East Bengal end their 22-year wait for a major trophy, Mohun Bagan suffer the pain in the front row

East Bengal end their 22-year wait for a major trophy, Mohun Bagan suffer the pain in the front row

East Bengal FC (Twitter photo)

Calcutta,UPDATED: 21 May 2026 21:34 IST

East Bengal’s 22-year drought for a major Indian trophy ended on 21 May. And it ended in the most dramatic way possible.

In the end, it was the ‘Illish’ who emerged victorious after 22 years of pain, near misses, mismanagement and even battles for mere existence in the top flight of Indian football. All those stories came to an end as East Bengal beat Inter Kashi FC 2-1 in Kolkata with goals from their star striker Youssef Ezzeyjari and crowd favorite Palestine midfielder Mohammed Rashid.

And what could very well have been the icing on the cake for many anxious and distressed Bangalis who had been waiting for this moment for over two decades, was the fact that East Bengal beat arch-rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant in the title fight itself.

Mohun Bagan lost their clash against Sporting Club Delhi, squandering a chance to defend their title and continue their recent dominance, only to watch their fiercest rivals finally cross the finish line ahead of them after years of painful struggles.

The Indian Super League, as chaotic as the season was before and during the campaign, was at its best on the final day of the tournament.

In the final round, four teams still had a real chance to win the title. East Bengal entered the night at the top of the table, closely followed by defending champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant, while Mumbai City FC and Punjab FC also remained alive in the race. Even Jamshedpur FC still had a mathematically miraculous chance of one of the wildest title steals Indian football has ever seen.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

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Issued by:

Debodinna Chakraborty

Published on:

21 May 2026 21:30 IST

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