ISL 2025-26: East Bengal FC season review

The Red and Gold Brigade lifted their first-ever ISL trophy

East Bengal FC reached the pinnacle of Indian football at the end of an eventful Indian Super League (ISL) 2025-26 campaign, as they finished the campaign as the league winners to end a 22-year wait for a national league title.

In what was a rollercoaster of a campaign for the Torchbearers, they ended it thrillingly to be able to pip Mohun Bagan SG to win their first-ever ISL championship.

There were a few notable ups and downs in East Bengal’s campaign, but they showcased a lot of grit and determination to fight their way to important victories in the 13-match ISL campaign.

The Torchbearers’ heavy investment in the 2025 summer window to strengthen their squad depth and improve their foreign core paid off lavishly, with many of their new signings proving to be decisive in their title success.

Oscar Bruzon was able to help them play some highly entertaining attacking football and also improve their overall shape to enable them to break down.

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The Red & Gold Brigade ended the thrilling campaign in the first position, helping them win their first national league title since the 2003-04 season. In this article we take a look at the season review of East Bengal FC.

East Bengal FC’s performance in ISL 2025-26

Matches Played: 13

League Position: 1st

Won: 7

Draws: 5

Lost: 1

Points: 26

Total Goals Scored (GF): 30

Total Goals Conceded (GA): 11

Top performers

Youssef Ezzejjari

In the form of Spanish striker Youssef Ezzejjari, East Bengal finally got the ruthless forward that they lacked in their first five years in the ISL.

The Spaniard was roped in as Dimitrio Dimantakos’ successor, and this decision proved to be excellent for Oscar Bruzon & co. Ezzejjari required very little time to adapt to the demands of the ISL, taking the league by storm from the first game itself.

He scored four goals in the first two games, proving his quality as an excellent box striker who could efficiently finish off chances. 

Ezzejjari might’ve experienced a few blips in form at times, but he maintained admirable consistency to keep helping East Bengal rack up the wins.

He ended the ISL campaign with 11 goals, bagging the Golden Boot and playing a crucial role in their title win – even scoring a goal in their final win over Inter Kashi that helped seal the title.

Anwar Ali

It was in the 2025-26 ISL that Anwar Ali finally justified why East Bengal had paid such massive money to acquire him from Mohun Bagan SG.

Ali was an inspired figure for the Torchbearers in the campaign, being an absolute rock at the backline and even holding together a rigorous defensive structure despite having to play with different centre-back partners – which included Jeakson Singh as a CB partner at times as well.

Anwar played a key role in helping East Bengal keep five clean sheets and only concede 11 goals in ISL 2025-26. He even scored three crucial goals.

Miguel Figueira

Miguel Figueira proved to be the majestic no.10 that East Bengal had been lacking in the ISL, as he made a major impact for them in his first season.

Having already played under Oscar Bruzon in Bangladesh, Figueira needed little time to adapt to his playing style, and he helped transform East Bengal’s attacking intensity as well.

The Brazilian midfielder scored two goals and provided five assists in 11 appearances in the 2025-26 ISL, being a thorn for the opponents.

His impressive creativity levels and ability to drive East Bengal forward helped increase their fear factor level, with Figueira’s excellent delivery playing a key role in East Bengal’s title win.

Underperformer of the season

Jay Gupta

East Bengal paid a decent amount of money to acquire Jay Gupta before the 2025-26 season, knowing that they needed to improve their left-back position.

However, the former FC Goa defender failed to bring that spark to their left-back position and couldn’t really meet the expectations of his gaffer – lacking consistency with his performances.

Gupta made 10 appearances in ISL 2025-26, including just one start, and he only bagged an assist. He struggled under the intensity of the competition, failing to keep opponents’ wingers quiet and often being outwitted.

Gupta only made eight tackles and seven interceptions in his 10 appearances, and his lack of attacking threat forced Oscar Bruzon to transform PV Vishnu into the left-back role and play him in that position.

Top performances of the season

• Mumbai City 1-2 East Bengal
• Inter Kashi 1-2 East Bengal
• East Bengal 7-0 Mohammedan SC

Managerial report card

Oscar Bruzon was given free rein to shape the East Bengal squad in the manner he deemed fit at the start of the 2025-26 season, and the results turned out to be highly prolific.

The Spanish gaffer went to work right after the 2024-25 campaign ended, overseeing a reshuffle in the squad by getting rid of players who didn’t fit his system, as well as signing players he had good knowledge of working with or at least knew would be perfect for his style.

In came a load of new foreign players and key domestic signings, which greatly elevated the overall quality of the East Bengal squad.

Bruzon did a pretty good job at tinkering as well as tweaking aspects of his East Bengal system throughout the 2025-26 ISL campaign, ensuring that they maintained a veil of unpredictability and could grind their way to victories consistently.

He kept changing his formation quite often, ensuring that East Bengal maintained different shapes when in & out of possession of the ball. Bruzon maintained a really slick attacking system, ensuring that his side not only controlled possession, but moved it quickly and smoothly to help create trouble in the opposition box.

Moreover, Bruzon’s utilisation of his squad players and excellent sense of substitution proved to be vital for East Bengal getting some crucial results throughout the season.

The Spaniard made the Torchbearers hard to break down and defeat, and added that motivation and grinding ability in his players to be able to come back from adversity to get major victories and claim the title.

Lessons learned from this season

The rollercoaster of a ride that East Bengal had in the 2025-26 ISL was definitely thrilling to watch, and the campaign also points to a few things to be wary of for the seasons ahead.

The Torchbearers arguably had one of the strongest and most well-filled squads in the ISL this season, which also included quality substitute options, and that obviously played a crucial role in helping turn some draws into wins.

Hence, the Red & Gold Brigade have to be aware of keeping a hold of a strong squad with at least two quality options for every position on the pitch.

That can ensure that even if injuries plague their squad, there will be enough quality in the backup options to ensure their intensity in performance levels are not compromised.

Moreover, East Bengal would also learn from some shortcomings that they had this season, which were fortunately made up for by others’ heroics. The Torchbearers still need to resolve their left-back situation because Vishnu isn’t a natural there.

Moreover, they also probably need to invest in a new right-winger to add more threat on that side of the pitch.

Overall, it was a memorable campaign for Oscar Bruzon’s side – but they need to continue making quality additions to bolster their chances of continuing the ISL scene for many years to come.

Fans view

For the East Bengal fans, this campaign was a truly amazing experience where they went through a flurry of different emotions! The Torchbearers filled their team’s matches with large attendances all throughout the campaign, adding even more energy levels and motivation to the players to push through to get the wins.

They definitely tasted the fruit of their hard work at the end of the 2025-26 ISL, seeing their East Bengal side win a major national league championship after 22 years.

The Torchbearers supporters are, understandably, ecstatic to see their team at the top of the Indian football scene again and the fact that they’ve gotten bragging rights over rivals Mohun Bagan as well.

However, many East Bengal fans will want to ensure that their management and team don’t let up and are able to sustain their own at the top of the ISL for years to come.

They’ll be vocal in urging the club to keep a hold of their crucial players that helped win the 2025-26 ISL, as well as making some more quality signings to strengthen East Bengal’s push for titles next season and beyond that.

What’s next for East Bengal FC?

East Bengal will need to refresh up and get ready for the start of the 2026-27 season quickly. The Torchbearers’ title win means that they will be playing in the AFC Champions League 2 playoffs, and they’ll be determined to create a strong squad to compete in it.

The Red & Gold Brigade, of course, have an important 2026 summer transfer window ahead of them as well. In this, they’ll need to make some tough decisions about which players to keep a hold off, which ones to sell and the kind of signings they want to make to strengthen their squad.

They would also be determined to strongly compete in the Durand Cup and other cup competitions next season to try and win more silverware. Of course, a lot of questions are around the future of Oscar Bruzon at East Bengal after the Spaniard indicated that he would leave after the 2025-26 season is over.

Whether the Torchbearers can convince him to stay on for a longer period is left to be seen. If that doesn’t happen, then East Bengal must look for another head coach – who will bring their own philosophy and style of play with them.

Some interesting times are ahead for East Bengal, who will need to operate at their efficient best to be able to dominate the Indian football scene next season as well.

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