East Bengal start their ISL defence a week late, and Bengaluru open the new season against Sporting Club Delhi on Saturday
The 2026-27 ISL is home and away again, with 13 clubs, a title sponsor and a play-off. The champions are busy with Al Shorta in the AFC Champions League Two first.
Oct 6, 2026
The Indian Super League comes back on Saturday with a title sponsor, a TV deal confirmed in the week before kick-off, and its champions nowhere near the opening weekend. East Bengal do not play their first league game until 18 October, against Churchill Brothers, because they have Al Shorta of Iraq coming to Kolkata in the AFC Champions League Two on 13 October.
So the season starts without them. Bengaluru FC host Sporting Club Delhi at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium at 5pm IST on 10 October, and FC Goa play Chennaiyin FC at Fatorda at 7:30pm.
A full league again
The big change is the format. Last season’s ISL was cut down to a single round of games. This one is home and away, 13 clubs, 24 league matches each, and the top six go into a play-off for the ISL Cup. The team that finishes first takes the Shield, which is still the official title.
The schedule is built around weekends. The league says 53 of the 78 matches in Phase 1, which runs to 17 January, are on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, with kick-offs at 5pm and 7:30pm. There is a break from 7 to 20 November for the international window.
It is also a different kind of league off the pitch. The clubs now hold the commercial rights under a four-year deal with the AIFF, and they have spent the past few weeks selling them. MG Motor have signed on as title sponsor, reportedly for this season and next, so the competition is officially the MG Indian Super League, the first time it has had a title sponsor since Hero left after 2022-23. Sony have the TV rights for two seasons and will stream on SonyLIV in India, with YouTube expected to carry matches abroad.
Who is in, and who is not
Churchill Brothers are the newcomers, but not through promotion. They took over Jamshedpur FC, licence and all, after Tata Steel decided to walk away from the league in the summer. The club that did win promotion, Diamond Harbour, missed the deadline to pay their participation fee, and under league rules they will be placed bottom of the table and drop back to the Indian Football League for 2027-28.
East Bengal have a new coach for the defence. Óscar Bruzón left when his contract ran out, and Antonio López Habas, who won the ISL with ATK, has replaced him. They have already won the Durand Cup this season, ending a 22-year wait, but their continental campaign has started less cleanly: they were 2-0 up against Al-Hussein in Amman on 16 September and drew 2-2.
The dates to circle
The first Kolkata derby of the season is on 29 November, with East Bengal at home to Mohun Bagan Super Giant at 7:30pm. Five days earlier, NorthEast United take the league to Manipur for the first time, playing Sporting Club Delhi at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal on 24 November. And on 13 December, Churchill Brothers and FC Goa meet at Fatorda in the first Goa derby the ISL has ever had.
This time last year there was no ISL to watch at all; last season did not kick off until 14 February. This one has a fixture list that runs to May, and it starts on Saturday without the champions.