2025–26 I-League 2

2025–26 I-League 2
Season	2025–26
Dates	27 March – 15 May 2026
Teams	10
Champions	Delhi (2nd title)
Promoted	Delhi; Bengaluru United
Relegated	SA Tirur; NEROCA
Matches	36
Goals	95 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	Himanshu Jangra (13 goals)
Biggest home win	Delhi 6–1 MYJ-GMSC; (26 April 2026)
Biggest away win	Sporting Bengaluru 3–5 NEROCA; (21 April 2026)
Highest scoring	Sporting Bengaluru 3–5 NEROCA; (21 April 2026)
Longest winning run	Delhi (4 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Delhi (5 matches)
Longest winless run	MYJ-GMSC (4 matches)
Longest losing run	MYJ-GMSC (4 matches)
	← 2024–25 2026–27 →

The 2025–26 I-League 2 was the 4th season of I-League 2, the third tier of the Indian football league system. Diamond Harbour were the defending champions, having won the 2024–25 I-League 2.^[7]

The season started with Morning Star taking on Sudeva Delhi on 27th March 2026 at KASA Stadium, Diphu, Assam. On 15 May 2026, the final last matchday of the league, Delhi were crowned as champions while Bengaluru United finished as runners-up, with both earning promotion to the 2026–27 Indian Football League. SA Tirur and NEROCA were relegated to the 2026–27 I-League 3.

Developments

On 6 January 2026, the AIFF announced that due to shortened season, the 7 I-League 2 clubs and 26 2024–25 I-League 3 clubs would be merged, along with additional 7 clubs to form a 40-member league for this season.^[8] However, on 20 February, the federation did a u-turn, declaring that the 2026 Indian Football League 2 would possibly be a 10-club single-leg tournament.^[9]

Nine clubs will participate in I-League 2, which will be played in a home-and-away single-leg format, with each team playing all opponents once, four at home and four away.^[10] Sporting are expected to choose Atal Stadium, Bambolim.^[11]

SA Tirur withdrew from the tournament citing a lack of funds for travel expenses.^[12]

Club changes

The following clubs changed since last season.

#	Club	Path
Entered I-League 2
1	Sporting Bengaluru	Relegation from I-League
2	Delhi^[13]	Relegation from I-League
3	Morning Star	Promotion from I-League 3
4	MYJ–GMSC	Promotion from I-League 3
5	Sudeva Delhi	Administratively admitted^[14]
Exited I-League 2
1	Diamond Harbour	Promotion to IFL
2	Chanmari	Promotion to IFL
3	TRAU	Relegation to I-League 3
4	KLASA	Relegation to I-League 3

Clubs

Delhi

Delhi teams:

~~SA Tirur~~

Bengaluru

Bengaluru teams:

Bengaluru United
Sporting Bengaluru

2026 Indian Football league 2 group stage clubs

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Bengaluru United	Bengaluru, Karnataka	Padukone–Dravid CSE Arena 1	250
MYJ–GMSC	Mumbai, Maharashtra	Cooperage Ground	5,000
Morning Star	Diphu, Assam	KASA Stadium	9,000
NEROCA	Imphal, Manipur	Khuman Lampak Stadium	35,285
Sporting Goa	Panaji, Goa	Bambolim Stadium	3,000
Sudeva Delhi	New Delhi, Delhi	Sudeva Residential Academy	TBC
United	Kalyani, West Bengal	Kalyani Stadium	20,000
Sporting Bengaluru	Bengaluru, Karnataka	HAL Stadium	TBC
Delhi	New Delhi, Delhi	Minerva Academy Ground	TBC

Personnel and sponsorship

Club	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Bengaluru United	Nallappan Mohanraj	Faiz Khan	Hyve	Nimidia
NEROCA	Gift Raikhan	Waikhom Rohit Meitei	Vamos
Sporting Goa	Armando Colaco	Joel Colaco	Six5Six	Models
MYJ–GMSC	Vijith Shetty	Kamlesh Nadar
United	Lal Kamal Bhowmick	Tarak Hembram	Trak-Only	Aahar Caterer
Sporting Bengaluru	Alex Praveen	Manoj Kannan
Delhi	Lobzang Dorji	Himanshu Jangra
Morning Star	Khogen Singh Wangkhem	Komalson Rongphar
Sudeva Delhi	Zahid Shafi Mir	Seiminmang Manchong

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Delhi (C, P)	8	5	2	1	20	10	+10	17	Promotion to IFL
2	Bengaluru United (P)	8	4	3	1	12	6	+6	15^[a]	Promotion to IFL
3	United	8	4	3	1	7	5	+2	15^[a]
4	Sporting Bengaluru	8	3	2	3	13	15	−2	11
5	Morning Star	8	2	4	2	10	7	+3	10
6	Sudeva Delhi	8	3	1	4	6	7	−1	10
7	Sporting Goa	8	3	1	4	8	11	−3	10
8	MYJ–GMSC	8	1	2	5	8	19	−11	5^[b]
9	NEROCA (R)	8	1	2	5	11	15	−4	5^[b]	Relegation to IL3
10	SA Tirur (R)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew & relegated to IL3

Source: IFL AIFF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) Head-to-head result; 3) goal difference; 4) goals scored; 5) fair play ranking; 6) drawing of lots.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1 2 Tied on head-to-head result and head-to-head goal difference. Total goal difference: Bengaluru United +6, United +2.
1 2 Head-to-head result: MYJ-GMSC 2–1 NEROCA.

Fixtures and results

Home \ Away	DEL	BEN	USC	KAM	SCG	SCB	SUD	NER	MYJ
Delhi	—			2–1	2–1	5–1			6–1
Bengaluru United	3–1	—	1–1		4–1	0–0		2–1
United	1–1		—	1–1			1–0	1–0
Morning Star		0–1		—	1–1		0–0		4–0
Sporting Goa			0–1		—	1–2	1–0		2–1
Sporting Bengaluru			2–0	0–1		—		3–5
Sudeva Delhi	1–2	1–0				0–2	—		1–0
NEROCA	1–1			2–2	0–1		1–3	—
MYJ–GMSC		1–1	0–1			3–3		2–1	—

Source: IFL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Results by games

Match	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Bengaluru United	D	D	W	W	L	W	W	D
Morning Star	D	L	D	W	L	W	D	D
Sporting Bengaluru	D	D	W	L	L	W	L	W
United SC	W	W	D	L	W	D	W	D
NEROCA	D	L	L	L	W	L	D	L
MYJ–GMSC	D	L	W	L	L	L	L	D
Delhi	D	W	W	W	W	L	W	D
Sudeva Delhi	D	L	L	W	W	L	L	W
Sporting Goa	L	W	D	W	L	W	L	L

Source: IFL
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Statistics

Top scorers

As of 15 May 2026

Rank	Player	Club	Goals^[15]
1	Himanshu Jangra	Delhi	13
2	Phijam Sanathoi Meitei	NEROCA FC	6
3	Akshunna Tyagi	Bengaluru United	4
3	Devadath S	Sporting Bengaluru	4
5	Kevisanyu Peseyie	Morning Star	3
	Rahul Paswan	Morning Star
	Akash Tirkey	Delhi
	Lijo K	Bengaluru United
	Karthick Thirumalai	Sporting Bengaluru
10	Aravindraj Rajan	MYJ–GMSC	2
	Shravan Shetty	MYJ–GMSC
	Alocious Muthayyan	NEROCA FC
	Lalsiem Chongloi	Morning Star
	Asif O M	Sporting Bengaluru
	Alister Anthony	Sporting Goa
	Joyson Regan Gauncar	Sporting Goa
	Singte George Kom	United
	Sumay Shome	United
	Wungshung Lungleng	Delhi
	Md Ejaj Ahamad	Sudeva Delhi

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Phijam Sanathoi Meetei	NEROCA	Sporting Bengaluru	5–3 (A)	20 April 2026	^[16]
Himanshu Jangra	Delhi	MYJ-GMSC	6–1 (H)	26 April 2026	^[17]
Himanshu Jangra	Delhi	Sporting Bengaluru	5–1 (H)	9 May 2026	^[18]

Discipline

Club discipline

Overall attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Morning Star	19,500	9,300	2,700	5,433	n/a^††
2	NEROCA	4,655	1,679	687	1,163	+72.0%^†
3	MYJ–GMSC	2,755	1,150	200	688	n/a^††
4	United	2,600	1,200	400	650	+136.4%^†
5	Sporting Goa	1,421	500	300	355	+21.6%^†
6	Sporting Bengaluru	617	452	65	205	−59.2%^†
7	Bengaluru United	898	293	100	179	−19.7%^†
8	Delhi	715	375	70	178	−97.6%^†
9	Sudeva Delhi	600	250	0	150	−41.6%^†
	League total	33,761	9,300	0	937	+27.5%^†

Source: I-League
Notes:
^† Delhi and Sporting Bengaluru played in the I-League in the 2024–25 season.
^†† Attendance count for MYJ–GMSC and Morning Star starts from this season.

Attendance by home matches

Team \ Match played	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Bengaluru United	293	100	175	130	200	898
Delhi	375	170	70	100	N/a	715
Morning Star	9,300	2,700	4,300	3,200	N/a	19,500
MYJ–GMSC	823	582	1,150	200	N/a	2,755
NEROCA	1,539	1,679	687	750	N/a	4,655
Sporting Goa	500	300	321	300	N/a	1,421
Sporting Bengaluru	452	100	65	N/a		617
Sudeva Delhi	200	0	250	150	N/a	600
United	400	700	300	1,200	N/a	2,600

Legend: Highest Lowest
Updated to game(s) played on 15 May 2026
Source: I-League

References

↑ "I-League 2 2025-26 to begin on March 27, schedule officially announced". Khel Now. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
↑ https://indianfootballleague.in/i-league-2-2025-26-to-begin-on-march-27/
↑ https://www.the-aiff.com/calendar?event=6&month=0&year=2026
↑ "Delhi FC crowned I-League 2 champions". ANI News. 16 May 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
↑ "Delhi FC and FC Bengaluru United promoted to Indian Football League after I-League 2 draws". The News Mill. 15 May 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
↑ "I-League 2 2025-26 to begin on March 27, schedule officially announced". Khel Now. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
↑ "Diamond Harbour win I-League 2 title, Chanmari FC promoted to I-League 2025–26". i-league.org. All India Football Federation. 19 April 2025. Archived from the original on 20 April 2025. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
↑ "ISL 2025-26 Season Start Date Confirmed As Government Takes Onus; I-League Plans Revealed". Times Now. 6 January 2026. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
↑ "Single leg home-and-away format for 10-team Indian Football League 2". The Times of India. 21 February 2026. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
↑ https://www.the-aiff.com/calendar?event=6&month=0&year=2026
↑ "Sporting Clube take on United Sporting in I-League 2 opener at home". The Times of India. 18 March 2026. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
↑ "I-League 2 2025-26 to begin on March 27, schedule officially announced". Khel Now. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
↑ "Delhi FC relegated to I-League 2". The New Indian Express. 11 February 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
↑ "I-League 2 2025-26 to begin on March 27". indianfootballleague.in. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
↑ "Statistics: I-League 2". Archived from the original on 28 January 2025. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
↑ "Sporting Club Bengaluru 3 – 5 NEROCA FC". Indian Football League. 20 April 2026. Retrieved 20 April 2026.
↑ "Delhi Football Club 6 – 1 GMSC". Indian Football League. 26 April 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
↑ "Delhi Football Club 5 – 1 Sporting Club Bengaluru". Indian Football League. 9 May 2026. Retrieved 9 May 2026.

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[table_hth_USC0.75324932520895-15] 1 2 Tied on head-to-head result and head-to-head goal difference. Total goal difference: Bengaluru United +6, United +2.

[table_hth_NER0.75324932520895-16] 1 2 Head-to-head result: MYJ-GMSC 2–1 NEROCA.

[1] "I-League 2 2025-26 to begin on March 27, schedule officially announced". Khel Now. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.

[2] ttps://indianfootballleague.in/i-league-2-2025-26-to-begin-on-march-27/

[3] ttps://www.the-aiff.com/calendar?event=6&month=0&year=2026

[4] "Delhi FC crowned I-League 2 champions". ANI News. 16 May 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026.

[5] "Delhi FC and FC Bengaluru United promoted to Indian Football League after I-League 2 draws". The News Mill. 15 May 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026.

[6] "I-League 2 2025-26 to begin on March 27, schedule officially announced". Khel Now. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.

[7] "Diamond Harbour win I-League 2 title, Chanmari FC promoted to I-League 2025–26". i-league.org. All India Football Federation. 19 April 2025. Archived from the original on 20 April 2025. Retrieved 20 April 2025.

[8] "ISL 2025-26 Season Start Date Confirmed As Government Takes Onus; I-League Plans Revealed". Times Now. 6 January 2026. Retrieved 6 January 2026.

[9] "Single leg home-and-away format for 10-team Indian Football League 2". The Times of India. 21 February 2026. Retrieved 21 February 2026.

[10] ttps://www.the-aiff.com/calendar?event=6&month=0&year=2026

[11] "Sporting Clube take on United Sporting in I-League 2 opener at home". The Times of India. 18 March 2026. Retrieved 26 March 2026.

[12] "I-League 2 2025-26 to begin on March 27, schedule officially announced". Khel Now. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.

[13] "Delhi FC relegated to I-League 2". The New Indian Express. 11 February 2026. Retrieved 6 June 2026.

[14] "I-League 2 2025-26 to begin on March 27". indianfootballleague.in. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 26 March 2026.

[17] "Statistics: I-League 2". Archived from the original on 28 January 2025. Retrieved 28 January 2025.

[18] "Sporting Club Bengaluru 3 – 5 NEROCA FC". Indian Football League. 20 April 2026. Retrieved 20 April 2026.

[19] "Delhi Football Club 6 – 1 GMSC". Indian Football League. 26 April 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.

[20] "Delhi Football Club 5 – 1 Sporting Club Bengaluru". Indian Football League. 9 May 2026. Retrieved 9 May 2026.

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