# Indian Super League playoffs

The Indian Super League playoffs/ISL Cup is the annual postseason elimination tournament of the Indian Super League. Under the current format adopted from 2022, 6 teams qualify for the tournament based on regular season points.
ISL awards the regular season champions with the League Winners' Shield, and the playoffs winners with the ISL Cup. Extra time and penalty shootout are used if games end as draw. The higher ranked team from the regular season hosts games if there is only one leg. Winners are in bold.

## History

| Seasons | League teams | Playoff teams | % of teams | Matches played |
| 2014 | 8 | 4 | 50% | 5 |
| 2015 | 8 | 4 | 50% | 5 |
| 2016 | 8 | 4 | 50% | 5 |
| 2017–2018 | 10 | 4 | 40% | 5 |
| 2018–2019 | 10 | 4 | 40% | 5 |
| 2019–2020 | 10 | 4 | 40% | 5 |
| 2020–2021 | 11 | 4 | 36.3% | 5 |
| 2021–2022 | 11 | 4 | 36.3% | 5 |
| 2022–2023 | 11 | 6 | 54.5% | 7 |
| 2023–2024 | 12 | 6 | 50% | 7 |
| 2024–2025 | 13 | 6 | 46.1% | 7 |

## 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). The two winners eventually met in the final hosted at a pre-decided venue, but from 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:
* 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

| Season | Venue | Champions (Number of titles) | Score | Runners–up |
| 2014 | Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra | Atlético de Kolkata | 1–0 | Kerala Blasters |
| 2015 | Margao, Goa | Chennaiyin | 3–2 | Goa |
| 2016 | Kochi, Kerala | Atlético de Kolkata (2) | 1–1 (a.e.t) (4–3 p) | Kerala Blasters |
| 2017–18 | Bangalore, Karnataka | Chennaiyin (2) | 3–2 | Bengaluru |
| 2018–19 | Mumbai, Maharashtra | Bengaluru | 1–0 | Goa |
| 2019–20 | Margao, Goa | ATK (3) | 3–1 | Chennaiyin |
| 2020–21 | Margao, Goa | Mumbai City | 2–1 | Mohun Bagan |
| 2021–22 | Margao, Goa | Hyderabad | 1–1 (a.e.t) (3–1 p) | Kerala Blasters |
| 2022–23 | Margao, Goa | Mohun Bagan | 2–2 (a.e.t) (4–3 p) | Bengaluru |
| 2023–24 | Kolkata, West Bengal | Mumbai City (2) | 3–1 | Mohun Bagan |
| 2024–25 | | | TBD | |

## 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.
| Rank | Club | App | Year |
| 1 | Goa | 7 | 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024 |
| 2 | Chennaiyin | 5 | 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2024 |
| 2 | Kerala Blasters | 5 | 2014, 2016, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| 2 | Mumbai City | 5 | 2016, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 |
| 5 | ATK | 4 | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020 |
| 5 | Mohun Bagan | 4 | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| 5 | Odisha | 4 | 2015, 2016, 2023, 2024 |
| 5 | Bengaluru | 4 | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 |
| 9 | Hyderabad | 2 | 2022, 2023 |
| 9 | NorthEast United | 2 | 2019, 2021 |
| 11 | Jamshedpur | 1 | 2022 |
| 11 | Pune City | 1 | 2018 |