BeauBasaldua8 at 12:29, 21 March 2026

2026-03-21T12:29:50Z

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{{short description|Annual postseason elimination tournament of the Indian Super League}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox soccer tournament
| logo = ISL Cup playoffs logo.png
| upright = 0.5
| region = India
| founded = 2014
| number of teams = 6
| champion = [[Mohun Bagan Super Giant|Mohun Bagan]] (2nd title)
| most successful team = [[ATK FC|ATK]] (3 titles)
| current = [[2025 ISL Cup playoffs]]
}}

The '''ISL Cup playoffs''' is the annual [[Playoffs|postseason]] [[Tournament#Multi-stage tournaments|elimination tournament]] of the [[Indian Super League]] (ISL). Unde the current format adopted for the 2022–23 season, six teams qualify based on their regular-season standings. The top two teams advance directly to the semi-finals, while the remaining four compete in single-leg eliminators. The winner of the final is awarded the '''ISL Cup'''. Until the [[2021–22 Indian Super League]] season, the ISL Cup winners were awarded the ISL championship title.

From the [[2022–23 Indian Super League]] season onward, the regular-season '''League Shield Winners''' are awarded the championship title in the [[Indian Super League]].

==History==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center"
!Seasons
!League teams
!Playoff teams
!% of teams
!Matches played
|-
|2014
| rowspan="3" |8
| rowspan="8" |4
| rowspan="3" |50%
| rowspan="8" |5
|-
|2015
|-
|2016
|-
|2017–2018
| rowspan="3" |10
| rowspan="3" |40%
|-
|2018–2019
|-
|2019–2020
|-
|2020–2021
| rowspan="3" |11
| rowspan="2" |36.3%
|-
|2021–2022
|-
|2022–2023
| rowspan="3" |6
|54.5%
| rowspan="3" |7
|-
|2023–2024
|12
|50%
|-
|2024–2025
|13
|46.1%
|}
==Playoffs system==
The top two clubs after the regular season automatically progress to the ISL playoffs. The playoffs culminate with the ISL Final, where the winner is presented with the ISL Cup. In the qualifiers, the third-through-sixth ranked teams play a single-elimination match hosted at the higher-ranked team's venue, with the two winners joining the first and second-ranked teams in two-legged semifinals played over two weeks (since [[2022–23 Indian Super League|2022–23]]). The two winners eventually met in the final hosted at a pre-decided venue, but from [[2023–24 Indian Super League|2023–24]] onwards, the final is played at the higher-ranked team's venue.

==Qualification==
After the regular season, the team with the most points is declared the Champions and presented with the League Winners Shield, automatically qualifying for the playoffs along with the runners-up. At the same time, the next best four teams qualify to qualifying playoffs. The position of each team is determined by the highest number of points accumulated during the regular season. If two or more teams are level on points, the following criteria are applied in order until one of the teams can be determined as the higher ranked:<ref>{{Cite web |author=Scroll Staff |date=2020-02-18 |title=ISL 2019-'20 playoffs: Here are the scenarios explained as top four race goes down to the wire |url=https://scroll.in/field/953559/isl-2019-20-playoffs-here-are-the-scenarios-explained-as-top-four-race-goes-down-to-the-wire |access-date=2023-08-09 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref>

# Highest number of points accumulated in matches between the teams concerned;
# Highest goal difference in matches between the teams concerned;
# Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams concerned;
# Highest goal difference
# Highest number of goals scored
# Lowest number of red cards accumulated;
# Lowest number of yellow cards accumulated;
# Toss of a coin.

==List of finals==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; white-space:nowrap;"
! style="width:5%;" |Season
! style="width:5%;" |Venue
! style="background:gold; width:10%;" |Cup Winners
(Number of titles)
! style="width:5%;" |Score
! style="background:silver; width:10%;" |Runners–up
|-
|[[2014 ISL Cup playoffs|2014]]
|[[Navi Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]]
|[[ATK (football club)|Atlético de Kolkata]]
|[[2014 ISL Cup final|1–0]]
|[[Kerala Blasters FC|Kerala Blasters]]
|-
|[[2015 ISL Cup playoffs|2015]]
|[[Margao]], [[Goa]]
|[[Chennaiyin FC|Chennaiyin]]
|[[2015 ISL Cup final|3–2]]
|[[FC Goa|Goa]]
|-
|[[2016 ISL Cup playoffs|2016]]
|[[Kochi]], [[Kerala]]
|[[ATK (football club)|Atlético de Kolkata]] (2)
|[[2016 ISL Cup final|1–1 (a.e.t) (4–3 p)]]
|[[Kerala Blasters FC|Kerala Blasters]]
|-
|[[2018 ISL Cup playoffs|2017–18]]
|[[Bangalore]], [[Karnataka]]
|[[Chennaiyin FC|Chennaiyin]] (2)
|[[2018 ISL Cup final|3–2]]
|[[Bengaluru FC|Bengaluru]]
|-
|[[2019 ISL Cup playoffs|2018–19]]
|[[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]]
|[[Bengaluru FC|Bengaluru]]
|[[2019 ISL Cup final|1–0]]
|[[FC Goa|Goa]]
|-
|[[2020 ISL Cup playoffs|2019–20]]
|[[Margao]], [[Goa]]
|[[ATK (football club)|ATK]] (3)
|[[2020 ISL Cup final|3–1]]
|[[Chennaiyin FC|Chennaiyin]]
|-
|[[2021 ISL Cup playoffs|2020–21]]
|[[Margao]], [[Goa]]
|[[Mumbai City FC|Mumbai City]]
|[[2021 ISL Cup final|2–1]]
|[[Mohun Bagan Super Giant|Mohun Bagan]]
|-
|[[2022 ISL Cup playoffs|2021–22]]
|[[Margao]], [[Goa]]
|[[Hyderabad FC|Hyderabad]]
|[[2022 ISL Cup final|1–1 (a.e.t) (3–1 p)]]
|[[Kerala Blasters FC|Kerala Blasters]]
|-
|[[2023 ISL Cup playoffs|2022–23]]
|[[Margao]], [[Goa]]
|[[Mohun Bagan Super Giant|Mohun Bagan]]
|[[2023 ISL Cup final|2–2 (a.e.t) (4–3 p)]]
|[[Bengaluru FC|Bengaluru]]
|-
|[[2024 ISL Cup playoffs|2023–24]]
|[[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]]
|[[Mumbai City FC|Mumbai City]] (2)
|[[2024 ISL Cup final|3–1]]
|[[Mohun Bagan Super Giant|Mohun Bagan]]
|-
|[[2025 ISL Cup playoffs|2024–25]]
|[[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]]
|[[Mohun Bagan Super Giant|Mohun Bagan]] (2)
|[[2025 ISL Cup final|2–1 (a.e.t)]]
|[[Bengaluru FC|Bengaluru]]
|}

==Appearances by club==
'''Bold''' indicates they won the ISL Cup that year. Team names in ''italics'' indicates the club is defunct or a former Indian Super League member.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Rank !! Club !! {{Abbr|App|No. of appearances}} !! Year
|-
| 1 || [[FC Goa|Goa]] || 8 || 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, 2025
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2|| [[Chennaiyin FC|Chennaiyin]] || rowspan="3" | 5|| 2014, '''2015''', '''2018''', 2020, 2024
|-
||[[Kerala Blasters FC|Kerala Blasters]] || 2014, 2016, 2022, 2023, 2024
|-
| [[Mumbai City FC|Mumbai City]] || 2016, 2019, '''2021''', 2023, '''2024''', 2025
|-
| rowspan="4" | 5|| [[ATK (football club)|''ATK'']] || rowspan="4" | 4|| '''2014''', 2015, '''2016''', '''2020'''
|-
| [[Mohun Bagan Super Giant|Mohun Bagan]] || 2021, 2022, '''2023''', 2024, '''2025'''
|-
| [[Odisha FC|Odisha]]{{efn|The team played as Delhi Dynamos till 2018–19 season, after which the club was relocated from [[Delhi]] to [[Odisha]] and rebranded as Odisha FC|name=Odisha}} ||2015, 2016, 2023, 2024
|-
| [[Bengaluru FC|Bengaluru]] || 2018, '''2019''', 2020, 2023, 2025
|-
| rowspan="2" | 9|| [[Hyderabad FC|Hyderabad]] || rowspan="2" | 2|| '''2022''', 2023
|-
| [[NorthEast United FC|NorthEast United]] || 2019, 2021, 2025
|-
| rowspan="2" | 11|| [[Jamshedpur FC|Jamshedpur]] || rowspan="2" | 1|| 2022, 2025
|-
| [[FC Pune City|''Pune City'']] || 2018
|}

==See also==
*[[AFC Champions League Two]]

==Notes and references==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===References===
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.worldfootball.net/competition/co2778/ WorldFootball]

{{Indian Super League}}

[[Category:Indian Super League seasons|*]]
[[Category:Indian Super League lists|Playoffs]]

Indian Super League playoffs - Revision history

BeauBasaldua8 at 12:29, 21 March 2026