I-LEAGUE 2 2025-26 season, the third tier of Indian men’s football, will begin on 27 March and feature nine clubs competing in a single round-robin, home-and-away format. Each team will play eight matches, including four at home and four away.
On the opening day, Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC will host Sudeva Delhi FC at the KASA Stadium in Diphu, while GMSC will face Sporting Club Bengaluru at the Cooperage Stadium in Mumbai.
The season will run until 15 May, with the champions and runners-up earning promotion to the Indian Football League for the 2026–27 season. At the other end of the table, the ninth-placed team will be relegated to the I-League 3 for the 2026–27 season, alongside Sports Academy Tirur, which withdrew from the 2025–26 edition before the start of the competition.
The nine participating teams include two relegated sides from the I-League 2024–25 season: Delhi FC and Sporting Club Bengaluru. Two clubs have been promoted from I-League 3 2024–25: GMSC and Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC.
They will be joined by four returning teams from the previous I-League 2 campaign: United SC, NEROCA FC, Sporting Clube de Goa and FC Bengaluru United. Sudeva Delhi FC has also been reinstated to the league following a decision by the All India Football Federation Executive Committee.
Meanwhile, TRAU FC and KLASA FC were relegated from the 2024–25 I-League 2 season after finishing eighth and ninth, respectively.
