Next season, Indian football clubs will participate in the AFC Champions League (ACL 2) thanks to a special exemption from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). This means that both the Indian Super League (ISL) champions and Super Cup winners can enter the qualifying rounds of next year’s AFC tournaments. However, they will not qualify directly for the group stage. In the upcoming 2025-26 ISL season, only 91 matches will be played across 14 teams.
