The Santosh Trophy 2022-23 is nearing its conclusion, with Meghalaya and Karnataka set to compete for the title on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (March 4). The current season is the 76th edition of India’s premier inter-state football tournament, which began in 1942. Institutional teams such as the Services and Railways compete in the Santosh Trophy, India’s official national championship.
West Bengal is the most successful team in Santosh Trophy history, with 32 titles, while Kerala won the most recent edition after defeating West Bengal on penalties in the final. In the preliminary round of the Santosh Trophy 2022-23, 36 Indian states and union territories were divided into six groups of six teams each.
Following a single-leg round-robin format, the six group winners – Delhi, Kerala, Goa, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and Punjab – and the three best runner-ups – Karnataka, Manipur, and Maharashtra – qualified for the Santosh Trophy 2022-23 final round.
Odisha, the final round’s hosts, received an automatic berth, while Services and Railways joined directly in the final round, making it a 12-team affair. The 12 teams were divided into two groups of six in the final round.
Information about Groups
Group A of the Santosh Trophy 2022-23 final round consists of Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Goa.
West Bengal, Delhi, Services, Railways, Manipur, and Meghalaya are in Group B.
Each group’s teams competed against each other in a single-leg round-robin format. The top two teams in each group, Punjab and Karnataka in Group A and Services and Meghalaya in Group B, advanced to the knockout rounds, which included semi-finals and the final.
Previously, Meghalaya finished second behind Services in Group B, which also included last year’s runners-up and the competition’s most successful side, West Bengal, as well as former champions, Railways, Manipur, and Delhi. Meghalaya defeated West Bengal, Manipur, and Delhi, while drawing with Railways and losing to Services in the final round group stage.
Team Matches
The Santosh Trophy knockout rounds are being held this season at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Matches will be play on foreign soil for the first time in the tournament’s history.
March 1st is a Wednesday.
Punjab (Paramjit Singh 16′) semi-final 1 1-2 (Figo Syndai 37′, Sheen Stevenson Sohktung 90+1′) Meghalaya
Karnataka is in the second semi-final. 3-1 Services (Bikash Thapa 41′, Robin Yadav 43′, Ankith P 45+1′, M Sunil Kumar 77′)
Saturday, March 4th Meghalaya vs. Karnataka in the final
Where can you watch the Santosh Trophy 2022-23 live?
Meghalaya, who reached the Santosh Trophy semifinals for the first time in their history, continued their fairy-tale run in the National Football Championship (NFC) on Wednesday (March 1), stunnng Punjab 2-1 in the first semifinal.
After Punjab took the lead through Deepak Kumar’s (16′) goal, Meghalaya came back with goals from Figo Syndal (37′) and Sheen Stevenson Sohktung (90+1′) to reach their first-ever final. In the second semifinal, Karnataka came from behind to defeat Services 3-1, thanks to goals from Robin Yadav (42′), Ankit P (45+1′), and Sunil Kumar (77′). Services’ lone goal came from Bikash Jadhav (40′).
Live streaming of Santosh Trophy 2022-23 matches will be available in India via the FanCode app and website. The Santosh Trophy is not broadcast on any Indian television channel.
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