Can the Super Cup supercharge Indian football?

Eliminated from both the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers, the men’s national football team finds itself in a nightmare no footballing nation should be in.

Add to that the uncertainty over the Indian Super League’s future, and it becomes clear that Indian football is caught in a crisis of its own making.

But survival precedes resurrection. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) will hope the 2025–26 Super Cup is, after all, that faint glimmer of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

“Football is a matter of national interest. Individuals may change, but the game must go on,” said Kalyan Chaubey, the AIFF president.

Since replacing the Federation Cup in 2018, the Super Cup has been central to Odisha’s long-standing ambitions of becoming India’s sporting capital — with all but one edition staged in Bhubaneswar.

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Yet with every passing year, the gloss has worn thin, and the voices of coaches and players have echoed off concrete instead of being met with cheering stands. The AIFF has now decided to make it the curtain-raiser rather than the dying act this season, pitching its tent in Goa.

Choppy waters

The year 2025, up to October, has seen the AIFF and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) — the body that ran the ISL until the 2024–25 season — locked in a tug of war, with their relationship set to end in two months. A full season without top-flight football, India’s poor international performances, and Mohun Bagan Super Giant’s consecutive withdrawals from the AFC Champions League Two (ACL 2) threaten to dent India’s AFC coefficient ranking.

In the past, the same metric saw India’s slots reduced to zero in the AFC Champions League Elite — and history, if not careful, may yet rhyme.

In such times, the Super Cup provides a last-ditch opportunity to salvage continental berths for Indian clubs. The winner of the Super Cup will secure a place in the preliminary stage of ACL 2.

Yet familiar cracks remain — the tournament’s format has changed more frequently than a losing team’s tactics.

The 2025–26 Super Cup will feature 16 teams divided into four groups of four, with the group winners qualifying for the semifinals.

The tournament’s broadcast tells the tale of two cities: all matches in Fatorda will be televised or streamed, while those in Bambolim will unfold off-camera (at the time of writing).

That four of the 16 teams — FC Goa, Bengaluru FC, Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Mumbai City FC — have been spared travel and guaranteed broadcast coverage for all their group-stage matches also raises the age-old question: are all clubs truly equal before the federation?

Reshuffle of the roster

The uncertainty surrounding the ISL has affected transfers, sponsorships and finances for several clubs — notably Odisha FC, which will not participate in the Super Cup for the first time.

The club won the tournament in 2023 and reached the final in 2024. Meanwhile, Churchill Brothers — the 2013–14 Federation Cup champion — withdrew from last season’s Super Cup and have also opted out of this edition.

There are, however, reasons for excitement among fans. Three-time national champion Dempo Sports Club enters the Super Cup for the first time, replacing Real Kashmir and reviving a whiff of nostalgia for vintage Goan football.

SCHEDULE | Super Cup 2025-26

The Golden Eagles have struggled to rise to prominence since their withdrawal from the I-League in 2016.

Having earned successive promotions back to the I-League in 2024, Dempo finished in the top half last season and will hope to continue their ascent in the Super Cup.

Hyderabad FC, the 2021–22 ISL champion, will play its first tournament reborn as Sporting Club Delhi under coach Tomasz Tchórz.

The tournament pits Bagan and East Bengal — one of the few embers still burning bright — against each other in the group stage, for a fourth Kolkata derby this season. East Bengal has won the first two, while Bagan claimed the latest to lift the IFA Shield on October 18. The Red-and-Gold Brigade ended a 12-year drought of national trophies with the Super Cup in 2024 and will look to add another under new coach Oscar Bruzon.

Defending champion FC Goa will look for an early Christmas on home soil, with coach Manolo Marquez rejoining the side after a nightmarish stint as India coach.

He has won three trophies in India — two of them, the Bandodkar Trophy and Super Cup, with the Gaurs — and will fancy a fourth, riding on local support.

The last dance?

The 2025–26 Super Cup could also be a potential swansong for India’s record goalscorer, Sunil Chhetri.

The striker came out of international retirement in March but has not found the net in competitive fixtures since.

Chhetri turns 42 next year, and with no clarity on the next ISL season, the Bengaluru FC forward might just call it a day with a final flourish in the Super Cup.

For Chaubey, too, this might prove to be the last waltz, with elections looming in September next year.

Looking inward and rebuilding the domestic structure has always been the foundation for revival in footballing nations.

The Super Cup might just serve as a catalyst for the same, a reminder that even in turmoil, hope endures for those willing to search in the right direction.

Published on Oct 24, 2025