The 2019 Durand Cup was the 129th edition of the Durand Cup, oldest football tournament in Asia, since the tournament's founding in 1888. 16 teams competed in the tournament. The matches were played across three locations in West Bengal, namely Kolkata, Howrah and Kalyani from 2 August 2019. This was for the first time that the tournament played outside Delhi, its traditional venue. The final took place at the Salt Lake Stadium on 24 August 2019.[2]
Army Green were the defending champions, having defeated NEROCA in the 2016 final, however they did not qualify for the semi-finals having finished last in the group. Gokulam Kerala won their maiden title by defeating Mohun Bagan 2–1 in the 2019 Durand Cup Final which was held on 24 August 2019.
A total of 16 teams participated in this year's competition. 5 teams from Indian Super League, 6 from I-League, 12nd division club and 4 armed forces teams.
Location of teams of the 2019 Durand Cup. Indian Super League Team I League Team 2nd Division I League Team Armed Force Team Kolkata, New Delhi (Armed Force)
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied in the order given to determine the rankings:
Greater number of points obtained in the matches between the Teams concerned
Goal difference resulting from the matches between the Teams concerned
Greater number of goals scored in the matches between the Teams concerned
Winners of each group will progress into the semi-finals. The winner of Group A will face the winner of Group D, and the winner of Group B will face the winner of Group C in the semi-final.
The knockout matches will have thirty minutes of extra-time if the teams are tied at the end of usual time, and if they are drawing even after that, the winner of the fixture will be decided through penalty shootouts.
Notes: The tournament was not held from 1914-19 (due to WWI), in 1939 (due to WWII), from 1941-49 (due to WWII and Partition), in 1962 (due to 1962 War) and in 2015 and 2017-2018 (due to unknown reasons)