The 2000 IFA Shield Final was the 106th final of the
IFA Shield, the second oldest football competition in
India, and was contested between Kolkata giants
East Bengal and
Mohun Bagan on 16 September 2000.[1][2]
East Bengal won the final 4–1 via
penalties after the game ended 1–1 after extra-time, to claim their 25th IFA Shield title.[3]
East Bengal entered the 2000 IFA Shield as one of the
National Football League teams from Kolkata and were allocated into Group A alongside
BNR,
JCT and Calcutta Port Trust. In the opening game against BNR on 5 September, East Bengal managed a 1–0 victory courtesy of a solitary goal from
Bijen Singh. In the second game, East Bengal defeated JCT 3–0 with a brace from
Dipendu Biswas and Bijen Singh scoring the third for the team. East Bengal defeated Calcuta Port Trust 3–0 in the last game of the group stage with Dipendu Biswas scoring another brace and Bijen Singh scoring in third consecutive match as East Bengal topped the group with three wins and reached the last four. In the semi-finals, East Bengal defeated
Tollygunge Agragami 1–0 courtesy of a solitary strike from
Surkumar Singh as they reached the final.[1][2]
Mohun Bagan entered the 2000 IFA Shield as the defending champions and were allocated into Group B alongside
State Bank of Travancore,
George Telegraph and
Tollygunge Agragami. In the opening game, Mohun Bagan defeated State Bank of Travancore 3–1 with
Jose Ramirez Barreto scoring a brace and an own goal from Paul Anthony. Sylvester Ignatius scored the only goal for SBT. Mohun Bagan defeated George Telegraph 3–0 in the second match. Jose Barreto,
R. C. Prakash and
Satyajit Chatterjee scored for the team. In the last match of the group stage, Mohun Bagan drew 1–1 with Tollygunge Agragami after Bhabani Mohanty scored an early goal for Tollygunge only to be equalised by Jose Barreto in the second half as Mohun Bagan topped the group with two wins and a draw to reach the last four. In the semi-finals, Mohun Bagan defeated
JCT 1–0 with Basudeb Mondal scoring the only goal taking them to the final.[1][2]