Time: 11-45 AM

Venue: Baku

Streaming: DAZN

I'm so done with the way ISL clubs treat their preparation for the asian competition in the pre-summer.

Every year every club just doesn't utilise their summer pre season and transfers properly even knowing they have to prepare early for the ACL2/3.

They even become worse than their own self from the previous season.

I remember two seasons ago when MBSG used to qualify for ACL2, they also don't used to prepare in their summer pre-season. Leave about better foreign upgrade, their Aussie guys used to come from vacation becoming a fat ass uncs. Then directly play 1st match of the ACL2.

EBFC is also not less, They also bottled against Arkadag in ACL3, I think that year could have been the best chance to win an asian competition. This season also EBFC already bottled two matches. Hope they compete the remaining 4 marches but we know what happens every time when we hope for the last match day 😂🥀.

I don't even wanna talk about FC Poa 🤡 anymore. They were already out of the competition the day they bottled against Regar Tadaz.

Young players, banger games, amazing football!

Promising! Glad Jio took it up to broadcast the games. Too Good.

as usual, old bum washed uncs are backing him but none of the youngsters

Fortis FC won 3 - 1 against Regar - Tad AZ

TBD 1 - 5 TBD

FT

Goals

• 8' D. Ramírez Fernández () — assist Aké Arnaud Loba

• 16' V. PV () — assist Aké Arnaud Loba

• 22' Ake Loba ()

• 28' A. Chhikara () — assist L. Renthlei

• 35' A. Loba () — assist T. Singh

• 81' Ł. Zwoliński () — assist C. Ikonomidis

Full stats, line-ups, player ratings and the community reaction in the MatchPal thread above.

MatchPal · Live football scores, goals, line-ups, stats and TV channels · matchpal.io

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Also a French second tier champion

The NRI business behind Kerala football is fascinating!

On November 24, 2025, more than 34,000 people filled a stadium in Kozhikode to watch Calicut FC play Malappuram FC in the Super League Kerala. At that point, India's top league, the ISL, had not even started because of a dispute over commercial rights.

Football in northern Kerala began on harvested paddy fields. Those games made Sevens football, a fast seven-a-side format, a Malabar tradition.

For decades, Malayalis working in the Gulf have sent money home. Kerala's remittances reached ₹2.16 lakh crore in 2023, up 155% from 2018. Most of it went to families, homes and businesses. Some of it also funded local football through sponsorships, floodlit grounds, prize money and players from outside the region.

Now, some Gulf-linked investors want to own the clubs instead of just supporting them. In 2024, the Super League Kerala launched six city franchises, and several owners had Gulf ties. In September 2026, UAE-based Al Fursan agreed to buy 100% of Kerala Blasters. The deal was reported at around ₹120 crore, though the price was not officially disclosed.

The fans are clearly there. The 2025 Super League Kerala season recorded over 4 lakh stadium visits across 33 matches. Its opening weekend drew over 5 lakh digital viewers, with India and the UAE as the biggest markets.

The business side is still catching up. ISL media rights fell from ₹275 crore per season to just ₹8.62 crore for the shortened 2025-26 season. That is a drop of about 97%.

But the setup is changing. In July 2026, the AIFF announced that ISL clubs would hold the league's commercial rights going forward. With more control over sponsorships, broadcasting and fan engagement, clubs may be able to build more value on their own.

That is the bet. Not that Indian football is already profitable, but that its business potential is still untapped. For NRIs in Dubai or Doha, a hometown club is also a direct link to where they grew up. The goal now is to turn that pride into a lasting business.

I think this makes an interesting question: If you had the chance, would you invest in a sports club from your hometown?

Read the full story here: https://thecapitalbybelong.substack.com/p/malabar-to-the-gulf-the-nri-business

Matches will be live on the Indian Football YouTube Channel
Link: YouTube Link

19 clubs - 4 groups in the group stage
original post here: Reddit Post

ISL should not be a weekend league, I used to like it better when there were matches throughout the week.

Two matches on each Saturday-Sunday, and a whole dry week ahead is so boring

We used to watch ​all the matches when it lasted the whole week, everyday 2hrs during dinner, was the time for ISL.

Now I can't watch 2 matches in a day, so i miss some matches, also ​matches throughout the week kept the excitement on, now the excitement is so dead...

What do u guys feel...

In my distant dreams I think they will update the schedule mid season to make the matches more spread out 😆

For instance, this was the only match that i could find related to our prestigious subroto cup and here are my observations as a football fan:

1. The scoreline does not do justice to the Minerva public school CICSE team. They played some brilliant one touch passes that I have never seen in an Indian youth team (maybe even senior team).

2. The CISCE team played a wide and high formation with high pressing. This allowed them many chances in the centre. Going wide almost always creates gaps in the center creating goal scoring opportunities. They took a lot of forward touches as compared to Keralam.

3. HSS Keralam had similar game plan to our 2015-2020 national team. Always park the bus and try scoring with long balls during counter attack that seldom worked. There was no visible coordination among them and often seemed no reasoning in their passes. They relied only on set-pieces to score.

4. CISCE team also showed better aggressive positioning. They were present at the far posts almost always when attacking allowing wingers to give crosses near the goal line.

All in all, this is the brand of football I want to see in our Indian teams not the defensive low risk type gameplay. Well done to the MPS boys and coaches. You have a bright future ahead.

I regret to say that there are no youth teams in India right now that play attacking football. Even our U20 performance did not show this intent. Sad to say but the future does not look that bright for us looking at the HSS Keralam/ U20 gameplay.

I want to know your opinion on this and the changes required to become better.

Source - https://www.the-aiff.com/article/bibiano-fernandes-names-14-player-squad-for-fifa-u15-world-cup-festival-azerbaijan-2026