AIFF Media Team

SILAPATHAR/DHAKUAKHANA: Uttarakhand and Assam won for the first time in Group A of the 79th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2025-26 Final Round, defeating Nagaland and Rajasthan, respectively, in Dhakuakhana, Assam, on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.

Leaders West Bengal dropped points for the first time as they were held 1-1 by Tamil Nadu, but remained at the top of the table with 10 points. Tamil Nadu are second with seven points, followed by Rajasthan with six, Assam with five, Uttarakhand with four, and Nagaland with one. With just one more group stage match to play, Nagaland have been eliminated.

West Bengal 1 (Sujit Sadhu 81’)
drew with
Tamil Nadu 1 (Nandha Kumar Ananthraj 61’)

Down by a goal for the first time in the tournament, holders West Bengal battled back to restore parity and share points with an impressive Tamil Nadu outfit in an absorbing Group A clash at the Silapathar Stadium in Silapathar, Assam, on Wednesday.

Tamil Nadu forged into the lead as Nandha Kumar Ananthraj fired home one of the best goals of the Final Round so far as his screamer zoomed into the top near post in the 61st minute. But West Bengal strove hard to restore parity as their defender Sujit Sadhu headed home the equaliser in the 81st minute to share points.

West Bengal barely got into the Tamil Nadu box. It took a long throw from the right for Suman Dey to find Sayan Banerjee, but he swept wide. And then Shyamal Besra ran in and shot from a narrow angle as the Tamil Nadu goalkeeper Mohanraj K gathered cleanly.

Both sides failed to break the deadlock after the first 45 minutes. The resumption saw the same pattern of play and a few fouls being committed.

But off a quick counterattack in the 61st minute, Tamil Nadu worked themselves in from the right. It was Karthick Thirumalai who dribbled into the box. Sujit Sadhu pushed it forward. As it rolled out of the box, Nanda Kumar Anantharaj let fly a scorching right-footer that rocketed into the top corner, giving Gourab Shaw no chance whatsoever.

The goal galvanised West Bengal a lot more with Sayan Banerjee coming more into the attacking picture on the right. In trying to check his progress on the right, Henry Stalin fouled him and conceded a free-kick in the 81st minute. Substitute Bijay Murmur sent a stiff low shot which Harikrishnan M tried to clear. It hit his boot and popped up. Sujit Sadhu leapt and headed it into the net from close quarters for the equaliser as the West Bengal camp heaved a sigh of relief. Both battled out the remaining added-on time without threatening the goal on either side as the match eventually ended in a draw.

Uttarakhand 2 (Ajendra Singh 55’, Nirmal Singh Bisht 57’)
defeated
Nagaland 1 (Laiwang Bohham 8')

Down by a goal at the breather, Uttarakhand rallied to put it across Nagaland with two second-half goals and win 2-1 at the Dhakuakhana Football Stadium in Dhakuakhana, Assam, on Wednesday.

Skipper Laiwang Bohham gave Nagaland the lead in the 7th minute. But Ajendra Singh restored parity in the 55th, while Nirmal Singh Bisht scored in the 57th minute to make it 2-1 with his third goal of the tournament so far.

In a lively affair, both teams produced some pleasing moves with their short passing variety to stretch either defences.

Nagaland broke free from their shackles, with skipper Laiwang Bohham getting into the thick of things as wing back Bapen Yimjong moved up on the right for support. They managed a few stray raids but forged ahead in the seventh minute. Chasing a long pass, Yhoto Lome rolled it back for Bapen Yimjong, who produced a curling cross into the box. Goalkeeper Abhay Bisht and Ayen Mongba went up for the ball, but Bisht pushed it away, but only as far as Laiwang Bohham, who headed goalwards to open the scoring.

With the Nagaland wing-backs not offering much scope for advancement, Uttarakhand adopted a different tactic on resumption. They worked the ball more in the middle and tried to bisect the defence with through passes. Or else they lobbed it deep and produced headers across the goalmouth for their strikers to finish. One such move got them the equaliser in the 55th minute. Hitik Walia, who was fouled, took his free-kick near the centre line and curled his left-footed chip deep into the box. Shashank Rana, who had moved up, headed it across, and the unmarked Ajendra Singh buried his header into the near post.

On level terms, Uttarakhand stepped up the attacks and forged ahead within three minutes. Rajender Singh Bairola’s long throw from the left dipped in and Nirmal Singh Bisht chested it down before producing a firm left-footer that crashed into the net for what turned out to be the match-winner. Uttarakhand packed up their defence and ensured that Nagaland were kept at bay all along to come home with three full points and keep their hopes of a top four finish very much alive.

Rajasthan 0
lost to
Assam 3 (Pragyan Gogoi 33', Pranjal Bhumij 43', Akrang Narzary 65')

Hosts Assam finally got their first win on the board with three unanswered goals against Rajasthan at the Dhakuakhana Football Stadium in Dhakuakhana, Assam, on Wednesday.

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

Both protagonists 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 to put Assam in firm control with a two-goal advantage.

The Northeastern side wrapped up the three points, much to the delight of the local fans, in the 65th minute. Sudeepta Konwar drove a low strike aiming for the far corner, which was saved by Rajasthan goalkeeper Mohit Sikhwal. However, Akrang Narzary was on hand to sweep home the rebound and make it 3-0.