Indian Football League 2025–26: The Indian Football League (IFL) 2025–26 season will kickstart from February 27th, 2026. The Indian Football League (IFL) 2025-2026 is the second division of men’s professional football in India.
Ahead of the tournament, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has announced the complete fixtures for Stage 1. The opening day of the Indian Football League will consist of two games – Namdhari FC vs Aizawl FC and Chanmari FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC.
Indian Football League 2025-26: Stage 1 Fixtures
February Fixtures
27 February 2026
Namdhari FC vs Aizawl FC
Chanmari FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC
28 February 2026
Diamond Harbour FC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC
March Fixtures
1 March 2026
Shillong Lajong FC vs Rajasthan United FC
Dempo Sports Club vs Real Kashmir FC
6 March 2026
Aizawl FC vs Rajasthan United FC
7 March 2026
Gokulam Kerala FC vs Namdhari FC
Chanmari FC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC
8 March 2026
Shillong Lajong FC vs Real Kashmir FC
Diamond Harbour FC vs Dempo Sports Club
12 March 2026
Chanmari FC vs Dempo Sports Club
13 March 2026
Rajasthan United FC vs Namdhari FC
Aizawl FC vs Real Kashmir FC
14 March 2026
Gokulam Kerala FC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC
Shillong Lajong FC vs Diamond Harbour FC
17 March 2026
Rajasthan United FC vs Real Kashmir FC
19 March 2026
Chanmari FC vs Shillong Lajong FC
Sreenidi Deccan FC vs Namdhari FC
20 March 2026
Aizawl FC vs Diamond Harbour FC
Gokulam Kerala FC vs Dempo Sports Club
24 March 2026
Aizawl FC vs Chanmari FC
25 March 2026
Sreenidi Deccan FC vs Dempo Sports Club
Real Kashmir FC vs Namdhari FC
26 March 2026
Gokulam Kerala FC vs Shillong Lajong FC
Rajasthan United FC vs Diamond Harbour FC
31 March 2026
Gokulam Kerala FC vs Aizawl FC
April Fixtures
1 April 2026
Rajasthan United FC vs Chanmari FC
Sreenidi Deccan FC vs Shillong Lajong FC
2 April 2026
Dempo Sports Club vs Namdhari FC
Real Kashmir FC vs Diamond Harbour FC
5 April 2026
Sreenidi Deccan FC vs Aizawl FC
6 April 2026
Real Kashmir FC vs Chanmari FC
Namdhari FC vs Diamond Harbour FC
7 April 2026
Dempo Sports Club vs Shillong Lajong FC
Rajasthan United FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC
10 April 2026
Namdhari FC vs Shillong Lajong FC
11 April 2026
Diamond Harbour FC vs Chanmari FC
Dempo Sports Club vs Aizawl FC
12 April 2026
Real Kashmir FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC
Sreenidi Deccan FC vs Rajasthan United FC
17 April 2026
Namdhari FC vs Chanmari FC
18 April 2026
Shillong Lajong FC vs Aizawl FC
Diamond Harbour FC vs Gokulam Kerala FC
19 April 2026
Dempo Sports Club vs Rajasthan United FC
Real Kashmir FC vs Sreenidi Deccan FC
How the Indian Football League (IFL) Works
The IFL 2025–26 season will be played in two stages.
Stage 1: All 10 teams will play each other in a round-robin format, both home and away. This stage will have 45 matches and will run from February 27 to April 19, 2026.
Stage 2: After that, the teams will split into two groups. The top half will compete in the Championship round, while the bottom half will play in the Relegation round. Points from Stage 1 will carry forward. The team that finishes on top at the end will be crowned champions and promoted to the Indian Super League 2026–27.
“The top two teams will qualify for IFL,” said a senior AIFF official. “We will announce the teams once the Participation and Team Allotment (PTA) process is completed and clubs confirm their participation. The league will be held on a single round basis where fixtures are scheduled as home and away matches.”
Diamond Harbour FC and Chanmari FC earned promotion to the I-League last season after finishing among the top two teams.
Sporting Clube ended up third, seven points behind Chanmari. This season, the club has appointed experienced coach Fernando Santiago Varela and is aiming to bounce back strongly.
“We have to continue fighting and solve areas that need improvement, without letting it affect our objective,” said Varela, who has managed several teams in India and also has coaching experience in Spain and Afghanistan.
IFL 2 teams:
Bengaluru United (Bengaluru, Karnataka), MYJ-GMSC (Mumbai, Maharashtra), Morning Star (Diphu, Assam), NEROCA (Imphal, Manipur), SAT (Tirur, Kerala), Sporting Clube de Goa (Panaji, Goa), United SC (Kalyani, West Bengal), Sporting Bengaluru (Bengaluru, Karnataka), Delhi FC (New Delhi), Sudeva Delhi FC (New Delhi).
