New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) The final round of the 78th Senior National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy will begin on December 14 in Hyderabad.
Twelve teams – the nine winners of the group stage, two finalists from last season (Services and Goa) and hosts Telangana – have been divided into two groups of six each. The top four teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals to be played on December 26 and 27. All the matches till the quarter finals will be held in Deccan Arena.
The semi-finals will be held on December 29 and the final on December 31 at GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium.
West Bengal are a record 32-time champions and will be looking to win their first title since 2016-17. Defending champions Services have seven titles to their name, six of which have come in the last 11 seasons. Eight-time champions Punjab missed qualifying for the final round for the second consecutive season. They lost to Jammu and Kashmir in the group stage, qualifying for the final round for the first time since 2015–16.
Groups for the 78th NFC for Santosh Trophy Final Round:
Group A: Services (2023-24 champions), West Bengal (Group C winners), Manipur (Group D winners), Telangana (hosts), Jammu and Kashmir (Group A winners), Rajasthan (Group I winners)
Group B: Goa (2023-24 Runner-up), Delhi (Group B Winner), Kerala (Group H Winner), Tamil Nadu (Group G Winner), Odisha (Group F Winner), Meghalaya (Group E Winner)
–IANS
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