The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has announced the venues for the group stage of the 79th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2025-26. The group stages will be held across nine different venues from December 15-26, 2025. Following the group stage, the final round is set to take place in Assam in January 2026.

A total of 35 teams will participate in the group stage, divided into nine groups. Eight of these groups will consist of four teams each, while one group will have three teams. The winners of each group will advance to the final round, joining Assam, the host team, as well as West Bengal, the champions from last season, and Kerala, the runners-up. The 12 teams will then compete for the Santosh Trophy in Dhakuakhana and Dhemaji, Assam.

The nine venues for the group stage matches are Mahilpur (Punjab), Meerut, Delhi, Agartala, Shillong, Narainpur (Chhattisgarh), Anantapur, Bengaluru, and Jaipur.

The groups for the 2025-26 season are as follows: * Group A (Mahilpur, Punjab): Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Punjab * Group B (Meerut, Uttar Pradesh): Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand * Group C (Delhi): Bihar, Jharkhand, Railways, Delhi * Group D (Agartala, Tripura): Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura * Group E (Shillong, Meghalaya): Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim * Group F (Narainpur, Chhattisgarh): Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana * Group G (Anantapur): Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu * Group H (Bengaluru): Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Services * Group I (Jaipur, Rajasthan): Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan

The opening day of the Santosh Trophy will feature Jammu and Kashmir against Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh against Punjab in Group A.

In a recent update, the AIFF has implemented a new eligibility rule stating that state teams are not allowed to field outstation players. This decision aims to prioritize home-grown players and strengthen local development within each state's football ecosystem.

Assam is hosting the Santosh Trophy final round after 15 years. The last time Assam hosted the final round was in the 2010-11 season when West Bengal defeated Manipur in Guwahati.