Nagaland endured a difficult outing in the Santosh Trophy 2025–26 Final Round as they went down 0–3 to Tamil Nadu in their Group A encounter at the Dhakuakhana Football Stadium on Sunday. Despite showing early promise and competing evenly for large parts of the first half, Nagaland were unable to convert their moments into goals and were punished by a more clinical Tamil Nadu side.
The match remained balanced in the opening phase, with Nagaland holding their shape and limiting clear chances. However, Tamil Nadu broke the deadlock just before the interval when A. Regan scored in the 43rd minute to give his side a 1–0 lead at half-time. The goal shifted the momentum, and Nagaland found it harder to regain control after the restart.
Tamil Nadu increased the tempo in the second half, pressing higher and exploiting spaces in midfield. Suraj Kumar P. doubled the lead in the 65th minute, capitalising on sustained pressure, which visibly dented Nagaland’s resistance. As the game wore on, Nagaland struggled to mount an effective response, with their attacks lacking penetration against a confident Tamil Nadu defence. Devadath S. added a third goal in the 89th minute to seal a comfortable win.
The defeat leaves Nagaland with work to do in the remaining group fixtures as they look to regroup, address defensive lapses, and rediscover attacking urgency in their Santosh Trophy campaign.
Nagaland are effectively out of the Santosh Trophy 2025–26 Final Round after securing just one point from three matches, and will play their remaining Group A fixtures against Uttarakhand on January 28 and Rajasthan on January 30.
Defending champions West Bengal continued their dominant run in the Santosh Trophy 2025-26 Final Round with a narrow 1-0 win over Rajasthan in Dhakuakhana on January 25, maintaining a perfect record and staying atop Group A with nine points from three matches. Substitute Sayan Banerjee struck the decisive goal in the 89th minute, heading home to break Rajasthan’s resistance at a packed Dhakuakhana Football Stadium. Despite the defeat, Rajasthan remain second with six points.
In Silapathar, hosts Assam fought back to hold Uttarakhand to a 1-1 draw, with Dipu Gohain cancelling out Nirmal Singh Bisht’s early opener.
