The 79th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2025-26, India's oldest football tournament, will kick off on December 15 with the group stages to be played across nine venues.
The Final Round of the will be held in Assam in January 2026, the AIFF said in a statement on Thursday.
The group stage that will end on December 26, will see 35 teams across nine groups (eight groups with four teams and one group with three).
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.
The last time Assam hosted the Santosh Trophy Final Round was in the 2010-11 season when West Bengal defeated Manipur to lift the trophy in Guwahati.
79th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2025-26 Group Stage Fixtures:
Group A (hosted in Mahilpur, Punjab): Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab
December 15: Jammu & Kashmir vs Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh vs Punjab
December 17: Himachal Pradesh vs Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh vs Punjab
December 19: Ladakh vs Himachal Pradesh, Punjab vs Jammu & Kashmir
Group B (hosted in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh): Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand
December 16: Uttarakhand vs Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh vs Haryana
December 18: Haryana vs Uttarakhand, Chandigarh vs Uttar Pradesh
December 20: Chandigarh vs Haryana, Uttarakhand vs Uttar Pradesh
Group C (hosted in Delhi): Bihar, Jharkhand, Railways, Delhi
December 15: Bihar vs Railways, Jharkhand vs Delhi
December 17: Railways vs Jharkhand, Delhi vs Bihar
December 19: Bihar vs Jharkhand, Delhi vs Railways
Group D (hosted in Agartala, Tripura): Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura
December 15: Mizoram vs Nagaland, Manipur vs Tripura
December 17: Nagaland vs Manipur, Tripura vs Mizoram
December 19: Manipur vs Mizoram, Nagaland vs Tripura
Group E (Shillong, Meghalaya): Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh
December 19: Meghalaya vs Sikkim
December 21: Sikkim vs Arunachal Pradesh
December 23: Arunachal Pradesh vs Meghalaya
Group F (hosted in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh): Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana
December 22: Odisha vs Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh vs Telangana
December 24: Telangana vs Odisha, Madhya Pradesh vs Chhattisgarh
December 26: Madhya Pradesh vs Telangana, Chhattisgarh vs Odisha
Group G (hosted in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh): Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry
December 17: Andaman & Nicobar vs Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh vs Pondicherry
December 19: Tamil Nadu vs Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry vs Andaman & Nicobar
December 21: Andaman & Nicobar vs Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry vs Tamil Nadu
Group H (hosted in Bengaluru, Karnataka): Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Services
December 20: Goa vs Services, Karnataka vs Lakshadweep
December 22: Lakshadweep vs Goa, Services vs Karnataka
December 24: Lakshadweep vs Services, Goa vs Karnataka
Group I (hosted in Jaipur, Rajasthan): Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
December 17: Gujarat vs Maharashtra, DNH & DD vs Rajasthan
December 19: Maharashtra vs DNH & DD, Rajasthan vs Gujarat
December 21: DNH & DD vs Gujarat, Maharashtra vs Rajasthan
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