Delhi Football Club were crowned champions of the I-League 2 2025-26 and secured promotion back to the Indian Football League 2026-27 after playing out a 1-1 draw against United SC at the Kalyani Stadium in Kalyani.
In another crucial fixture at the Neville D’Souza Ground in Mumbai, FC Bengaluru United and GMSC also played out a 1-1 draw, a result that confirmed promotion for the Bengaluru side while helping GMSC avoid relegation.
GMSC, who began the day in the relegation spot with four points, earned the vital point needed to move to five points, level with NEROCA FC. However, a superior head-to-head record ensured the Mumbai side stayed up in I-League 2.
FC Bengaluru United and United SC both finished the season on 15 points, but the Bengaluru outfit secured promotion courtesy of goal difference, while United SC’s wait for a return to the second tier extended to 12 years.
At the Kalyani Stadium, United SC started the match on the front foot at their home ground, attacking the Delhi FC goal with intent through M. Sreenath, M. Arunlal, Sumay Shome and Md. Amil Naim, while Bickey Thapa and Prasanta Das controlled the midfield. The first attempt on target came from Amil, whose long-range effort was comfortably stopped by the Delhi goalkeeper.
United SC looked fluid whenever they moved forward, with their attacking players troubling the opposition defence through their pace and movement. Amil Naim once again found space down the left flank and combined well with Sumay, but the striker’s effort was well saved by Lalmuansanga. The goalkeeper was called into action again moments later to deny Sumay once more after the forward had been set up neatly at the end of a fine driving run through midfield by Prasanta Das.
Both sides enjoyed promising moments in attack but were unable to find the breakthrough as they went into the interval with the scores level at 0-0.
United SC took the lead eight minutes after the restart from a corner kick. Susovan Ghosh, who had hit the crossbar just minutes earlier, made no mistake this time as he planted a powerful header past the goalkeeper to give his side a crucial lead.
Delhi SC struck back in the 66th minute with a well-worked move. Akash Tirkey threaded a through ball into space for Samson Keishing, who unselfishly squared it across the box for the unmarked Himanshu Jangra. The league’s top scorer had the simplest of tasks, tapping the ball into the empty net to bring his side level.
Knowing that only a win would help them gain promotion, United SC pushed numbers forward looking for the decisive winning goal, but could not trouble the goalkeeper. The best chance of this period actually fell to Delhi SC, for their goalscorer Himanshu, whose shot was well saved by the goalkeeper.
In the end, Delhi SC held on to the draw to secure promotion to the Indian Football League as champions of I-League 2 and extend the 12-year wait of United SC to play in the Indian Football League.
AIFF Media
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