The 2023–24 Santosh Trophy was the 77th edition of the

Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...

, the premier competition in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

for senior men's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams representing their respective states/union territories and government institutions. This edition onwards the tournament was to be held under the name of FIFA Santosh Trophy, but FIFA pulled out due to the choice of venue and thus likely to associate from the next season.

Venues

The

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

(AIFF) announced in September 2023 that the group stage matches would begin the following month and would be played in six venues. The venues and the corresponding groups that would play there were named. Hosts Arunachal Pradesh were exempted from playing the group stage fixtures. For the final round, Arunachal Pradesh was named the host, the first time that a

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

n State would host in the tournament's history.

Draws

The draw for the group stage fixtures was held at the Football House in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

on 26 July 2023. 38 teams entered the competition; Karnataka and Meghalaya, the finalists of the previous edition, received direct entry to the final round. Hosts Arunachal Pradesh were placed in Group A of the final round.The remaining 35 teams were divided into one group of five teams and five groups of six teams each. It was announced that the winners of each group and four best second-placed teams, along with finalists from the previous edition would make the final round. The draw for the final round was held on 30 November 2023.

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Ranking of second-placed teams

Final round

* Karnataka directly qualified for final round as defending champions. * Meghalaya directly qualified for final round as runners up of previous edition. * Arunachal Pradesh directly qualified for final round as hosts.

Group A

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Group B

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Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

Rahul Ramakrishnan and substitute Bikash Thapa scored one goal each in either half for the dominant Services, while Malsawmfela reduced the lead in injury time for Mizoram through a direct free kick goal. Services made the final of the competition for the 12th time. In the second semifinal, Ngangbam Pacha Singh scored for Manipur from 30 yards, with substitute Necio Fernandes equalising in the injury time with a bicycle kick off Joshua D’Silva. Fernandes scored again, the winner, in

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

, taking his team to the final, for their 14th time. ----

Final

Statistics

Awards

The following awards were given out at the end of the tournament: the top scorer, Best Goalkeeper, Player of the Tournament and Fair Play Award.

Broadcasting

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 Santosh Trophy 2023–24 Santosh Trophy Santosh Trophy seasons