Kerala, Punjab, Services and Railways enter semifinals of Santosh Trophy
Defending champions West Bengal beat Nagaland 4-0 in Santosh Trophy
Services defeated Kerala 1-0 in the final of the 79th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2025-26, with Abhishek Pawar scoring the decisive goal in extra time.
The winners of each group will join hosts Assam, last season's champions West Bengal and runners-up Kerala in the 12-team Final Round that will be hosted in Dhakuakhana and Dhemaji.
West Bengal defeated neighbours Odisha 3-1 to qualify for the semifinals of the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Kerala continued their perfect run in Group B with a 2-0 win over Odisha, cementing their position at the top of the Group B table with nine points from three matches in the final round of the Santosh Trophy here on Thursday.
Rahul Mukhi (60th minute) and Kartik Hantal (64th) struck in the second half as Odisha bounced back from their previous match defeat against Delhi.
Hyderabad will host the final rounds of the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy for the first time in 57 years, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Wednesday.
Title holders Services and former champions West Bengal registered dominant victories in Group A matches of the final round of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Jammu & Kashmir kept themselves alive with a 3-0 blanking of Telangana in a do-or-die match.
Jammu and Kashmir sealed their quarter-final spot in the 78th Senior Men's National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy
West Bengal beat Rajasthan 2-0 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the 78th Senior National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Damanbhalang Chyne converted a late penalty as Meghalaya edged Goa 1-0 to secure a quarter-final berth in the 78th Senior Men's National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Robi Hansda scored the only goal of the match in the added-time of the second half at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium.
Kerala footballers on Tuesday called on the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence and presented him with a football signed by all the team members.
"I have been told by Dasmunshi that as per tournmanet rules, Bhutia can't play," IFA secretary said.
Hosts Tamil Nadu, former champions Goa and Manipur booked quarter-final berths with easy victories in the 63rd National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy on Sunday. They join four directly seeded teams -- last edition's winners Punjab, runners-up Services and two semi-finalists Karnataka and West Bengal -- in the last eight league round which begins on Tuesday.
Defending champions Punjab took a sweet revenge and stunned favourites Services by a solitary goal to lift the 62nd Santosh Trophy national football championship title at the Bakshi stadium in Srinagar on Sunday. Substitute Balraj Singh scored the solitary goal in the 54 minute when he converted a spot kick after a Services defender handled the ball inside the box.
They defeated Maharashtra 3-1 in extra time in the final.
Rain during the last two days forced the organisers to postpone Monday's matches and reschedule the quarter-final league in the National Football Championship.
Either Jeddah or Riyadh will host Santosh knockouts for 3 years, says AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey
West Bengal edged past defending champions Services 4-2 to enter the final of the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy
Skipper S Ignatius scored the winner in extra time as Kerala beat Punjab 3-2 in the final of the National Football Championship.
Services lifted the Santosh Trophy after edging out hosts Punjab 5-4 via tie-breaker in a nail-biting summit clash at Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Sunday.
Maharashtra entered the semi-finals of the 67th Santosh Trophy national football tournament, beating Tamil Nadu 2-1 in a group B quarter-final league match in Kollam on Tuesday.
After a goalless stalemate in regulation time, Karnataka edged past Maharashtra by a solitary goal in the extra time to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 64th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy in Kolkata.
A solitary strike by Thoiba Singh helped Manipur prevail over Services 1-0 in extra time and book a berth in the final of the Santosh Trophy in Guwahati on Thursday.
Sporting Clube de Goa Keeper, who led Goa to Victory last year in the Santosh Trophy will lead a 20-member squad that will play for the ongoing Santosh Trophy to be held in Kolkata.
Holders Punjab play Services on June 5 in first round-robin match of the quarter-final league in the Santosh Trophy National Football Championship in Srinagar. The semi-finals will be on June 12 and 13 and the final on June 15.
Reuben D'Souza's goal enabled them beat defending champions Kerala 1-0 in the first semi-final of the National Football Championship.
Former champions Punjab claimed a spot in the final four of the Santosh Trophy football championship by beating Tamil Nadu 1-0 in the last quarter-final.
Assam beat Railways 2-1 to finish on top of Cluster IV
Kerala fired a late winner to score a 2-1 victory against Karnataka and book a semi-final berth in the Santosh Trophy.
Raman Vijayan's late strike helped Tamil Nadu beat Delhi 1-0 to enter the quarter-finals of the Santosh Trophy.
Former India defender Ilyas Pasha dead, AIFF, East Bengal condole
Kerala overcame Services 2-0 to move into the final of the national football championship for the fourth time in a row.
Punjab are almost assured of a semi-final berth in the Indian Oil Santosh Trophy football championship after Services shocked 29-time winners Bengal 2-1 on Sunday.
Bengal's star performer Denson Devadas might be a Keralite but the regional factor does not matter for the diminutive midfielder.
Services brought their campaign back on track with a 2-1 win over Karnataka in the 64th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Saturday.
Former champions Bengal put themselves in a difficult situation to qualify for the semi-finals after being held to a 1-1 draw by a fighting Manipur in their second Group A quarter-final league match of the Santosh Trophy in Chennai on Thursday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances