Indian football calendar for October 2026: ISL starts as India host Brazil and Uruguay
India’s football calendar for October 2026 includes the start of the 2026-27 Indian Super League and two senior international friendlies in Kolkata — Brazil on Oct. 3 and Uruguay on Oct. 6. The month also features AFC club fixtures involving Indian sides and several youth tournaments and preparatory friendlies across age groups.
India’s senior men’s team returned to action with a 1-1 draw against Panama in a recent friendly and, under coach Khalid Jamil, will host five-time World Champions Brazil on Oct. 3 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata. That meeting will be the first-ever encounter between India and Brazil. India’s final friendly of the international window is scheduled for Oct. 6 against Uruguay at the VYBK in Kolkata.
The 2026-27 Indian Super League is set to begin on Oct. 10, with Bengaluru FC meeting SC Delhi in the season curtain-raiser. The schedule places most ISL fixtures on weekends through October, and defending champions East Bengal will start their campaign against Churchill Brothers in the second match week on Oct. 18. The ISL lineup for the season comprises 13 clubs: East Bengal FC, Mohun Bagan SG, Mumbai City FC, Bengaluru FC, Punjab FC, Kerala Blasters FC, SC Delhi, Inter Kashi, Chennaiyin FC, Odisha FC, FC Goa, NorthEast United FC and Churchill Brothers FC.
The India women’s senior team will play its first matches since winning the 2026 SAFF Women’s Championship in June, hosting Russia for two friendlies in Kolkata. Those fixtures mark the Blue Tigresses’ return to international action following their June tournament victory.
The India U-15 men’s program has seen schedule changes: Iran U-15 and Uzbekistan U-15 will not travel to India for the friendlies earlier announced by the AIFF, and the planned three back-to-back Uzbekistan fixtures in Bengaluru have been cancelled. Instead, the India U-15 side is scheduled to travel to Doha to face Qatar and Oman, where they are expected to play two matches against each opponent with dates and venues to be confirmed. The squad will then travel to Azerbaijan for the 2026 FIFA U-15 World Cup & Festival, where the Blue Colts are set to play five matches in the competition.
Joakim Alexandersson will lead the India U-17 women’s team into the 2027 AFC U-17 Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers in October; their qualification group contains Iraq U-17 women, Syria U-17 women and Malaysia U-17 women. Only the group winners will advance to the main tournament, making each qualifier result decisive for India’s chances of progress.
On the continental club front, East Bengal remain India’s sole representative in the 2026-27 AFC Champions League 2 after a 2-2 away draw with Al-Hussein SC; they will play their first home match of the competition against Al-Shorta and later travel to Oman to face Al-Seeb in October. FC Goa will compete in the 2026-27 AFC Challenge League, drawn in Group C with FC Regar-Tadaz, Fortis FC 20 and Qadsia SC, and will travel to Kuwait to play all three group matches there.
Key confirmed fixtures for October now include India v Brazil on Oct. 3 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, India v Uruguay on Oct. 6 at the VYBK in Kolkata, and the ISL opener on Oct. 10 when Bengaluru FC meet SC Delhi; East Bengal’s home ACL match against Al-Shorta and FC Goa’s three Challenge League matches in Kuwait are also scheduled during the month.