West Bengal 1 (Debraj Das 52’ p)
lost to
Manipur 3 (Jogesh Singh Heikrujam 26’, Jenson Meitei Thiyam 39’, Muskan 88’)

AIFF Media Team

BENGALURU: Holders Manipur kept their tryst with the Junior Boys' National Football Championship for Dr BC Roy Trophy 2026-27 with a clinical 3-1 victory over West Bengal in the Tier 1 final at the Bengaluru Football Stadium on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. 

Jogesh in the 26th minute and Jenson in the 39th minute scored the goals for Manipur in the first half. Muskan provided insurance cover for Manipur two minutes before close. Debraj Das reduced the margin for West Bengal, converting a penalty. 

The final was a repeat of last year's final when Manipur defeated West Bengal 3-0 in Amritsar. It was also a repeat of the 1999-00 tournament held in Bengaluru, also won by Manipur with a goal in the sudden death of extra time.

Including the above two triumphs, Manipur have now won three titles. They also became the first team since Mizoram in 2019-20 to defend their title.

Manipur dominated most of the first half, trading passes effectively, moving into vacant positions, and applying heavy pressure on the West Bengal defence. However, their forward passes were struck much longer and harder for the attackers to reach.

The combination of Siroi Khwairakpam and Pravin Warepam on the right caused most of the problems. With defender Lamyanba Oinam producing a compact display, the West Bengal attack floundered often and could barely manage a shot on goal for the entire first half. 

Skipper Jogesh put Manipur in the lead in the 26th minute with a perfectly struck free-kick from just outside the West Bengal box. The ball flew past the diving keeper Arpan Mitra and into the middle of the net.

Thiyam Jenson Meitei made it 2-0 in the 39th when he surged down the left, changed direction of his run and let fly a powerful right-footed shot from the edge of the box that flew past Arpan.

But West Bengal reduced the margin five minutes after resumption. Manipur wing-back Lanchenba Khwairakpam brought down Ayush Rajak and skipper Debraj Das converted the resultant penalty, sending the ball into the right corner.
 
West Bengal did come more into the attacking picture in the second half. But the Manipur defence held firm. 

Latching onto a log clearance, Manipur substitute Muskan moved into the box and unleashed a firm left-footed shot that flew past custodian Arpan, enabling Manipur to breathe a lot more freely as they eventually triumphed.

Sports Authority of India win Tier 2 

SAI 5 (Marjesh Singh Tongbram 53’, 84’, 90+3’, Ansula Narzary 79’, Hengoulen 89’)
Beat
Arunachal Pradesh 0

NARAINPUR, CHHATTISGARH: Marjesh did the star turn for the Sports Authority of India as they trounced Arunachal Pradesh 5-0 in the Tier 2 final of the Junior Boys' National Football Championship for Dr BC Roy Trophy 2026-27 at the RK Ashram Ground in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, on Wednesday, September 9, 2026.

Ansula Narzary and Hengoulen added one each to get their names on the scorers’ list as SAI completely dominated the game. Though their goals came in the second half, Arunachal Pradesh could not stop the marauding SAI attack from scoring at will.

As finalists, SAI and Arunachal Pradesh earned promotion to Tier 1 for the 2027-28 season. The duo will replace Chandigarh and Maharashtra, the two bottom-placed sides in this season's Tier 1.