Indian football continues to grow, and the stadiums where the game is played are a key part of its story. The nation has a collection of incredible stadiums that have a history of holding the most high-stakes and celebrated matches.

The capacity of a football stadium directly impacts the overall experience. The larger a stadium, the more fans it can hold, and the bigger the atmosphere for a match. Therefore, this article notes down the best Indian football stadiums ranked by capacity.

1. Salt Lake Stadium (VYBK), West Bengal

• Capacity: 85,000
• Built in: 1984

The Salt Lake Stadium, officially known as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, is the largest Indian football stadium with a seating capacity of 85,000. Located at the heart of Kolkata, a city that breathes football, in West Bengal, it is simply an electrifying hub for the game.

Originally built in 1984, this stadium has undergone multiple renovations, including a major one for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, 2017. The stadium saw legendary moments, like when Lionel Messi played here in 2011, or when Diego Maradona visited in 2008, drawing massive crowds.

This stadium is the most reliable venue for hosting major football matches that are played in India, which shows that it is fit for big international events.

Additionally, the famous Kolkata Derby (East Bengal vs. Mohun Bagan) regularly fills the stadium, creating an unforgettable experience for players and fans.

Read Also: East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan: Biggest wins in Kolkata derby history

2. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi

• Capacity: 60,254
• Built in: 1982

Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is the second-largest Indian football stadium with a capacity of 60,254. It was originally built to host the events of 1982 Asian Games, and also hosted the 1989 Asian Championships in Athletics.

The stadium went through a modernised renovation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and hosted all the track and field events. Because it's in the nation's capital, it often hosts international friendly matches and national football tournaments.

It is a well-equipped grand venue that offers a big stage for players and a comfortable experience for the spectators.

3. Greenfield International Stadium, Kerala

• Capacity: 50,000
• Built in: 2015

The Greenfield International Stadium in Kerala, also known as "The Sports Hub, Trivandrum," can hold 50,000 spectators, which is the 3rd highest in India. It is relatively new and built as a multi-purpose stadium, having top-notch facilities.

The stadium hosted its first international football tournament in 2015 (SAFF Championship). It is mostly known for hosting cricket matches, making it the home ground for the Kerala Cricket Association.

Read Also: Top scorers in ISL history

4. EMS Stadium, Kerala

• Capacity: 50,000
• Built in: 1977

The EMS Stadium in Kozhikode, Kerala, is another multi-purpose stadium that has a capacity of 50,000. It is a very old and precious football venue of the state, famous for its deep connection with local football and drawing of enthusiastic fans.

It is home to the I-League club Gokulam Kerala FC, and has hosted big tournaments like the Super Cup, Santosh Trophy, and the Sait Nagjee Football tournament.

5. DY Patil Stadium, Maharashtra

• Capacity: 45,300
• Built in: 2008

DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai is a spacious and modern multi-purpose sports arena, with a seating capacity of 45,300. While it is also used for cricket and big concerts, it's a very capable football stadium.

It has high-quality seating areas, awesome screens and sound system. The stadium has hosted matches during the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup and the 2023–24 AFC Champions League.

6. Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor, Kerala

• Capacity: 41,000
• Built in: 1996

This stadium in Kerala holds 41,000 spectators and is famous for its incredibly passionate football fans. It is the home ground for the Kerala Blasters, a popular team in the ISL. 

The energy here during the ISL matches is phenomenal. It is often known to have one of the best football atmospheres in India. This stadium is often picked because of its decent quality and overall experience.

7. Birsa Munda Football Stadium, Jharkhand

• Capacity: 40,000
• Built in: 2009

With a capacity of 40,000, Birsa Munda Football Stadium in Ranchi is a major football hub in Jharkhand. It was opened in 2009, and has hosted many national tournaments with good remarks.

Its unique design makes it look eye-catching. It provides a significant platform for local teams and works to help the sport get bigger!

Read Also: Is 2025 the miraculous year in sports history?

Other stadiums with a 40,000 capacity:

• Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Kollam, Kerala
• Mangala Stadium, Mangalore, Karnataka
• Kanchenjunga Stadium, Siliguri, West Bengal

The Durand Cup was first held in Shimla which was a popular retreat for the British back in the day. Sir Henry Durand was recovering from an illness in the hill station and realised the importance of physical health for soldiers in the Army.

There were several army regiments and military units that were originally involved in the tournament and it became an inter-regiment tournament essentially.

They were initially only inclined towards playing Hockey given the popularity of the sport in India at that time but football gradually picked up.

FT| #NEUFC 6-1 #DHFC

A dominating performance by #NEUFC from start to finish as the defending champions successfully retain the title.

A statement win! History Created!#NEUFCDHFC #FINAL #134thEditionofIndianOilDurandCup #PoweredBySBIandCoalIndia #DurandCup2025… pic.twitter.com/IQbAnW5tdq

— Durand Cup (@thedurandcup) August 23, 2025

The event itself was a major deal and people came from all across the country to watch the final which was a highly publicised event. It was also a great platform for Indian football clubs to defeat the British regiments which of course, rarely happened at that time.

However, events post World War II that also involved the cancellation and relocation of the tournament ushered a new era for Indian football.

The Durand Cup was later shifted to Delhi post 1940 and opened for civilian clubs and teams. This brought in the likes of Mohammedan, Salgaocar, East Bengal and all the other legendary I-League teams that have since dominated the proceedings.

It is now held under the Durand Football Tournament Society and has been the continuously held every year to attract top Indian teams and players from leagues such as the ISL, I-league and even Armed forces football teams.

The inclusion of ISL and Armed forces teams has helped expand the reach of the tournament.

Take a look at some of the winners and runner-ups of Durand Cup, one of the most popular football tournaments in India. Durand Cup has been a success for many years with all the details about the show since 2000.

Read More: https://sportzpoint.com/football/premier-league-stats-man-city-players-leading-all-charts-in-goals-assists-passes-and-clean-sheets/

Most Durand Cup Wins:

Kolkata giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are the most successful teams in the history of the tournament winning it a record 17 and 16 times respectively.

Royal Scouts Fusiliers were the first-ever winners and Mohammedan Sporting were the first Indian to win the competition. Bengaluru Fc are the reigning champions.

For more Durand Cup news and articles, follow Sportz Point.

East Bengal is one of Asia's biggest and most supported football clubs. In October 2020, the club was voted as the most popular football club in India on an AFC poll by its supporters.

The East Bengal Club was established on 1st August 1920 by Suresh Chandra Chaudhury along with some other dignitaries, and the club's first captain was Ramesh Chandra Sen.

The Kolkata-based club has created a lot of records and won so many trophies. The Football club was going through a tough phase as they hadn't won a major trophy since the 2013-14 season.

But, under the new Manager and coaching staff, the Red & Gold Brigade are playing good football. So, let's look at the trophies East Bengal has won in its footballing history.

East Bengal FC Trophies List

East Bengal played their first match in the 1920 Hercules Cup, which was a 7-a-side tournament that they won. They won their first-ever full tournament in 1921 and lifted the Khogendra Shield.

The Red and Gold brigade qualified for the Calcutta Football League 1st division in 1925. They won their first 1st title in 1942. Then the Kolkata-based club lifted their first IFA Shield in 1943. In 1945, East Bengal won their first double, claiming both the Calcutta Football League and the IFA Shield.

From 1949-51, East Bengal became the first team to make a hat-trick of wins in the IFA Shield. In 1972, East Bengal won the Calcutta Football League, IFA Shield, Durand Cup, and Rovers Cup in a single season, becoming the first team to do so.

In 1972, East Bengal also made a record of being the first and till date, only Indian team to win the Calcutta Football League without conceding a single goal, which they again repeated in 1991.

East Bengal won its first First Division league title in 1942 and has since won it a record 39 times. They have also won eight Federation Cups, three Super Cups, a record 29 IFA Shields, the Kuladakanta Shield, and MLA CUP, alongside 16 Durand Cup titles, making the club one of the most decorated in Indian football.

Khalid Jamil has been named as the new head coach of the Indian Men's Senior Football team, as AIFF chose him over Stephen Constantine and Stefan Tarkovic from the final list. With Jamil becoming the new boss of the Blue Tigers, we present you with the stats and history of his career as a football manager so far.

Read Also: Football facts: Five managers who have coached Club and country at the same time

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐁𝐎𝐒𝐒 🇮🇳

Khalid Jamil has been named the new head coach of the Indian Men's Senior Football team.

Stephen Constantine and Stefan Tarkovic were the other finalised names, but AIFF have gone for the Jamshedpur FC coach.#AIFF #IndianFootball #KhalidJamil pic.twitter.com/KrnxkQUB6F

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) August 1, 2025

Khalid Jamil stats as manager

Since retiring as a professional footballer, Jamil started his managerial career with Mumbai FC in 2009. Jamil went on to coach them for 7 years until he joined Aizawl FC in December 2016. It was with Aizawl FC where his career took a turn after leading them to a miraculous I-League title in the 2016/17 season.

After the I-League success, Khalid coached two Kolkata giants, first East Bengal in the 2017-18 season and then ATK Mohun Bagan (which is now Mohun Bagan Super Giant) in the next season.

Read Also: Every Indian Team Football Coach Since 1948

However, Khalid did not get that much success with those two Kolkata clubs, and he joined Northeast United FC as the academy head in 2019. From 2019-22, Jamil served as Assistant manager, caretaker manager and then head coach of NEUFC. After that, he spent one season with Bengaluru United.

Finally, in 2023, he arrived at Jamshedpur FC, where he showed his class as the head coach and uplifted a few young Indian talents as well. Last season under him, Jamshedpur FC reached the semi-finals of the Indian Super League as well, and Khalid became the first Indian coach to achieve that feat.

His experince and understanding of Indian football is supposed to be a ground-breaking factor for the upcoming few months of Indian football.

Data by transfermarkt. 

Indian football team winger Liston Colaco scored a stunning free-kick, including a brace, to help Mohun Bagan Super Giant kick off their Durand Cup 2025 journey with a 3-1 win over Mohammedan Sporting Club ar VYBK on Thursday.

Liston's Goalzo

Coincidentally, Liston had also scored a stunning free-kick goal during the practice game between Mohun Bagan senior and Mohun Bagan junior ahead of the season opener. Just in the 21st minute of the match, Liston himself earned a free-kick after being fouled by a trio of Mohammedan defenders at the edge of the box.

Liston took the charge into his hand, in fact, on his feet as he lined up to take the free-kick, the Cristiano-way. Liston took a deep breath and then decided to go over the wall of defenders to beat Subhajit Bhattacharjee in the goal and hit the back of the net.

Beautiful free Kick from Liston Colaco pic.twitter.com/nbi6XQNhSx

— Hari (@Harii33) July 31, 2025

Read Also: East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan: Head to Head Stats [UPDATED]

What happened in the match?

After Liston's goal in the 23rd minute, Mohun Bagan faced a setback at the stroke of the half-time mark. Aupia Ralte received a red card for dissent after he was tackled by Mohammedan in the 43rd minute of the match.

Mohammedan took advantage of Mohun Bagan's one-man less defence as Ahsley Koli scored in the 50th minute to make everything level again. But Mohun Bagan, the champions of the Indian Super League, had tricks up their sleeves as Suhail Ahmed Bhat scored in the 63rd minute to restore their lead. Liston provided the assist for the Kashmiri striker.

In the dying minute of the match, Liston earned the penalty and turned it into a goal from the spot to make a near-perfect match for him and Mohun Bagan SG.

Mohammedan have now lost both of their Group B match of the Durand Cup 2025.

As far as local sporting rivalries go, few on this planet can compare to the one between East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan, commonly known as the Kolkata Derby. 

The two giants hailing from the same city, Kolkata, have been at each other's throats since East Bengal's inception a century and some change ago on August 1st, 1920, and their rivalry has scripted the most glorious chapter in the history of Indian football.

The two teams are not just two football entities but represent two sets of inhabitants of the state of Bengal, who simply cannot stand losing to the other side.  East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan evokes passion unlike any other sporting contest in the country. So ahead of the new season's Kolkata Derby, we take a brief look at the rich history of the rivalry.

Though the data is just an approximation, as of 27th July 2025, it is believed that the tally of overall meetings stands at 403 matches up till now, (including friendlies), where East Bengal have been triumphant 139 times, while Mohun Bagan 135 times. 129 matches have been drawn.

Read Also | Most Iconic Rivalries in European Football Leagues: History & Stats

East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan: Head-to-Head

Since 2020-21, these two teams have played 10 times against each other in ISL, while Mohun Bagan Super Giants have won 9 matches, with only one draw between the two. Mohun Bagan Super Giant is a merger of Mohun Bagan AC and ATK FC.

Mohun Bagan's domination over East Bengal in ISL comes while the two teams enjoy fairly competitive records against each other in other tournaments. In 45 matches of the I-League, East Bengal have won 17 so far and Mohun Bagan 15, while 13 ended in a draw.

In 22 Federation Cup matches, East Bengal have won eight and Mohun Bagan six, while eight matches ended in a draw. In 12 Rovers Cup matches, both teams have won four each, while four matches ended in a draw.

In 163 Calcutta Football League matches, East Bengal won 56, Mohun Bagan 48 and 59 ended in a draw. East Bengal enjoy a massive record against their archrivals in the IFA Shield. Out of 41 matches, they have won 21, while Mohun Bagan has managed to win only seven of those.

East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan overall record