Shillong, Dec 16: The Meghalaya team for the preliminary group games of the Senior Men’s National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy 2025-26 will likely be announced on Wednesday.
Khlain Pyrkhat Syiemlieh will coach the team this year. It was he who was in charge of the side that reached the final of the Santosh Trophy in 2022-23 where they were runners-up to Karnataka, which was Meghalaya’s best finish in the prestigious national tournament.
Shillong will host three matches of the preliminary round, with Group E consisting of Meghalaya, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
Meghalaya will play Sikkim on 19 December and Arunachal on 23 December. Sikkim and Arunachal will face each other on 21 December. Kick-off for all three matches will be at 4pm at the SSA Stadium at First Ground, Polo.
Only the winners of the nine groups will progress to the final round along with 2024-25 champions West Bengal, runners-up Kerala and final round hosts Assam, who have all received direct entry.
Players from around the state plus those playing for clubs outside Meghalaya were eligible to attend trials last month. A shortlist of 40 names was made and will be whittled down to 22 tomorrow.
Practice began in earnest yesterday, following the conclusion of the SSA Champions Cup, which freed up several players who are in consideration for the state team, Syiemlieh said. While the Champions Cup certainly helped keep the players fit, hungry and match-ready, there is only a short window for them to try and gel together, MFA Vice-President Cliff Nongrum added.
Meghalaya reached the quarterfinals of the final round in 2024-25, losing to Services in the last-eight.
