Shillong, Jan 15: Meghalaya will be involved in the very first match of the 77th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2023-24 final round when they take on Services on 21st February.
The final round will be held in Itanagar and will conclude on 9th March. All the matches will take place in the Arunachal Pradesh capital’s Golden Jubilee Stadium.
The hosts, defending champions Karnataka and finalists from the 76th edition Meghalaya automatically qualified for the final round. Another nine teams from the preliminaries join them. They are Goa, Delhi, Manipur, Assam, Services, Maharashtra, Kerala, Mizoram and Railways.
The draw for the final round was held in November where the 12 teams were divided into two groups of six.
Second place in 2023 was a huge moment for Meghalaya, which had never gone so far in the national tournament organised by the All India Football Federation.
Meghalaya, hoping to recreate their sensational run into the final last year, will take on Services in the opening match of Group A on 21st February at 10AM, the AIFF said on its website yesterday. Former champions Kerala will meet Assam at 2:30PM. Arunachal, hosting the Santosh Trophy for the first time, will get their campaign underway against Goa at 7PM on the same day.
Group B will kick off on the following day, with Karnataka taking on Delhi to get their title defence underway at 10AM. Manipur and Railways will meet at 2:30PM before Maharashtra face Mizoram at 7PM to wrap up the opening round of fixtures.
The new format for the tournament will see an expanded knockout stage, with the top four teams from each group progressing to the quarterfinals, scheduled for 4th and 5th March. The semifinals will take place on 7th March before the final on 9th March.
Group A: Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Goa, Assam, Services, Kerala
Group B: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Manipur, Mizoram, Railways
Group Fixtures:
21st February: Meghalaya vs Services (10AM), Assam vs Kerala (2:30PM), Goa vs Arunachal Pradesh (7PM)
22nd February: Delhi vs Karnataka (10AM), Manipur vs Railways (2:30PM), Maharashtra vs Mizoram (7PM)
23rd February: Arunachal Pradesh vs Services (10AM), Meghalaya vs Assam (2:30PM), Goa vs Kerala (7PM)
24th February: Karnataka vs Mizoram (10AM), Maharashtra vs Manipur (2:30PM), Delhi vs Railways (7PM)
25th February: Services vs Goa (10AM), Kerala vs Meghalaya (2:30PM), Arunachal Pradesh vs Assam (7PM)
26th February: Mizoram vs Delhi (10AM), Railways vs Maharashtra (2:30PM), Karnataka vs Manipur (7PM)
28th February: Assam vs Services (10AM), Kerala vs Arunachal Pradesh (2:30PM), Meghalaya vs Goa (7PM)
29th February: Manipur vs Mizoram (10AM), Railways vs Karnataka (2:30PM), Maharashtra vs Delhi (7PM)
1st March: Services vs Kerala (10AM), Goa vs Assam (2:30PM), Arunachal Pradesh vs Meghalaya (7PM)
2nd March: Mizoram vs Railways (10AM), Delhi vs Manipur (2:30PM), Karnataka vs Maharashtra (7PM)
(File photo)
