New Delhi, 02 December (HS). The final round matches of the 78th Senior National Football Championship played for the Santosh Trophy will start from December 14 in Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana. The semi-finals will be played on 29th December and the final match will be played on 31st December.
The All India Football Federation said on Monday that the twelve teams for the final round, the nine winners of the group stage, last season’s two finalists (Services and Goa) and host Telangana, have been divided into two groups of six each. The top four teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals to be played on December 26 and 27. All the matches till the quarter finals will be held in Deccan Arena.
West Bengal has been champion a record 32 times. Defending champions Services have seven titles to their name, six of which have come in the last 11 seasons. Eight-time champions Punjab missed qualifying for the final round for the second consecutive season. They were defeated in the group stage by Jammu and Kashmir, who qualified for the final round for the first time since 2015–16.
Groups for the final round:
Group A:
Services (2023-24 Champions) West Bengal (Group C Winner) Manipur (Group D Winner) Telangana (Host) Jammu & Kashmir (Group A Winner) Rajasthan (Group I Winner)
Group B:
Goa (2023-24 Runner-up)Delhi (Group B Winner)Kerala (Group H Winner)Tamil Nadu (Group G Winner)Odisha (Group F Winner)Meghalaya (Group E Winner)
Program
Group A (all matches at Deccan Arena):
14 December09:00 Manipur vs Services14:30 Telangana vs Rajasthan19:30 West Bengal vs Jammu & Kashmir
16 Dec09:00 Services vs Jammu & Kashmir14:30 West Bengal vs Telangana19:30 Manipur vs Rajasthan
18 December09:00 Jammu & Kashmir vs Manipur14:30 Rajasthan vs West Bengal19:30 Services vs Telangana
21 December09:00 Telangana vs Jammu & Kashmir14:30 Rajasthan vs Services19:30 West Bengal vs Manipur
23 December09:00 Jammu & Kashmir vs Rajasthan14:30 Manipur vs Telangana19:30 Services vs West Bengal
Group B (all matches at Deccan Arena):
15 December09:00 Kerala vs Goa14:30 Tamil Nadu vs Meghalaya19:30 Delhi vs Odisha
17 December09:00 Goa vs Odisha14:30 Delhi vs Tamil Nadu19:30 Kerala vs Meghalaya
19 December09:00 Odisha vs Kerala14:30 Meghalaya vs Delhi19:30 Goa vs Tamil Nadu
22 December09:00 Tamil Nadu vs Odisha14:30 Meghalaya vs Goa19:30 Delhi vs Kerala
24 December09:00 Odisha vs Meghalaya14:30 Kerala vs Tamil Nadu19:30 Goa vs Delhi
Quarter-finals (all matches at Deccan Arena): 26 December 14:30 Group A1 vs Group B4 (QF1) 19:30 Group A2 vs Group B3 (QF2)
27 December14:30 Group B1 vs Group A4 (QF3)19:30 Group B2 vs Group A3 (QF4)
Semi-finals (all matches at GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium):
29 December
14:30 QF1 Winner vs QF4 Winner (SF1)
19:30 QF3 Winner vs QF2 Winner (SF2)
Final :
31st December
19:30 Semi-Final 1 Winner vs Semi-Final 2 Winner
,
Hindusthan News / Virendra Singh
