Santosh Trophy 2025-26 Preview: Live Streaming When, Where To Watch - All You Need To Know

One of India's oldest football competitions -- the Santosh Trophy is well and truly underway for its 79th edition. The 2025-26 season kicked-off on December 15 and we have already witnessed a couple of enthralling encounters.

The 84-year-old tournament, which was established in 1941, will see its final round being played on January 2026. 3 teams -- hosts Assam, reigning champions West Bengal and runners-up from last year Kerala, have earned automatic qualification.

They will be joined by nine group winners from the current qualifying round to complete the final lineup.

Santosh Trophy 2025-26: Format

The 2025-26 season will feature a total of 38 teams representing nearly every State and Union Territory of India. The competition is divided into two main phases, the Group Stage (on-going) and the Final Round.

In the first round, 35 teams have been divided into nine groups (Groups A to I). All the groups consist of four teams except E, which features only three teams. These matches are being held across nine different venues across the country.

Only the nine group winners from the first round will progress to join the three automatic qualifiers Assam, West Bengal and Kerala.

Santosh Trophy 2025-26: Groups

Group A (hosted in Mahilpur): Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab

Group B (hosted in Meerut): Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand

Group C (hosted in Delhi): Bihar, Jharkhand, Railways, Delhi

Group D (hosted in Agartala): Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura

Group E (Shillong): Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh

Group F (hosted in Narainpur): Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana

Group G (hosted in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh): Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry

Group H (hosted in Bengaluru, Karnataka): Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Services

Group I (hosted in Jaipur): Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

Santosh Trophy 2025-26: Story So Far

We have already witnessed 12 games across the first two matchdays on December 15 and 17.

Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland won both of their opening matches while Tripura and Himachal Pradesh suffered back-to-back defeats and Ladakh are still winless in the competition.

Santosh Trophy 2025-26: Upcoming Matches

Group A (Venue: Mahilpur, Punjab)

• Dec 15: Jammu & Kashmir vs Ladakh | Himachal Pradesh vs Punjab

• Dec 17: Himachal Pradesh vs Jammu & Kashmir | Ladakh vs Punjab

• Dec 19: Ladakh vs Himachal Pradesh | Punjab vs Jammu & Kashmir

Group B (Venue: Meerut, Uttar Pradesh)

• Dec 16: Uttarakhand vs Chandigarh | Uttar Pradesh vs Haryana

• Dec 18: Haryana vs Uttarakhand | Chandigarh vs Uttar Pradesh

• Dec 20: Chandigarh vs Haryana | Uttarakhand vs Uttar Pradesh

Group C (Venue: New Delhi)

• Dec 15: Bihar vs Railways | Jharkhand vs Delhi

• Dec 17: Railways vs Jharkhand | Delhi vs Bihar

• Dec 19: Bihar vs Jharkhand | Delhi vs Railways

Group D (Venue: Agartala, Tripura)

• Dec 15: Mizoram vs Nagaland | Manipur vs Tripura

• Dec 17: Nagaland vs Manipur | Tripura vs Mizoram

• Dec 19: Manipur vs Mizoram | Nagaland vs Tripura

Group E (Venue: Shillong, Meghalaya)

• Dec 19: Meghalaya vs Sikkim

• Dec 21: Sikkim vs Arunachal Pradesh

• Dec 23: Arunachal Pradesh vs Meghalaya

Group F (Venue: Narayanpur, Chhattisgarh)

• Dec 22: Odisha vs Madhya Pradesh | Chhattisgarh vs Telangana

• Dec 24: Telangana vs Odisha | Madhya Pradesh vs Chhattisgarh

• Dec 26: Madhya Pradesh vs Telangana | Chhattisgarh vs Odisha

Group G (Venue: Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh)

• Dec 17: Andaman & Nicobar vs Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh vs Pondicherry

• Dec 19: Tamil Nadu vs Andhra Pradesh | Pondicherry vs Andaman & Nicobar

• Dec 21: Andaman & Nicobar vs Andhra Pradesh | Pondicherry vs Tamil Nadu

Group H (Venue: Bengaluru, Karnataka)

• Dec 20: Goa vs Services | Karnataka vs Lakshadweep

• Dec 22: Lakshadweep vs Goa | Services vs Karnataka

• Dec 24: Lakshadweep vs Services | Goa vs Karnataka

Group I (Venue: Jaipur, Rajasthan)

• Dec 17: Gujarat vs Maharashtra | DNH & DD vs Rajasthan

• Dec 19: Maharashtra vs DNH & DD | Rajasthan vs Gujarat

• Dec 21: DNH & DD vs Gujarat | Maharashtra vs Rajasthan

Santosh Trophy 2025-26: Live Streaming

The first round of the Santosh Trophy 2025-26 can be live streamed on the SportsKPI YouTube channel.