2015–16 in Indian football

The 2015–16 season was the 128th competitive association football season in India.

Football in India

Season	2015–16
Men's football
I-League	Bengaluru
I-League 2nd Division	Dempo
Federation Cup	Mohun Bagan
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

International

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	8	6	2	0	26	3	+23	20	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup		—	2–0	3–1	6–0	4–0
2	Oman	8	4	2	2	11	7	+4	14	Asian Cup qualifying third round		1–1	—	3–1	1–0	3–0
3	Turkmenistan	8	4	1	3	10	11	−1	13			1–1	2–1	—	1–0	2–1
4	Guam	8	2	1	5	3	16	−13	7			0–6	0–0	1–0	—	2–1
5	India	8	1	0	7	5	18	−13	3	Asian Cup qualifying play-off round		0–3[a]	1–2	1–2	1–0	—

Source: ^[2]
Notes:

1. FIFA awarded Iran a 3–0 win as a result of India fielding the ineligible player Eugeneson Lyngdoh.^[1] The match initially ended 3–0 to Iran.

India  v  Oman

11 June 2015 (2015-06-11) World Cup Qualifier	India	1–2	Oman	Bangalore, India
19:00 UTC+5:30	Chhetri 26'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Said 1' Al-Hosni 40' (pen.)	Stadium: Sree Kanteerava Stadium Attendance: 19,312 Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

Guam  v  India

16 June 2015 (2015-06-16) World Cup Qualifier	Guam	2–1	India	Dededo, Guam
16:15 UTC+10	McDonald 37' Nicklaw 62'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Chhetri 90+3'	Stadium: Guam F.A. National Training Center Attendance: 3,277 Referee: Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam)

India  v  Iran

8 September 2015 (2015-09-08) World Cup Qualifier	India	0–3 Awarded[note 1]	Iran	Bangalore, India
19:00 UTC+5:30		Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Azmoun 28' Teymourian 46' Taremi 49'	Stadium: Sree Kanteerava Stadium Attendance: 14,500 Referee: Ammar Al-Jeneibi (United Arab Emirates)

Turkmenistan  v  India

8 October 2015 (2015-10-08) World Cup Qualifier	Turkmenistan	2–1	India	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
18:00 UTC+5	Abylow 8' Amanow 60'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Lalpekhlua 28'	Stadium: Köpetdag Stadium Attendance: 20,100 Referee: Masoud Tufayelieh (Syria)

Oman  v  India

13 October 2015 (2015-10-13) World Cup Qualifier	Oman	3–0	India	Muscat, Oman
18:30 UTC+4	Mubarak 55' Al-Muqbali 67', 84'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)		Stadium: Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Attendance: 11,000 Referee: Fahad Al-Marri (Qatar)

India  v  Guam

12 November 2015 (2015-11-12) World Cup Qualifier	India	1–0	Guam	Bangalore, India
19:00 UTC+5:30	R. Singh 10'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)		Stadium: Sree Kanteerava Stadium Attendance: 6,277 Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia)

Iran  v  India

24 March 2016 (2016-03-24) World Cup Qualifier	Iran	4–0	India	Tehran, Iran
19:00 UTC+4:30	Hajsafi 33' (pen.), 66' (pen.) Azmoun 61' Jahanbakhsh 78'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)		Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 29,160 Referee: Võ Minh Trí (Vietnam)

India  v  Turkmenistan

29 March 2016 (2016-03-29) World Cup Qualifier	India	1–2	Turkmenistan	Kochi, India
18:00 UTC+5:30	Jhingan 26'	Report (FIFA) Report (AFC)	Amanow 48' Ataýew 70'	Stadium: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Attendance: 3,111 Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

1. FIFA awarded Iran a 3–0 win as a result of India fielding the ineligible player Eugeneson Lyngdoh.^[1] The match initially ended 3–0 to Iran.

League

Indian Super League

Main article: 2015 Indian Super League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Goa	14	7	4	3	29	20	+9	25	Advance to ISL Play-offs
2	Atlético de Kolkata	14	7	2	5	26	17	+9	23
3	Chennaiyin (C)	14	7	1	6	25	15	+10	22
4	Delhi Dynamos	14	6	4	4	18	20	−2	22
5	NorthEast United	14	6	2	6	18	23	−5	20
6	Mumbai City	14	4	4	6	16	26	−10	16
7	Pune City	14	4	3	7	17	23	−6	15
8	Kerala Blasters	14	3	4	7	22	27	−5	13

Source: Indian Super League standings
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) ISL Cup winners

Finals

Main article: 2015 Indian Super League playoffs

	Semi-Finals							Final
	1	Goa	0	3	3
	4	Delhi Dynamos	1	0	1
								1	Goa	2
								3	Chennaiyin	3
	2	Atlético de Kolkata	0	2	2
	3	Chennaiyin	3	1	4

I-League

Changes in the I-League

Teams promoted to the 2015–16 I-League:

• Aizawl^[3]

Teams relegated from the 2015–16 I-League:

• Dempo^[4]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bengaluru (C)	16	10	2	4	24	17	+7	32	Qualification to Champions League qualifying play-off
2	Mohun Bagan	16	8	6	2	32	16	+16	30	Qualification to AFC Cup qualifying play-off[a]
3	East Bengal	16	7	4	5	22	18	+4	25
4	Sporting Goa	16	5	7	4	24	20	+4	22	Withdrew[b]
5	Mumbai	16	4	7	5	20	19	+1	19
6	Shillong Lajong	16	4	6	6	14	23	−9	18
7	Salgaocar[c]	16	4	4	8	19	27	−8	16	Withdrew[b]
8	Aizawl[d]	16	4	4	8	15	21	−6	16
9	DSK Shivajians[e]	16	3	6	7	16	25	−9	15

Source: I-League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) play-off match
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Mohun Bagan qualified for the 2017 AFC Cup by winning the 2015–16 Federation Cup.
2. Sporting Goa and Salgaocar withdrew from I-League.^[5]
3. Salgaocar ahead on head-to-head record with a 1–1 draw and 1–0 win over Aizawl over the two legs.
4. Aizawl were supposed to be relegated, but reinstated for 2016–17 season.^[6]
5. DSK Shivajians were given relegation immunity for three years.^[7]

Transfers

Main article: I-League transfers for the 2015–16 season

I-League 2nd division

Main article: 2015–16 I-League 2nd Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Dempo (C, P)	10	7	2	1	16	4	+12	23	Promotion to I-League
2	Minerva	10	5	3	2	14	11	+3	18
3	NEROCA	10	5	2	3	13	11	+2	17
4	Mohammedan[a]	10	4	3	3	10	8	+2	12
5	Gangtok Himalayan	10	1	3	6	7	16	−9	6
6	Lonestar Kashmir	10	1	1	8	10	20	−10	4

Source: Results & Fixtures: 2nd Division I-League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) play-off match
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:

1. 3 points are deducted from Mohammedan SC as per the decision taken by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.^[8]