Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Mumbai City FC to Kick off ISL 2024-25 on September 13
Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Mumbai City FC will kickstart the upcoming season of the Indian Super League on September 13 2024. The first match of the 2024-25 season is the repeat of last year’s final in which Mohun Bagan Super Giant emerged winners.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant are the defending league winners while Mumbai City FC are 2023-24 ISL Cup winners.
The opening match will take place at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.
The 2024-25 season of the ISL will have 13 teams with Mohammedan Sporting Club being the latest to join the Indian football top flight bandwagon.
Mohammedan Sporting Club, the third most famous club in Kolkata along with Emami East Bengal and Mohun Bagan Super Giant, are in the ISL after finishing on top of the points table in the last season of the I-League, India’s second tier domestic football tournament.
The first weekend of the season will see Chennaiyin FC travel to Bhubaneshwar to take on Odisha FC while Bengaluru FC and East Bengal FC will meet in Bengaluru. The two matches are the first double-headers of the season and they will be played on Saturday, September 14.
The first match of the double header will kick off at 5:00 PM IST while the second match will start at 7:30 PM IST.
On Sunday, September 15, Kerala Blasters FC will host Punjab FC at the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi while Hyderabad FC, whose fixtures are dependent on them clearing the AIFF Club Licensing, will play their first game in Bengaluru, against Bengaluru FC, on September 19.
Mohammedan Sporting Club will play their first ISL match against NorthEast United FC at their home ground – the Kishore Bharati Krirangan –on Monday, September 16.
Three football clubs from Kolkata, where football is perceived as a religion, means football fans will be able to watch six high-intensity Kolkata derbies in the season.
With a limited schedule being released now by the organisers of the ISL, two Kolkata derbies of the season are scheduled in October. Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Mohammedan FC will play on Saturday, October 5 while East Bengal FC and Mohun Bagan Super Giant will lock horns on Saturday, October 19.
Fans can watch the ISL action on Jio Cinema and on Sports 18 with the matches being televised in four languages – English, Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam.