Indian Super League 2026-27 season to kick off on October 10
The Indian Super League (ISL) will begin its 2026-27 season on October 10, featuring a new club-led model and a return to the play-off format. Thirteen teams are set to compete, with the league aiming for greater sustainability and investment in Indian football talent.
Why it matters
The shift to a club-led model represents a significant structural change in the governance and commercial development of Indian professional sports.
The next edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) is set to start on October 10, 2026, in a newly revamped format — a club-led era — and is set to end in May 2027, it was announced on Saturday (September 5, 2026).
The tournament will be played in the home-and-away format, and the team finishing at the top of the table will be crowned the Shield Winners, the official champions of the ISL. The team will also earn indirect qualifying slots for the AFC Champions League Two through zonal qualifiers.
This year’s revamped edition marks the return of the play-off format. The top six teams at the end of the league stages will compete among themselves to become the ISL Cup Champions. The tournament will span a total of 163 matches across eight months.
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