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

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

Rohan Mukherjee

Updated on: 18 December 2025 3:01 am

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

Representative Image from the previous edition Photo: AIFF Media

Summary of this article

Santosh Trophy's 79th edition in full swing
35 teams are participating in the first round
Check the live streaming details and preview for this year's edition

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.