The Somali Premier League, structure and the 2025-26 season

Public sources do not agree on the edition number or the club count for 2025-26. This page states what is agreed, names the disagreement and does not publish a table it cannot source to a live, checkable feed.

What every reliable source agrees on

Mogadishu City Club were champions going into 2025-26, their tenth Somali title, after winning the 2024-25 season. The 2025-26 season began on 31 Dec 2025.

The competition is run by the Somali Football Federation, founded in 1951, and remains the top tier of kubadda cagta in the country. Clubs play home and away in a single table, and the bottom two are relegated to the second tier, Heerka Labaad.

Where sources disagree, and by how much

French Wikipedia's dedicated 2025-26 season article calls it the 52nd edition of the championship. Italian Wikipedia's dedicated 2025-26 season article calls the same season the 50th.

Both articles agree the season runs from 31 Dec 2025 with 12 clubs, so the disagreement sits entirely in how each project counts editions back through wartime interruptions and rebrandings between Somali Premier League and Somali National League. Neither article explains its own count.

Important. The 12 versus 10 club question is not settled by picking a side. Most current trackers, RSSSF, French and Italian Wikipedia, Sofascore and 180Score's own infobox, show 12 clubs for 2025-26. The English language Wikipedia article on the competition and 180Score's own written format description both say 10, which reflects the league size before its most recent expansion rather than the current season.

Why the confusion exists

The league expanded to 12 clubs for the third time only recently, promoting Gantaalaha FC and Jubba FC after relegating Gasco FC and Madbacada FC at the end of 2024-25. Reference sites and trackers update on different schedules, so a page written before that promotion round still shows 10.

The federation's own tournament page compounds this. It is dated to the 2023-24 season, describes 25 registered clubs split across three divisions, Heerka Koowaad, Heerka Labaad and Heerka Saddexaad, and shows a 12 club table that itself predates 2025-26.

The structure, as far as it can be sourced

The Somali Premier League is the top of three tiers the federation runs. Below it sit Heerka Labaad and Heerka Saddexaad, with promotion and relegation of two clubs between each tier at season end.

The champion qualifies for the CAF Champions League the following season. Mogadishu City Club's 2024-25 title put them into the 2025-26 CAF Champions League, where they faced Kenya Police FC in the first round.

• 12 clubs play a double round robin, home and away, if the 12 club sources are correct for 2025-26.
• Almost every club plays its home fixtures in Mogadishu, mainly at Banadir Stadium or Mogadishu Stadium.
• The bottom two clubs are relegated to Heerka Labaad at the end of the season.
• The runner up has, in some seasons, entered CECAFA club competition, though this is not consistent every year across sources.

The clubs named for 2025-26

Both the French and Italian Wikipedia season articles list the same 12 clubs, and RSSSF's table matches them. This is the strongest point of agreement across sources for the current season.

Important. Gasco FC and Madbacada FC finished 11th and 12th in 2024-25 and were relegated. If a source still lists them in the 2025-26 division, that source has not been updated since promotion and relegation was confirmed.

No sourced current table is published here

This page does not print a live 2025-26 standings table. Third party trackers such as RSSSF, Scoresway and 180Score publish partial round data that updates on different days, and none of them match the federation's own site closely enough to copy with confidence.

Go to the Somali Football Federation directly for the tournament calendar and any results it has posted itself. Its tournament page describes the competition structure clearly even where its results are not current. Which books actually price these fixtures is a separate question, covered on its own page.

The national team connection

Domestic form rarely maps onto the Xiddigaha badweynta, the Ocean Stars, since national call ups draw on players across several countries as well as the Premier League. The AFCON 2027 qualifying page covers the national team's Group C campaign against Ivory Coast, Ghana and the Gambia separately from this domestic league.

FIFA's Forward Development Programme grant of $4.5 million, reported in October 2025, is directed at national team support and training grounds rather than the domestic league directly. The operators that price Premier League and Champions League football for Somali readers carry the national team far more often than any Mogadishu club fixture.

Gambling Therapy offers free, confidential support in English by chat and email.

Questions readers ask

Is the 2025-26 Somali Premier League the 50th or 52nd edition

Sources disagree. French Wikipedia's season article calls it the 52nd edition, Italian Wikipedia's calls the same season the 50th, and neither explains its own count.

Does the league have 12 teams or 10

Most current sources, including RSSSF, French and Italian Wikipedia and Sofascore, show 12 clubs for 2025-26. Two sources still show 10, which reflects the league size before its most recent expansion rather than the current season.

Who are the defending champions

Mogadishu City Club, who won the 2024-25 title, their tenth, and carried that status into the season that started on 31 Dec 2025.

Where can I check the current Somali Premier League table

Go to the Somali Football Federation directly, since third party trackers update on different schedules and sometimes disagree with each other on club count.