The 2025–26 Indian Super League was the 12th season of the Indian Super League (ISL) and the 30th season of top-tier Indian football. The season commenced on 14 February and concluded on 21 May 2026.
Mohun Bagan are the defending champions, having won their second Indian Super League title.
East Bengal won their first ISL title and fourth overall Indian title, ending a 22-year league drought.
Background Developments In June 2025, the FSDL formally informed the ISL clubs and the AIFF that the 2025–26 season was on hold due to unresolved contractual issues, ahead of the expiry of the Master Rights Agreement in December. After the intervention of the Supreme Court of India, which requested both parties to resolve the issues between them and start the 2025–26 season as quickly as they could, both parties promised that the new season would start in December.
The season was delayed even further after no bids came in for a tender for commercial partners floated by the AIFF on 16 October 2025.
On 6 January 2026, after discussions with the stake holders, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya confirmed that ISL would begin on 14 February, and would be played in a single leg home-and-away format for a total of 91 matches.
On 12 January 2026, all 14 clubs confirmed their participation in this season. The AIFF outlined a total proposed budget of ₹24.26 crore for the season, a significant reduction from the previous seasons. The federation will contribute ₹9.77 crore upfront, while each participating club will provide ₹1 crore. The remaining expenses will be managed through allocated federation resources as the league progresses.
The Asian Football Confederation granted India a one-season exemption from the mandatory 24-match league requirement. Hence, both the ISL champions and Super Cup winners will be eligible to participate in the 2026–27 AFC Champions League Two qualifiers next season.
Following a media rights tender by the AIFF in January 2026, OTT sports streaming platform FanCode were announced as winners of the broadcasting rights and will be the official streaming partner of the 2025–26 season, while KPS Studios won the bid for production rights. The Indian Super League (ISL) 2025–26 season will be broadcast on the Sony Sports Network after FanCode sublicensed the linear TV rights to the media conglomerate.
Changes from last season This is the first season without the post-season ISL Cup playoffs. The 14 participating clubs will compete in a single-leg round-robin format, with each team playing 13 matches. The table toppers at the end of the league will be crowned champions.
The AIFF will implement relegation this season onwards, despite objections from all 14 clubs, who cited the shortened season as their primary concern.
Teams
14 teams from 12 cities are competing in the 12th season of Indian Super League – thirteen from the previous season and one promoted from the I-League. Churchill Brothers were initially declared the provisional champions of the I-League by AIFF, but the decision was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport who declared Inter Kashi as champions.
On 7 October 2025, Hyderabad FC announced its relocation to Delhi and rebranded to SC Delhi.
Promoted from I-League Inter Kashi
Rebranded clubs Hyderabad FC shifted its base to Delhi and rebranded as Sporting Club Delhi.
Stadiums and locations
TeamLocationStadiumCapacityBengaluruBengaluruSree Kanteerava Stadium25,810ChennaiyinChennaiMarina Arena40,000DelhiNew DelhiJawaharlal Nehru Stadium60,254East BengalKolkataVivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan85,000GoaMargaoFatorda Stadium19,000Inter KashiVaranasiKishore Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata 12,000JamshedpurJamshedpurJRD Tata Sports Complex24,424Kerala BlastersKochiJawaharlal Nehru Stadium40,000MohammedanKolkataKishore Bharati Krirangan12,000Mohun BaganVivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan85,000Mumbai CityMumbaiMumbai Football Arena7,000NorthEast UnitedGuwahatiIG Athletic Stadium21,600OdishaBhubaneswarKalinga Stadium15,000PunjabMohaliJawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi60,254
Personnel and kits TeamHead coachCaptain(s)Kit manufacturerShirt sponsorBengaluru Pep Muñoz Sunil Chhetri PumaJSWChennaiyin Clifford Miranda Alberto NogueraSix5SixISGL.inDelhi Tomasz Tchórz Lamgoulen HangshingSix5SixUniversal Sompo General InsuranceEast Bengal Óscar Bruzón Saúl CrespoTrak OnlyEmamiGoa Manolo Márquez Sandesh JhinganSix5SixISGL.inInter Kashi Abhijit Mondal Sergio LlamasHummelRDB GroupJamshedpur Owen Coyle Stephen EzeNiviaTata SteelKerala Blasters Ashley Westwood Danish Farooq Bikash Yumnam Aibanbha DohlingSix5SixWhite GoldMohammedan Mehrajuddin Wadoo Gaurav BoraRocky SportsMerlin GroupMohun Bagan Sergio Lobera Subhasish BoseSkechersCESCMumbai City Petr Kratky Lallianzuala ChhangtePumaEtihad AirwaysNorthEast United Juan Pedro Benali Michel ZabacoReebokMeghalaya TourismOdisha TG Purushothaman Carlos DelgadoKaidos SportsOdisha TourismPunjab Panagiotis Dilberis Nikhil PrabhuShiv NareshDafaNews
Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancyPosition Incoming manager Date of appointmentKerala Blasters T. G. PurushothamanEnd of interim spell25 March 2025Pre-season David Català25 March 2025Delhi Shameel Chembakath31 May 2025 Tomasz Tchórz19 October 2025Chennaiyin Owen CoyleMutual consent17 July 2025 Clifford Miranda12 September 2025Jamshedpur Khalid JamilSigned by India13 August 2025 Owen Coyle24 January 2026Odisha Sergio LoberaMutual consent 26 November 2025 TG Purushothaman5 February 2026 Mohun Bagan José Francisco MolinaSacked26 November 2025 Sergio Lobera26 November 2025Bengaluru Gerard ZaragozaMutual consent14 November 2025 Renedy Singh14 November 2025Bengaluru Renedy Singh25 March 20265th Pep Muñoz25 March 2026Kerala Blasters David CatalàSacked27 March 202613th Ashley Westwood27 March 2026Inter Kashi Antonio López HabasMutual consent11 May 202610th Abhijit Mondal 11 May 2026
Foreign players The AIFF allows teams to register a maximum of six foreign players. A maximum of four can be fielded in a match at a time.
Due to the uncertainty surrounding Indian football, a number of foreign players exited their clubs before the start of the shortened season.
Team Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Unregistered player(s) Former player(s)Bengaluru Braian Sánchez Sirozhiddin KuzievChennaiyin Eduardo Kau Elsinho Mohammed Ali Bemammer Daniel Chima Chukwu Alberto Noguera Iñigo MartinDelhi Julio Rivas Rafael Ribeiro Ousmane Fané Abdul Halik Hudu Ebenezer Amoh Matija Babović East Bengal Kevin Sibille Miguel Figueira Anton Søjberg Mohammed Rashid Saúl Crespo Youssef EzzejjariGoa Dejan Dražić Pol MorenoInter Kashi Nauris Petkevičius Alfred Planas David Humanes Lluis Tarrés Mario Barco Sergio LlamasJamshedpur Raphaël Messi Bouli Madih Talal Rei Tachikawa Stephen Eze Lazar Ćirković Nikola StojanovićKerala Blasters Franchu Kévin Yoke Karim Benarif Fallou Ndiaye Matías Hernández Víctor Bertomeu Jai Quitongo Marlon Roos-Trujillo Oumar BahMohammedanMohun Bagan Dimitri Petratos Jamie Maclaren Jason Cummings Robinho Tom Aldred Alberto RodríguezMumbai City Jorge Pereyra Díaz Joni Kauko Nuno Reis Jorge OrtizNorthEast United Andy Rodríguez Jairo Samperio Míchel Zabaco Odisha Carlos DelgadoPunjab Samir Zeljkovic Pablo Santos Bede Osuji Effiong Nsungusi Dani Ramírez
League table
Results Match by match
Form
Position by round
Season statistics
Top scorers
Rank Player Team Goals 1 Youssef Ezzejjari East Bengal 11 2 Jamie Maclaren Mohun Bagan 10 3 Effiong Nsungusi Punjab 7 4 Dejan Dražić Goa 6 5 Alfred Planas Inter Kashi 5 Matija Babović SC Delhi 7 Dani RamírezPunjab 4 Ryan Williams Bengaluru Víctor Bertomeu Kerala Blasters Edmund Lalrindika East Bengal Braian Sánchez Bengaluru Lallianzuala Chhangte Mumbai City
Top assists Rank Player Team Assists 1 Miguel Figueira East Bengal 5 2 Liston Colaco Mohun Bagan 4 Ebindas Yesudasan Kerala Blasters Lalremtluanga Fanai Bengaluru 5 Franchu Kerala Blasters 3 Alberto Noguera Chennayin Subhasish Bose Mohun Bagan Dejan Dražić Goa Vishnu PV East Bengal Samir Zeljković Punjab Dimitri Petratos Mohun Bagan Bipin Singh East Bengal Lalthathanga Khawlhring Odisha K Lalrinfela Odisha
Clean sheets Rank Player Team Clean sheets 1 Hrithik Tiwari Goa 6 Phurba Lachenpa Mumbai City Vishal Kaith Mohun Bagan Albino Gomes Jamshedpur Prabhsukhan Singh Gill East Bengal Gurpreet Singh Sandhu Bengaluru 7 Nora Fernandes SC Delhi 4 Arshdeep Singh Punjab 9 Shubham Dhas Inter Kashi 3 Mohammad Nawaz Chennaiyin
Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 6 Bijoy Varghese (Punjab) Most red cards: 1 18 players
Club Most yellow cards: 39 NorthEast United Most red cards: 3 Punjab
Awards AwardWinnerTeamRef.Golden Ball Miguel FigueiraEast BengalGolden Boot Youssef EzzejjariGolden Glove Hrithik TiwariGoa
Attendance
Regular season
By home matches Team \ Home Game1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 TotalMohun Bagan 29,110 22,765 30,047 19,727 26,997 12,222 20,004 62,201 26,732 229,801East Bengal 18,636 20,386 22,899 12,853 13,379 11,213 13,244 23317,565 130,408Bengaluru 12,347 13,623 9,614 20,214 21,714 14,723 colspan="3" 92,235Kerala Blasters 16,243 7,5866,435 2,863 3,621 3,213 7,548 9,827 13,517 70,853Jamshedpur 4,341 7,2307,856 12,789 10,236 6,339 5,699 8,032 7,069 69,591Delhi 6,732 8,153 7,761 8,261 3,523 10,087 colspan="3" 44,517NorthEast United 7,473 6,379 3,564 3,847 3,221 3,342 1,739 2,793 32,358Chennaiyin 6,389 2,966 2,947 2,623 2,894 4,137 colspan="3" rowspan="3" 21,956Punjab 3,897 3,216 2,906 2,737 2,534 3,96719,257Goa 1,5775,160 2,532 2,237 4,820 2,354 18,680Mumbai City 3,426 3,911 2,190 3,674 3,649 colspan="4" rowspan="2" 16,850Odisha 2,421 3,218 2,678 217 156 8,690Inter Kashi N/A N/A 215 8,112 colspan="5" 8,327Mohammedan 4,240 340 347 colspan="6" 4,927
Legend:
See also Men 2025–26 Indian Football League (Tier II) 2025–26 I-League 2 (Tier III) 2025–26 I-League 3 (Tier IV) 2025–26 Indian State Leagues (Tier V) 2025–26 AIFF Super Cup 2025 Durand Cup 2026 Reliance Foundation Development League Women 2025–26 Indian Women's League (Tier I) 2025–26 Indian Women's League 2 (Tier II)
References
External links
Indian Super League official website