Indian football calendar for May 2026: AFC U17 Men’s and Women's Asian Cup, SAFF Women’s Championship and ISL in spotlight

Blue Tigers will face Jamaica first in the Unity Cup

For any domestic campaign, the month of May normally signals the end of the season. This is the month when the majority of the leagues around the globe are wrapping up, as players get into vacation mode after the end of the campaign. Of course, that isn’t exactly the case for those involved in Indian football, which is poised to move into the business end of the campaign in May (2026).

The Indian Super League (ISL) campaign is going to come to a thrilling finish in May, with multiple teams in the running for the title in this shortened campaign. Moreover, the Indian men’s and women’s teams will both be in action this month in some competitive tournaments, as they aim to improve their form and climb up their respective FIFA World Rankings tables.

On top of all that, many other competitions in Indian football will have their culmination in May (2026). Here, we look at the schedule of Indian football, as part of announced matches, in May 2026.

Indian Football Team

The Indian Men’s football team were able to get their 2026 off to a promising start by securing a 2-1 win over Hong Kong in their final 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. They are now going to see a spike in competitiveness when they take part in the 2026 Unity Cup in London, England, in May.

Indeed, the Blue Tigers are going to part of this four-team tournament and are assured of playing two matches. They are going to face a strong Jamaica side, that almost qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in their first match. The Indian side are also poised to face either Nigeria or Zimbabwe in their second match, depending on how the result for their first one goes like.

28 May: Jamaica vs India at 12:00 am IST ( 27th May night )

30 May: Zimbabwe/ Nigeria vs India (yet to be fixed)

Indian Women’s Football Team

The Indian women’s football team have had a reasonably disappointing start to 2026, with their underwhelming outing at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 not helping things. The Blue Tigresses have lost three of their four matches this year so far, and look to improve their record in their upcoming participation in the SAFF Women’s Championship.

Indeed, India will operate as the host for the 2026 edition of the tournament, which will feature six teams. The Blue Tigresses are poised to face off against Bangladesh and the Maldives in the group stages, with the top two from this moving on to the semi-final. Having won the SAFF Women’s Championship five times, with the last one coming in 2019, the Blue Tigresses will be eager to reclaim the title at their own yard.

25 May: Maldives vs India at 7:30 PM IST

31 May: India vs Bangladesh at 7:30 PM IST

India U17 Men’s National Team

The India U-17 Men’s national football team have impressed under Bibiano Fernandes recently, but they will now face a stern test in the form of the AFC U17 Men’s Asian Cup in May! This will mark the first time for the Blue Colts to play in the competition since the 2023 edition, and they will be eager to prove their quality against the best.

Unfortunately for India U17, they’ve been placed in a tough group alongside Australia, Uzbekistan and North Korea in the U17 AFC Asian Cup 2026! It’ll take something of a miracle for them to get out of the group stages, as Bibiano Fernandes aims to motivate his side to perform at the ultimate underdog and surprise many fans.

6 May: Australia U17 vs India U17 at 9:30 PM IST

10 May: India U17 vs Uzbekistan U17 at 10:30 PM IST

13 May: North Korea U17 vs India U17 at 9:30 PM IST

India Women’s U17 Football Team

Much like their men’s counterparts, the India U17 women’s football team will also be taking part in the U17 AFC Women’s Asian Cup in May. This marks the first time since 2005 that the Young Tigresses have qualified for this tournament, raising the amount of excitement around them playing at the highest form of the continental level as well.

However, the India U17 women’s side has been placed in a really tricky group in the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup against heavyweights Australia and Japan, as well as Lebanon. They’ll need to produce some really resilient performances to be able to pull off a few surprises and potentially get past the group stages.

2 May: Australia U17 Women vs India U17 Women at 5:00 PM IST

5 May: India U17 Women vs Japan U17 Women at 5:00 PM IST

8 May: Lebanon U17 Women vs India U17 Women at 1:00 PM IST

Indian Super League

The 2025-26 Indian Super League campaign will finish off dramatically in May (2026), with the title race expected to come to a thrilling finale in the final few weeks of the competition. There are some highly entertaining matches in store in May (2026), which include the Kolkata derby between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

Moreover, some key games involving FC Goa vs Mohun Bagan, Jamshedpur FC vs Bengaluru and Mumbai City vs East Bengal are all expected to have an impact on the title race in terms of deciding who reigns supreme as the winners of the 2025-26 ISL campaign at the end of it.

May 1-May 17

Date	Time (IST)	Match	Venue
Fri, 1 May	7:30 PM	Jamshedpur FC vs FC Goa	JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur
Sat, 2 May	5:00 PM	Inter Kashi vs NorthEast United FC	Ekana Stadium, Varanasi
Sat, 2 May	7:30 PM	Sporting Delhi vs Punjab FC	JLN Stadium, Delhi
Mon, 4 May	7:30 PM	Odisha FC vs Bengaluru FC	Fatorda Stadium, Goa
Tue, 5 May	7:30 PM	Mumbai City FC vs East Bengal FC	Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai
Wed, 6 May	7:30 PM	Punjab FC vs Chennaiyin FC	Guru Nanak Stadium, Delhi
Fri, 8 May	5:00 PM	Sporting Delhi vs Odisha FC	JLN Stadium, Delhi
Sat, 9 May	5:00 PM	FC Goa vs Mohun Bagan SG	Fatorda Stadium, Goa
Sat, 9 May	7:30 PM	Jamshedpur FC vs Bengaluru FC	JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur
Sun, 10 May	5:00 PM	Kerala Blasters FC vs Mohammedan SC	JLN Stadium, Kochi
Sun, 10 May	7:30 PM	NorthEast United FC vs Chennaiyin FC	Indira Gandhi Stadium, Guwahati
Mon, 11 May	7:30 PM	East Bengal FC vs Punjab FC	Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata
Tue, 12 May	7:30 PM	Mohun Bagan SG vs Inter Kashi	Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata
Fri, 15 May	7:30 PM	Mohammedan SC vs Mumbai City FC	Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata
Sat, 16 May	5:00 PM	Odisha FC vs Punjab FC	Fatorda Stadium, Goa
Sun, 17 May	5:00 PM	Sporting Delhi vs Inter Kashi	Delhi
Sun, 17 May	7:30 PM	Mohun Bagan SG vs East Bengal FC	Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata
Sun, 17 May	TBD	Kerala Blasters FC vs FC Goa	Kochi
Sun, 17 May	TBD	Chennaiyin FC vs Bengaluru FC	Chennai
Sun, 17 May	TBD	NorthEast United FC vs Mohammedan SC	Guwahati
Sun, 17 May	TBD	Jamshedpur FC vs Odisha FC	Jamshedpur
Sun, 17 May	TBD	Inter Kashi vs East Bengal FC	Varanasi
Sun, 17 May	TBD	Mohun Bagan SG vs Sporting Delhi	Kolkata
Sun, 17 May	TBD	Punjab FC vs Mumbai City FC	Delhi

Indian Football League

The 2025-26 Indian Football League’s stage two will take place in May 2026, and this will have major repercussions on the next campaign. That is because this stage two will decide which team earns promotion into the 2026-27 ISL campaign, which will be finalised upon the finish of the ‘promotion round’ – where the top team will make its way to the ISL next season.

Moreover, the relegation round of the Indian Football League campaign will also finish off in May – with the bottom team at the end of this round being relegated to the Indian Football League 2 next season.

May 1-May 17

Matchday	Date	Time (IST)	Home Team	Away Team	Venue	City
MD 2	01-May-26	6:30 PM	Rajasthan United FC	Dempo SC	Namdhari Football Stadium	Sri Bhaini Sahib
MD 2	02-May-26	6:30 PM	Shillong Lajong FC	Chanmari FC	SSA Stadium	Shillong
MD 2	03-May-26	6:30 PM	Diamond Harbour FC	Sreenidi Deccan FC	Kalyani Stadium	Kalyani
MD 2	04-May-26	6:30 PM	Real Kashmir FC	Namdhari SC	Deccan Arena	Hyderabad
MD 2	05-May-26	6:30 PM	Gokulam Kerala FC	Aizawl FC	Deccan Arena	Hyderabad
MD 3	08-May-26	6:30 PM	Diamond Harbour FC	Rajasthan United FC	Kalyani Stadium	Kalyani
MD 3	09-May-26	6:30 PM	Chanmari FC	Dempo SC	Rajiv Gandhi Stadium	Aizawl
MD 3	10-May-26	6:30 PM	Sreenidi Deccan FC	Shillong Lajong FC	Deccan Arena	Hyderabad
MD 4	15-May-26	6:30 PM	Shillong Lajong FC	Rajasthan United FC	SSA Stadium	Shillong
MD 4	16-May-26	6:30 PM	Sreenidi Deccan FC	Chanmari FC	Deccan Arena	Hyderabad
MD 4	17-May-26	6:30 PM	Dempo SC	Diamond Harbour FC	Fatorda Stadium	Goa

Indian Football League 2

Much like the Indian Football League, the Indian Football League 2 will also finish off in style in May (2026). There are nine teams currently playing in the 2026 IFL 2 campaign, and the final bits of the campaign will be crucial in terms of determining which team goes up and which one goes down. The final matches of the IFL 2 season will take place in May, and fans can expect some thrilling contests.

May 2-May 15

Indian Women’s League

The 2025-26 Indian Women’s League campaign will resume from 27 April (2026) and the culmination of the campaign will take place in May. This includes the final matches of the campaign as part of the ‘phase 2’ of the season, where teams will fight to secure the best possible finish to the campaign.

East Bengal are currently leading the IWL table, with the likes of Sethu WFC and Nita WFC also lodging a strong challenge for the title. Moreover, with two teams set to be relegated at the end of the season, the relegation battle between multiple sides is also going to be a heated one in the final stretch of the campaign.

3 May-18 May

Match No	Day	Date	Home Team	Away Team	Venue	Time (IST)
33	Sunday	03-May-26	SESA Football Academy	Kickstart FC	NCE	15:00
34	Sunday	03-May-26	NITA FA	Garhwal United FC	NCE	19:30
35	Sunday	03-May-26	Sethu FC	Sreebhumi FC	East Bengal Ground	15:00
36	Sunday	03-May-26	East Bengal FC	Gokulam Kerala FC	East Bengal Ground	19:30
37	Wednesday	06-May-26	Garhwal United FC	Gokulam Kerala FC	NCE	15:00
38	Wednesday	06-May-26	NITA FA	Sethu FC	NCE	19:30
39	Wednesday	06-May-26	SESA Football Academy	Sreebhumi FC	East Bengal Ground	15:00
40	Wednesday	06-May-26	East Bengal FC	Kickstart FC	East Bengal Ground	19:30
41	Saturday	09-May-26	Kickstart FC	Gokulam Kerala FC	NCE	15:00
42	Saturday	09-May-26	Garhwal United FC	Sethu FC	NCE	19:30
43	Saturday	09-May-26	SESA Football Academy	East Bengal FC	East Bengal Ground	15:00
44	Saturday	09-May-26	Sreebhumi FC	NITA FA	East Bengal Ground	19:30
45	Tuesday	12-May-26	Sethu FC	SESA Football Academy	NCE	15:00
46	Tuesday	12-May-26	Garhwal United FC	Kickstart FC	NCE	19:30
47	Tuesday	12-May-26	Sreebhumi FC	Gokulam Kerala FC	East Bengal Ground	15:00
48	Tuesday	12-May-26	East Bengal FC	NITA FA	East Bengal Ground	19:30
49	Friday	15-May-26	SESA Football Academy	NITA FA	NCE	15:00
50	Friday	15-May-26	Gokulam Kerala FC	Sethu FC	NCE	19:30
51	Friday	15-May-26	Sreebhumi FC	Kickstart FC	East Bengal Ground	15:00
52	Friday	15-May-26	Garhwal United FC	East Bengal FC	East Bengal Ground	19:30
53	Monday	18-May-26	SESA Football Academy	Garhwal United FC	NCE	15:00
54	Monday	18-May-26	Kickstart FC	Sethu FC	NCE	19:30
55	Monday	18-May-26	Gokulam Kerala FC	NITA FA	East Bengal Ground	15:00
56	Monday	18-May-26	Sreebhumi FC	East Bengal FC	East Bengal Ground	19:30

Indian Women’s League 2

The final round of the 2025-26 Indian Women’s League 2 campaign will commence and finish in May (2026). There are going to be six teams to play in the final round of the 2025-26 IWL 2 campaign, with two of these teams having the chance to be promoted to the Indian Women’s League next season.

2 May-10 May

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