Santosh Trophy 2025-26: Uttarakhand, Assam record wins; West Bengal drops points against Tamil Nadu

Uttarakhand and Assam won for the first time in Group A of the final round of the Santosh Trophy 2025-26, defeating Nagaland and Rajasthan respectively in Dhakuakhana, Assam on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, West Bengal dropped points for the first time in this round after a 1-1 draw against Tamil Nadu.

After conceding a breather goal, Uttarakhand rallied to beat Nagaland by two goals in the second half. Skipper Laiwang Bohham gave Nagaland the lead in the 7th minute, but Ajendra Singh restored parity in the 55th, while Nirmal Singh Bisht scored two minutes later to secure the win.

Assam were dominant from the start and applied the pressure in the 33rd minute when Pragyan Gogoi opened the scoring. The goal came from Pranjal Bhumij’s corner, which Rajasthan initially cleared, but only as far as Akrang Narzary, who saw two of his attempts blocked before Gogoi bundled the ball home from close range.

READ ALSO | India Under-17 men’s team will play two friendly matches against Tajikistan in Goa

Both key players of the first goal contributed to the next two. Bhumij played a brilliant one-two with Dipu Mirdha on the right flank. The former scored with a solid first-time finish into the roof of the net in the 43rd minute. Twenty minutes into the second half, Assam put the match to bed after Sudeepta Konwar scored a low goal aiming for the far corner, which was saved by Rajasthan goalkeeper Mohit Sikhwal. However, Akrang Narzary was there to net the rebound.

At the other end, Tamil Nadu took the lead when Nandha Kumar Ananthraj fired one of the best goals of the round as far as his screamer zoomed into the top post in the 61st minute. But West Bengal went all out to restore parity as defender Sujit Sadhu headed in an equalizer in the 81st minute to share the points.

Published on January 28, 2026