The 79th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2025–26 arrives as one of the most consequential editions in the tournament’s long history.
More than a traditional inter-state competition, this season becomes the testing ground for the AIFF’s most radical regulatory overhaul the strict implementation of the home-born player mandate, which now requires every footballer representing a state to be born within its territory. Combined with decentralized hosting and an expanded logistical scope, the coming edition is set to redefine competitive dynamics across Indian football.
A New Identity: Santosh Trophy as the Laboratory for Localized Football
The 2025–26 Santosh Trophy is the first full-scale tournament after the AIFF mandated that only home-born players may represent their states. Previously, state teams could recruit players based on residency or club registration, which allowed traditional powerhouses especially metropolitan states such as West Bengal to draw from a vast pan-India talent pool.
The new rule abolishes that flexibility. State associations must now upload each player’s birth certificate or passport on the AIFF portal to verify eligibility. Institutional teams, such as Services and Railways, retain an exception and may still field employees from anywhere in the country.
This shift makes the 79th edition a true talent census, giving India its first authentic view of each state’s indigenous football strength. The tournament has been deliberately placed immediately after the Super Cup group stage, ensuring it becomes the earliest and most high-impact testing platform for this new approach.
Tournament Design: A Nationwide 38-Team Operation
A total of 38 teams are part of the championship 35 competing in the qualifying group stage and three directly seeded into the Final Round in January 2026:
- Assam – Host
- West Bengal – Defending champions
- Kerala – Runners-up
Nine Groups, Nine Venues, Nine Survivors
The group stage (December 15–26, 2025) is spread across nine different venues, marking one of the most geographically dispersed Santosh Trophy formats ever introduced.
Key highlights include:
- Group D (Agartala): The “Northeast Derby”, featuring Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura, is predicted to be the tournament’s most intense technical battleground, as those states are least affected by the new eligibility rules.
- Institutional presence: Railways (Group C) and Services (Group H) remain strong favourites due to their exemption from the birth-state mandate.
- Single three-team cluster: Meghalaya hosts Group E, which includes Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
The winners of each of these nine groups will join the three direct entrants to form the 12-team Final Round.
Final Round Returns to Assam but Not to Guwahati
For the first time since 2010–11, the Santosh Trophy final round returns to Assam, but with a dramatic new twist the matches will be held in Dhakuakhana and Dhemaji, two districts located outside the state’s established football hubs.
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This choice is both symbolic and strategic. The AIFF aims to decentralize national tournaments, spreading infrastructure development to emerging regions. But the move also carries logistical risks. Reports have already suggested infrastructural delays and administrative challenges, prompting concerns over venue readiness, accommodation, and broadcast capability.
With major resources simultaneously committed to upgrading Guwahati’s Nehru Stadium to a FIFA-level facility, questions persist over whether comparable investment has reached the two selected districts in time.
Direct Entrants Under Varying Degrees of Pressure
West Bengal: The Most Affected by the New Rule
The defending champions, with a record 33 titles, face the steepest internal restructuring. For decades, Bengal’s strength came from access to elite outstation professionals via Kolkata’s club ecosystem. The home-born mandate forces them to rely exclusively on Bengal-born players dramatically narrowing their pool.
Their title defence now depends on how quickly they can rebuild a competitive squad drawn entirely from within the state’s birth boundaries.
Kerala: Stability in Adversity
Unlike Bengal, Kerala has long relied on robust local development. Their 2022 triumph and 2024–25 runner-up finish were both built on Kerala-born talent. Thus, they transition smoothly into the new regulatory landscape and enter the tournament among the strongest contenders.
Assam: The Host Advantage
Assam’s team is naturally aligned with the home-born rule, as most players in their recent squads were local products. Automatic qualification gives them extra preparation time, and home support in January could elevate them into dark-horse status.
Competitive Forces to Watch
The nine qualifiers will supply teams hardened by 12 days of intense competition. The most dangerous among them are:
- Services – Major beneficiaries of the exemption; strong favourites in Group H.
- Winner of Group D – Likely Manipur or Mizoram, both locally developed football powerhouses.
These teams could reshape the power map of the final round. A Tournament That Redefines Indian State Football
The 79th Santosh Trophy is not just another edition it is a policy experiment, a structural reset, and a competitive rebalancing exercise.
For the first time in decades:
- Traditional giants face real vulnerability.
- Northeastern states stand to benefit from structural parity.
- Institutional teams may gain unintended dominance.
- Lesser-known host districts gain national spotlight.
It is a tournament where success will no longer be determined merely by historical pedigree, but by the true depth and resilience of each state’s home-grown football ecosystem.
The Santosh Trophy is returning not just as competition but as the new foundation of India’s localized football future.
