Santosh Trophy 2025-26: West Bengal starts final round with win against Nagaland; Tamil Nadu beats Assam

The final round of the Santosh Trophy 2025-26 kicked off in Dhakuakhana and Silapathar, Assam on Wednesday with defending champions West Bengal registering a significant 4-0 win against Nagaland.

West Bengal have taken the lead in Group A thanks to a higher goal difference, while the other two winners of the day, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, rallied for their respective three points.

Robi Hansda put 33-time winners West Bengal ahead in the 2nd minute at the Dhakuakhana Football Stadium. Sayan Banerjee made it 2-0 with a similar effort in the 32nd as West Bengal took a 2-0 lead at half-time. Akash Hemram scored in the 49th over, while Aqib Nawad completed the count in the 90th.

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Two-time finalist Tamil Nadu started its campaign with a hard-earned 1-0 win over hosts Assam at the Silapathar Football Stadium. Devadath S proved to be the difference between the two sides, scoring the only goal of the match in the third minute, giving his side a winning start to the campaign.

Earlier in the day, Rajasthan got the ball rolling in the round with a 3-2 win over Uttarakhand in a Group A match at Dhakuakhana.

They took the lead in the first minute when Amit Kumar headed home. Captain Mukesh Kumar then headed in another in the 24th to give Rajasthan a two-goal cushion. But Uttarakhand fought back twice to restore parity, first through Nirmal Singh Bisht’s penalty conversion in the 38th minute, and then through his right-footed volley in the second minute of first-half extra time.

Mukesh Kumar produced another superb header to make it 3-2 in the 49th as Rajasthan held on for dear life against a rampaging Uttarakhand to take all three points.

Published on January 21, 2026