ISL to Kick-off on October 10th; Play-offs to Make A Return

The Indian Super League will, in its brand new club-led era, will kick-off on October 10th in a season that runs through to May 2027. The league will be played in a proper home-and-away format with the team finishing on top of the table at the end of the league stage being crowned the Shield Winners and earning the only AFC slot India currently offers, the AFC Challenge League Preliminary Round. This season will also see the return of the play-off format of ISL where the top 6 clubs will compete to be named ISL Cup Champions. The season will have a total of 163 matches played across eight months.

13 teams will compete this season with Churchill Brothers’ participation remaining subject to regulatory approvals. The teams are Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, Churchill Brothers FC, East Bengal FC, FC Goa, Inter Kashi FC, Kerala Blasters FC, Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Mumbai City FC, NorthEast United FC, Odisha FC, Punjab FC and SC Delhi. Diamond Harbour FC, who earned a promotion to ISL through their IFL (formerly I-League) 2025-26 triumph, failed to fulfil the administrative fee requirement for the 2026-27 season and have not taken up their promoted slot.

In order to keeping the league’s promotion-and-relegation principle, DHFC will not be eligible to earn any points this season and will be placed at the bottom of the table, by default. As a result, Diamond Harbour FC will not retain their ISL slot in 2027-28 and will compete in  IFL (Indian Football League) that season.

Speaking of the two Kolkata Giants, Mohun Bagan SG might start their ISL campaign with an away game as the grounds in Kolkata are about to have a busy schedule as Indian men’s team will face Brazil (October 3rd) and Uruguay (October 6th) at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan and the national women’s team are also set to face Russian women’s team twice (October 8th and 11th) at Kolkata, though venue is yet to be decided. On the other hand, the current league champion and also Durand Cup champions East Bengal FC might have a late start to the league as they are scheduled to host Al Shorta of Iraq at the Salt Lake Stadium (VYBK) in their second group stage game of AFC Champions League 2.