the 2023 Independence Cup was the 13th edition of the Independence Cup.^[1] A total of 13 teams were contested in the final tournament.^[2]^[3]

Bashundhara Kings is the defending champion. They have won the title by beating Dhaka Mohammedan by 2−1 goals in the final on 18 December 2023.^[4]

Participating teams

The following thirteen teams were participated in the tournament.

Team	Appearances	Previous best performance
Bangladesh Police FC	3rd	Semi-finals (2021–22)
Bashundhara Kings	4th	Champions (2018, 2022–23)
Brothers Union	11th	Quarter finals (2017–18, 2018)
Chittagong Abahani	8th	Champions (2016)
Abahani Limited Dhaka	13th	Champions (1990, 2021–22)
Mohammedan SC	13th	Champions (1972, 1991, 2014)
Fortis FC	2nd	Group stages (2022–23)
Rahmatganj MFS	13th	Semi-finals (2017-18)
Sheikh Russel KC	9th	Champions (2013)
Sheikh Jamal DC	9th	Runners-up (2012–13)
Bangladesh Army	3rd	Quarter-final (1991)
Bangladesh Navy	3rd	Group-stage (2022–23)
Bangladesh Air Force	3rd	Group-stage (2022–23)

Venues

Originally the Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla was included as one of the host venues for the tournament, however, the district cricket league has prevented the Cumilla District Sports Association from lending the district stadium. Thus, instead of four, the tournament were held at three venues locations.^[5]

Munshigonj
Shaheed Bir Sreshtho Flight Lt. Matiur Rahman Stadium
Capacity: 10,000
Gopalganj Munshigonj Dhaka class=notpageimage\| Location of the stadiums for the 2023–24 Independence Cup (Bangladesh)
Gopalganj	Dhaka
Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani Stadium	Bashundhara Kings Arena
Capacity: 5,000	Capacity: 14,000

Round and dates

Dates/Year	Round	Match dates
27 October–18 December 2023	Qualifying stages	20–23 October 2023
	Group stages	27 October – 1 December 2023
	Quarter-finals	3–5 December 2023
	Semi-finals	15 December 2023
	Final	18 December 2023

Draw

The draw ceremony were held on 23 October 2023 at 3rd floor of BFF house Motijheel, Dhaka. There are thirteen teams were divided into four groups. Top two team from each group will through in the Knockout stage.^[6]

Group Summary

Group A	Group B
Bangladesh Police FC	Abahani Limited Dhaka
Sheikh Jamal DC	Sheikh Russel KC
Brothers Union	Rahmatganj MFS
	Bangladesh Air Force
Group C	Group D
Mohammedan SC	Bashundhara Kings
Fortis FC	Chittagong Abahani
Bangladesh Army	Bangladesh Navy

Qualifying Pair-1	Qualifying Pair-2
Bangladesh Air Force Football Team	Bangladesh Army Football Team
Bangladesh Navy Football Team	Dhaka University Football Team

Match officials

Referees

Jashim Akther (†)
Md Alamgir Sarker (†)
Md Anisur Rahman Sagor (†)
Mahmud Zamil Farouqee Nahid (†)
Md Mizanur Rahman
Golam Mourshed Chowdhury Nayan
Bituraj Barua
Md Jalal Uddin
Md Saymoon Hasan Sany
Bhubon Mohon Torafder

Assistant Referees

Md Nuruzzaman
Sujoy Barua
Rasel Mahmud
Bituraj Barua
Junayed Sharif
Md Mizanur Rahman
Shafiqul Islam Emon
Bikash Sarker
Md Mahmudul Hasan Mamun
Sheikh Iqbal Alam
Md Shah Alam
Sabuj Kumar Das
Md Shohrab Hossain
Monir Ahmed Dhali

(†): working as both referee and assistant referee.

Qualifying play-offs

Play-off 1
Team 1	Score	Team 2
Bangladesh Army	2–0	Bangladesh Air Force

Play-off 2
Team 1	Score	Team 2
Bangladesh Navy	2–0	Dhaka University

Elimination play-offs
Team 1	Score	Team 2
Bangladesh Air Force	2–0	Dhaka University

Matches

Play-off

All times at local (UTC+6)

20 October 2023

10:00

Bangladesh Air Force	0–2	Bangladesh Army
	Report	Emtiyaz Raihan 57' Mijanur Rahman 89'

BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Md Anisur Rahman Sagor

20 October 2023

14:30

Dhaka University	0–2	Bangladesh Navy
	Report	Akash 24' Jewel 72'

BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Md Alamgir Sarker

Elimination play-offs

23 October 2023

10:30

Bangladesh Air Force	2–0	Dhaka University
Khalidul Islam Samy 30' Reza 63'	Report

BSSS Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Dhaka

Referee: Mahmud Zamil Farouqee Nahid

Group stages

Key to colours in group tables
	Group winners and runners-up advance to the Knockout-stage

Tiebreakers

Teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.

Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
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;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams were tied and they met in the last round of the group;
Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bangladesh Police FC	2	2	0	3	0	+3	6	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Sheikh Jamal DC	2	1	1	4	1	+3	3	Advance to Knockout stage
3	Brothers Union	2	0	2	0	6	−6	0

Source: GSA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

27 October 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Bangladesh Police FC	2–0	Brothers Union
Manas Karipov 23' Edis Ibargüen García 67'	Report

Shaheed Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Munshiganj

Referee: Saymoon Hasan Sany

30 October 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Brothers Union	0–4	Sheikh Jamal DC
	Report	Leite 11', 36' Díaz 59' Sazzad 73'

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Referee: Md Alamgir Sarker

2 November 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Sheikh Jamal DC	0–1	Bangladesh Police FC
	Report	Manas Karipov 26'

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Referee: Md Jalal Uddin

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Abahani Limited Dhaka	3	3	0	0	6	0	+6	9	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Rahmatganj MFS	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4	Advance to Knockout stage
3	Sheikh Russel KC	3	1	1	1	1	2	−1	4
4	Bangladesh Air Force	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6	0

Source: GSA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

27 October 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Abahani Limited Dhaka	2–0	Bangladesh Air Force
Jibon (pen), 11' Rabiul 36'	Report

Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani Stadium, Gopalganj

Referee: Md Anisur Rahman Sagor

27 October 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Sheikh Russel KC	0–0	Rahmatganj MFS
	Report

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Referee: Md Mizanur Rahman

30 October 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Bangladesh Air Force	0–1	Sheikh Russel KC
	Report	Dipok 61'

Shaheed Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium

Referee: Bhubon Mohon Torafder

30 October 2023

18:00 BST (UTC+6)

Rahmatganj MFS	0–2	Abahani Limited Dhaka
	Report	Stewart 76' Fernandes 83'

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Referee: Md Saymoon Hasan Sany

3 November 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Rahmatganj MFS	4–1	Bangladesh Air Force
Murad Hossain Chowdhury 33' Samin Yasir Juel 44', 55' Rofiqul Islam Sumon 90+4'	Report	Juwel Miah 32'

Shaheed Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Munshiganj

Referee: Bituraj Barua

4 November 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Abahani Limited Dhaka	2–0	Sheikh Russel KC
Fernandes 65' Washington 75'	Report

Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani Stadium, Gopalganj

Referee: Md Alamgir Sarker

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	D	GF	GA	Pts	Qualification
1	Mohammedan SC	2	2	3	3	2	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Bangladesh Army	2	2	2	2	2	Advance to Knockout stage
3	Fortis FC	2	2	1	1	2

Source: GSA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

28 October 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Mohammedan SC	2–2	Bangladesh Army
Arif Hossain 20' Jafar 67'	Report	Emtiyaz Raihan 9' Ranju Sikder 24'

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Referee: Bituraj Barua

31 October 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Bangladesh Army	0–0	Fortis FC
	Report

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Referee: Md Jalal Uddin

4 November 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Fortis FC	1–1	Mohammedan SC
Gryshyn 30'	Report	Minhajul 74'

Shaheed Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Munshiganj

Referee: Bhubon Mohon Torafder

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bashundhara Kings	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	4	Advance to Knockout stage
2	Chittagong Abahani	2	0	2	0	1	1	0	2	Advance to Knockout stage
3	Bangladesh Navy FT	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1

Source: GSA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

28 October 2023

18:30 BST (UTC+6)

Bashundhara Kings	1–0	Bangladesh Navy
Figueira 2'	Report

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Referee: Golam Mourshed Chowdhury Nayan

31 October 2023

18:00 BST (UTC+6)

Bangladesh Navy	1–1	Chittagong Abahani
Salim Reza 12'	Report	Biswas 74'

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Referee: Mahmud Zamil Farouqee Nahid

1 December 2023

14:30 BST (UTC+6)

Chittagong Abahani	0–0	Bashundhara Kings
	Report

Bashundhara Kings Arena, Dhaka

Referee: Bhubon Mohon Torafder

Knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match finished goalless at the end of normal playing time, extra time would have been played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.

Bracket

Quarter-finals		Semi-finals		Final

3 December–Dhaka

Bangladesh Police FC	1
		15 December –Gopalganj
Rahmatganj MFS	2
		Rahmatganj MFS	0
5 December –Munshigonj
		Dhaka Mohammedan	1
Dhaka Mohammedan	1
				18 December–Gopalganj
Chittagong Abahani	0
				Dhaka Mohammedan	1
3 December –Dhaka
				Bashundhara Kings	2
Dhaka Abahani	1 (p)(3)
		15 December–Dhaka
Sheikh Jamal DC	1 (2)
		Dhaka Abahani	0
5 December –Dhaka
		Bashundhara Kings	4
Bashundhara Kings	2

Bangladesh Army	1