Durand Cup 2026 final: East Bengal v Mohun Bagan at Salt Lake Stadium on 23 August
East Bengal will meet Mohun Bagan in the Durand Cup 2026 final at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Sunday, 23 August 2026, with kickoff at 5 PM IST. The match will decide the tournament champions between the two Kolkata rivals.
The final repeats the tournament opener between the clubs and comes in the first Durand Cup campaigns for both managers: Antonio Habas for East Bengal and Panagiotis Dilmperis for Mohun Bagan. East Bengal reached the final in their first tournament under Antonio Habas, while Mohun Bagan have progressed through the knockout stages in Panagiotis Dilmperis' first competition.
East Bengal face selection worries with PV Vishnu, Nacho Monsalve and Danish Farooq listed as injury doubts who are likely to miss the final. Mohun Bagan are monitoring the fitness of Dejan Drazic, who missed their previous clash against NorthEast United.
Mohun Bagan won their last two matches by penalty shootout, results that set up the derby final. Panagiotis Dilmperis has urged greater clinical finishing from his team after recent matches, and he will want his players to be proactive to make things difficult for the Torchbearers and put on an entertaining spectacle for the fans.
Antonio Habas has spoken of wanting revenge for the opening-game loss to Mohun Bagan and will ask his side to be brave and decisive on transitions while defending strongly to close down gaps for the Mohun Bagan attackers. Getting a victory over Mohun Bagan in the Durand Cup final would be a notable achievement in the early part of Habas' tenure.
Probable lineups named in coverage list Prabhsukhan Gill (GK), Hardik Bhatt, Anwar Ali, Sandip Mandi, Jay Gupta, Mohamad Basim Rashid, Jeakson Singh, Dani Ramirez, Bipin Singh, Chris Ikonomidis and Jesin TK for one side; Vishal Kaith (GK), Abhishek Singh, Rahul Bheke, Alberto Rodriguez, Subhasish Bose, Lalengmawia Ralte, Samir Zeljkovic, Sahal Abdul Samad, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco and Jamie Maclaren for the other. Head-to-head tallies provided record East Bengal wins – 144 and Mohun Bagan wins – 135; there have been 24 Kolkata derbies in the Durand Cup, with East Bengal winning 10 and Mohun Bagan nine. Vishal Kaith has kept four clean sheets at the 2026 Durand Cup, the most for any goalkeeper in the competition, and the last Durand Cup final between these clubs was in 2023, which Mohun Bagan won 1-0.
The 2026 Durand Cup final will take place at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Sunday, 23 August 2026 with a 5 PM IST kickoff; the match will be shown live on Sony Ten 2 and will be available to live-stream on Sony LIV.