Who are the top scorers in every single edition of the IWL?

Sabitra Bhandari, Bala Devi have etched their names in IWL history.

The 2025-26 Indian Women’s League campaign is going to kick off on Saturday, December 20 (2025), onwards. It’ll serve as some much-needed entertainment for the Indian football fans, who are being starved of competitive league football in the 2025-26 campaign because of the uncertainty around the future of the Indian Super League (ISL).

The 2025-26 IWL campaign will see six of the best women’s teams in Indian football facing off against each other in a league format. There will be two phases in the upcoming campaign, with all teams facing off against one another twice in a league format to decide the champions.

Since its inception in 2016, the Indian Women’s League has provided a lot of entertainment for Women’s Football fans in India. There have been a number of glittering talents to take part in it, including some devastating forwards who have taken the league by storm. A few strikers in the IWL have scored a ton of goals to clinch the Golden Boot award and elevate the overall quality of their teams. With that said, here we look at the top scorers in every edition of the Indian Women’s League.

Kamala Devi – 2016-17 IWL

The first-ever edition of the IWL was held in the 2016-17 season, being held across six states including Manipur, Odisha and Maharashtra. It was the Manipur-based team Eastern Sporting Union from Imphal that reigned supreme after taking part in a competitive title race with Rising Students WFC.

Eastern Sporting Union finished second at the end of the league stages, before defeating Alakhpura in the semifinal and Rising Student in the finale to clinch the first-ever IWL championship. It was also veteran India international Kamala Devi who spearheaded their sprint towards the title.

Devi was at her clinical best in the first IWL campaign, scoring 12 goals in seven appearances for Eastern Sporting Union. That included a splendid hattrick against Alakhpura in the semifinal and a match-winning brace against Rising Students in the final, with Kamala playing a vital role in her side’s championship success.

Bala Devi – 2017-18 IWL

The all-time leading goal scorer for the Indian women’s football team, Bala Devi has also made quite a significant impact in the Indian Women’s League as well. After s pending the 2016-17 campaign with Manipur Police, Bala Devi joined KRYPHSA WFC for the 2017-18 campaign.

It turned out to be prolific for the KRYPHSA side, with Bala Devi leading the charge for them in inspiring fashion. Bala had an impressive outing for them in the league stages, scoring 12 of their 24 goals and helping them top the initial stages as well. Even though KRYPHSA lost to Rising Students Club in the semifinals, Bala Devi’s 12 goals helped her comfortably win the Golden Boot.

Bala Devi – 2018-19 IWL

With the Indian Women’s League expanded to a 12-team affair from the 2018-19 campaign, it resulted in more matches for every team and the chance to score more goals for Bala Devi! She joined back with Manipur Police WFC for the 2018-19 IWL season, and was able to significantly amplify her goal-scoring form as well.

In the five matches in the group stages, Bala Devi ran rampant on her opponents. She scored 22 goals in four matches, contributing for the majority of Manipur Police’s 37 goals in the group stages. She then blew away Gokulam Kerala WFC in the semifinals, scoring all four goals in Manipur Police’s 4-2 thrashing.

Even though Bala Devi couldn’t score in the 2018-19 IWL finale, where her side lost to Sethu WFC, she was able to amass 26 goals in the campaign and comfortably won the top scorer award.

Sabitra Bhandari – 2019-20 IWL

The first-ever foreigner to win the Golden Boot in an Indian Women’s League campaign was in the 2019-20 campaign, when Nepal football legend Sabitra Bhandari was signed by Gokulam Kerala WFC. In what was her second campaign in the IWL, Bhandari was able to oust her opponents in compelling fashion.

The Nepali forward helped Gokulam Kerala dominate the group stages, with the Malabarians winning all five matches and scoring 28 goals. Bhandari was able to score 13 goals out of that, before also playing a key role in Gokulam Kerala’s win over Sethu in the semi-finals – scoring a brace in their 3-0 thrashing.

Bhandari capped off a wonderful campaign by scoring the winning goal for Gokulam Kerala in the final against KRYPHSA in their 3-2 win in the final, finishing the campaign with 16 goals and helping her side win their first-ever IWL title.

Elshaddai Acheampong – 2021-22 IWL

The 2021-22 IWL campaign happened after the 2020-21 edition didn’t take place because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2021-22 edition saw a major structural change to the campaign, with 12 teams taking place in a league format where every team played each other once.

That didn’t matter at all for the extremely dominant Gokulam Kerala side, who absolutely crushed their competition to win all 11 matches. The Malabarians scored a whopping 66 goals in the 2021-22 IWL campaign, and 20 of those goals were scored by their star striker Elshaddai Acheampong.

The Ghanaian forward scored almost one-third of her side’s goals, tormenting defenders with her movement and ruthless finishing ability. She was able to pip Manisha Kalyan to win the Golden Boot and help her side retain their IWL title in dominant fashion.

Sabitra Bhandhari – 2022-23 IWL

After opting against playing in the 2021-22 IWL campaign, Sabitra Bhandhari was able to make a triumphant return to the competition in the 2022-23 campaign with Gokulam Kerala. The Malabarians opted to replace Acheampong with Bhandari and were able to get an upgrade over that position!

Bhandari soared in her return to the Indian Women’s Football scene, as she helped her side win their group in dominant fashion, winning six of their seven matches. Bhandari scored 26 goals in the group stages for Gokulam Kerala, absolutely tormenting her opponents across the seven matches.

She was also able to score a brace in the semifinal win over Eastern Sporting Union before also scoring in Gokulam Kerala’s 5-0 thrashing of Kickstart WFC in the 2022-23 IWL final. The Nepal forward helped the Malabarians surge their way to retaining their IWL title and scored 29 goals to win the Golden Boot.

Fazila Ikwaput – 2023-24 IWL

The renowned Ugandan Women’s Football Team star Fazila Ilkwaput made her introduction to Indian Football in the 2023-24 campaign, when she was roped in by Gokulam Kerala. The Ugandan forward needed very little time to make instant impact for the Malabarians in the IWL.

Ikwaput ran rampant on the majority of her opponents in the IWL, helping Gokulam Kerala make a charge for their fourth successive title. She was able to score 20 goals in the 12 matches for the Gokulam Kerala side, which included multiple hat-tricks as well. However, Ilwaput’s heroics wasn’t enough to help her side win the IWL title, which was won by Odisha WFC, even though the Ugandan ace won the Golden Boot rather comfortably.

Fazila Ikwaput – 2024-25 IWL

Fazila Ikwaput was determined to help Gokulam Kerala retain their IWL championship in the 2024-25 IWL campaign, and was more prepared for the matches in the division after having spent one season in the league already.

That is why she was able to amplify her brutal goal-scoring instincts for the Malabarians in the campaign, scoring 24 goals in 14 games for her side. Ikwaput was able to score five hat-tricks in the 2024-25 IWL campaign, but still wasn’t able to guide her side to the title.

Gokulam Kerala finished in second place in the table, behind winners East Bengal, but Ikwaput won the Golden Boot with 24 goals. She’s now joined up with the Red & Gold Brigade and aims to win the IWL Golden Boot for the third straight campaign in the 2025-26 campaign.

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