IWL: All you need to know about Indian Women's League 2023

The Indian Women’s League (IWL) 2023, the top-tier of women’s football in the country, will kick off on 26 April with Misaka United taking on Mata Rukmani Football Club and Sports Odisha playing HOPS Football Club at the same time. Defending champions Gokulam FC will also be in action on the first day of the league. They will play against East Bengal in the evening game. The league stage will end on 13 May and dates for the knockout stage are still not finalised Gokulam also won the IWL in 2020, while Sethu FC won the title in 2019. Rising Students’ Club won the trophy in 2018 and Eastern Sporting Union won the inaugural title in 2017. The league was not held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. IWL 2023 will be the sixth edition of the women’s top-tier league and will feature 16 teams. Before the IWL 2023 gets underway, here’s all you need to know about the upcoming season. Format The 16 teams have been divided into two groups of eight teams each. The top four teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage which will consist of quarterfinals, semi-finals and the final. Group A: Gokulam Kerala FC, Mata Rukmani FC, HOPS FC, Misaka United FC, Kahaani FC, East Bengal FC, Sports Odisha, Mumbai Knights FC Group B: Sethu FC, Kickstart FC, Celtic Queens FC, Eastern Sporting Union, CRPF FC, Churchill Brothers FCG, Lords FA Kochi, Odisha FC What’s new this season? The top eight teams which reach the knockout stage will be given direct slots in next season’s IWL, which is planned to be played on a home-and-away basis. The clubs in IWL will have three foreign players with a maximum of two allowed on the field at a time. Venue All matches in IWL 2023 will be played at TransStadia and the Shahibaug Police Ground in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Live streaming Currently, the AIFF has not got any broadcast partner. The matches will be shown on the Indian Football YouTube channel. All evening matches will be shown live. Schedule April 26 Misaka United vs Mata Rukmani Football Club: 8.00 AM IST Sports Odisha vs HOPS Football Club: 8.00 AM IST East Bengal vs Gokulam Kerala: 4.30 PM IST Kahaani Football Club vs Mumbai Knights FC: 4.30 PM IST April 27 Lords FA Kochi YMAA vs Celtic Queens: 8.00 AM IST Eastern Sporting Union vs Kickstart FC Karnataka: 8:00 AM IST Central Reserve Police Force Football Club vs Odisha FC: 4:30 PM IST April 28 Churchill Brothers vs Sethu: 8.00 AM IST April 29 HOPS FC vs Misaka United: 8.00 AM IST Mumbai Knights vs Mata Rukmani: 8.00 AM IST Gokulam Kerala vs Sports Odisha: 4.30 PM IST East Bengal vs Kahaani: 4.30 PM IST April 30 Celtic Queens vs Eastern Sporting Union: 8.00 AM IST Odisha vs Kickstart: 8.00 AM IST Churchill Brothers vs CRPF: 4.30 PM IST Sethu vs Lords: 4.30 PM IST May 2 HOPS vs Gokulam Kerala: 8.00 AM IST Misaka United vs Mumbai Knights: 8.00 AM IST Sports Odisha vs Kahaani: 4.30 PM IST Mata Rukmani vs East Bengal: 4.30 PM IST May 3 Celtic Queens vs Sethu: 8.00 AM IST Eastern Union vs Odisha: 8.00 AM IST Kickstart vs Churchill Brothers: 4.30 PM IST Lords vs CPRF: 4.30 PM IST May 4 East Bengal vs Mumbai Knights: 8.00 AM IST Gokulam Kerala vs Misaka United: 8.00 AM IST Kahaani vs HOPS: 4.30 PM IST Sports Odisha vs Mata Rukmani: 4.30 PM IST May 5 Churchill Brothers vs Odisha: 8.00 AM IST Sethu vs Eastern Sporting Union: 8.00 AM IST CRPF vs Celtic Queens: 4.30 PM IST Lords vs Kickstart: 4.30 PM IST May 6 Misaka United vs East Bengal: 8.00 AM IST Gokulam Kerala vs Kahaani: 8.00 AM IST HOPS vs Mata Rukmani: 4.30 PM IST Mumbai Knights vs Sports Odisha: 4.30 PM IST May 7 Sethu vs CRPF: 8.00 AM IST Eastern Sporting Union vs Churchill Brothers: 8.00 AM IST Odisha vs Lords: 4.30 PM IST Celtic Queens vs Kickstart: 4.30 PM IST May 9 Kahaani vs Misaka United: 8.00 AM IST Sports Odisha vs East Bengal: 8.00 AM IST HOPS vs Mumbai Knights: 4.30 PM IST Mata Rukmani vs Gokulam Kerala: 4.30 PM IST May 10 CRPF vs Eastern Union: 8.00 AM IST Lords FA vs Churchill Brothers: 8.00 AM IST Kickstart vs Sethu: 4.30 PM IST Celtic Queens vs Odisha: 4.30 PM IST May 12 Misaka United vs Sports Odisha: 8.00 AM IST Kahaani vs Mata Rukmani: 8.00 AM IST Gokulam Kerala vs Mumbai Knights: 4.30 PM IST East Bengal vs HOPS: 4.30 PM IST May 13 CRPF vs Kickstart: 8.00 AM IST Eastern Sporting Union vs Lords: 8.00 AM IST Sethu vs Odisha: 4.30 PM IST Churchill Brothers vs Celtic Queen: 4.30 PM IST Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .