Kerala Blasters v Mumbai City: head-to-head ahead of ISL 2026-27 clash
Kerala Blasters FC will host Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday, October 25, in an Indian Super League 2026-27 fixture. Kerala arrive having lost their previous match, while Mumbai were held to a draw by Punjab FC after conceding a late equaliser.
The two clubs have met 25 times across competitions, with Mumbai City winning 12 and Kerala seven; their meetings have included controversial refereeing incidents, heavy scorelines, heated contests and match-winning moments. Supporters and club channels have already signalled the importance of the fixture on social media: All eyes on Sunday night 💪#KBFCMCFC #MGISL13 #AamchiCity 🔵 pic.twitter.com/OrHSB7jSZg
In the ISL's opening years between 2014 and 2016 the teams faced each other six times, with Mumbai City claiming two wins, Kerala one and three matches finishing level. The period featured a standout result in 2016 when Mumbai City beat Kerala 5-0 at home, a match in which Diego Forlan scored a hat-trick.
The 2017-18 season produced controversy when Kerala won 1-0 at the Mumbai Football Arena after Ian Hume scored from a quickly taken free-kick amid debate over an offside call. The following season, 2018-19, Mumbai recorded a 6-1 victory at the Mumbai Football Arena; Modou Sougou scored four goals in that match and Kerala subsequently dismissed manager David James.
In 2019-20 Mumbai claimed a 1-0 away win in which Amrinder Singh made a series of spectacular saves; Amrinder now represents Kerala Blasters. Mumbai completed a league double over Kerala in 2020-21 during their title-winning campaign, while Kerala returned a double over Mumbai in 2021-22 as they finished runners up; Mumbai then regained both league wins in 2022-23.
The 2023-24 season featured two heated encounters: Mumbai won the home fixture 2-1 at the Mumbai Football Arena with both teams seeing players sent off, and Kerala won the reverse match 2-0 at the Kaloor stadium. Separately, Kerala recorded an 8-0 victory over Mumbai City FC Reserves in the 2024 Durand Cup, their biggest win in any competition, a result that came against Mumbai’s reserve side rather than the senior team.
Mumbai edged Kerala 1-0 in the Super Cup last season, a result that dented Kerala’s hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. Their most recent senior meeting occurred in Kerala during the shortened 2025-26 ISL season, when Lallianzuala Chhangte’s solitary goal secured a 1-0 win for Mumbai.
With both sides arriving off setbacks, Mumbai will aim to extend their recent run of favourable results against Kerala while the Blasters seek to halt that sequence and revive their campaign; the match is Kerala’s first home game of the season, with a packed and vocal crowd expected and renewed optimism following the arrival of new investors and fans’ hopes of finally winning silverware. Manolo Marquez’s Mumbai City FC will contend with a few injury concerns from their previous outing and will look to their experienced players and leaders to perform. Kerala Blasters FC will host Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday, October 25; the clubs have met 25 times previously — once in the Durand Cup, once in the Super Cup and 23 times in the Indian Super League (ISL).
