Which clubs are playing in the RFDL 2025-26?

54 teams are looking to dethrone Mohun Bagan as RFDL champions this season.

The Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) will feature a diverse mix of clubs from across India in the 2025-26 season, underlining the competition’s growing role as a national pathway for youth development. The competition will consist of 54 teams from nine regions this season.

The RFDL, which serves as one of the key age-group competitions in the Indian football calendar, has drawn participation from established professional clubs, historic state sides, and grassroots academies spread across multiple regional zones. Mohun Bagan Super Giant are the reigning and defending RFDL champions.

RFDL 2025-26 Format

This season follows the league’s format from last season, as it is divided into four phases: regional qualifiers, Zonal group stage, National group stage and the National championship. The zonal stage, similar to last season, will see the top teams from each region play more matches versus higher-quality opposition.

Each team will play at least 5 matches in the regional qualifiers of RFDL. 24 teams will qualify for the zonal group stage from the regional qualifiers. 12 sides from pan-India that top the zonal stage progress to the national group stage.

The National group stage will feature 30 matches across 2 groups, with the winners & runners-up from each group booking their spot for the national championship.

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List of all participating teams in RFDL 2025-26

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