Shillong Mar 1: Shillong Lajong are all set to begin their campaign in the newly rebranded Indian Football League 2025-26 with their opening home match of the season against Rajasthan United FC on Sunday at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo, here. Kick-off will be at 6:30PM.
The much-anticipated clash marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Reds as they look to start strong in front of their home supporters. This is first of three consecutive home matches for SLFC this season and they’ll only have one more after that in Stage 1, so they need to make these count.
When these two sides met last season, in the I-League 2024-25 (before the tournament was rebranded as the IFL), they produced two extraordinary games – first Lajong registered their biggest ever I-League win (8-0!) in the first leg here and Rajasthan Utd got their own back with a 4-0 result in the second leg in Jaipur. This season the two sides will only meet once, that is unless they both wind up in the same group of Stage 2 – Championship Group or Relegation Group.
While Lajong have named an all-Indian squad for IFL 2025-26, mostly for financial reasons, Rajasthan United have not that issue. They have a full complement of eight foreigners – Cedric Gogoua (Ivory Coast, defender), Abdul Ango (Ghana, defender), Jonathan Fernandes (Brazil, midfielder), Pedro Astray (Spain, midfielder), Amadou Soukouna (France, forward), Jordan Lamela (Spain, forward), Robinson Blandon (Colombia, forward) and Gerard Artigas (Spain, forward).
There is also Meghalayan Kynsailang Khongsit in the squad. Batskhemlang Thangkhiew is also featured in some lists but we’re not sure. Both of them are former Lajong players, as is Novin Gurung, who is in the RUFC squad.
The match will be telecast live on Doordarshan and streamed on the Waves OTT platform.
(Shillong Lajong photo)
