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IWL 2025-26: Indian Women’s Football’s Finest Begin Battle In Bengal

By IANS News December 19, 2025 • 22:52 PM View: 121

East Bengal FC: The ninth season of the Indian Women’s League will get underway on Saturday with eight teams set to do battle for the title of the best women’s football club in the country. East Bengal FC, who won their maiden IWL trophy last season, will have the opportunity to defend their title on home soil as the 2025-26 league will be played in a centralised format in Kolkata and Kalyani.

The IWL crown has seen three different winners in the last three seasons. East Bengal and Odisha FC (2023-24) became champions for the first time, breaking Gokulam Kerala FC’s hegemony (the Malabarians had won three consecutive titles from 2020 to 2023). An unexpected subplot of last season was the relegation of Odisha FC, who scripted some unwanted history by becoming the first reigning champions of an Indian top-flight league to be relegated in the subsequent season.