Group stage fixtures

National Football Championship:  The final round of the 79th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2025-26 will be held in Assam in January 2026. The group stages will take place across nine venues from December 15 to 26, 2025.

Thirty-five teams will contest the group stage, consisting of nine groups (eight groups with four teams and one group with three). The group winners will join hosts Assam, last season's champions West Bengal and runners-up Kerala in the 12-team final round that will be hosted in Dhakuakhana and Dhemaji.

The last time Assam hosted the Santosh Trophy final round was in the 2010-11 season when West Bengal defeated Manipur to lift the trophy in Guwahati.