# 2022–23 Santosh Trophy

The 2022–23 Santosh Trophy was the 76th edition of the Santosh Trophy, the premier competition in India for senior men's football teams representing their respective states/union territories and government institutions.
Contrary to the recent seasons, this edition onwards the AIFF adopted a new format for the tournament that saw the removal of the qualification stage, thereby allowing all the state teams to participate in the group stage. This move taken in a way for promoting the sport in every region of the country. On 6 October 2022, the AIFF signed a MoU with the SAFF, which included an agreement to host the semi-finals, the 3rd place decider & the final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

## Group stage

The group stage was contested by 36 teams representing the states and the union territories of India, wherein the teams were drawn into six groups. The six group winners, along with three best runner-up teams qualified for the final round along with Railways, Services and the host of the round.

### Group I

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | DL | KA | GJ | UT | TR | LA |
| 1 | Delhi (H) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 | +13 | 13 | Final round | — | — | 4–0 | 2–1 | — | — |
| 2 | Karnataka | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 5 | +16 | 12 | Final round | 0–1 | — | — | — | 10–0 | — |
| 3 | Gujarat | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 9 | | — | 1–5 | — | 3–1 | — | — |
| 4 | Uttarakhand | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 4 | | — | 1–3 | — | — | 1–0 | — |
| 5 | Tripura | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 18 | −16 | 4 | | 0–0 | — | 0–6 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Ladakh | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 16 | −11 | 1 | | 0–7 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | — |

### Group II

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KL | MZ | JK | BR | RJ | AP |
| 1 | Kerala (H) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | +22 | 15 | Final round | — | — | 3–0 | — | — | 5–0 |
| 2 | Mizoram | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 12 | | 1–5 | — | — | — | 4–0 | — |
| 3 | Jammu and Kashmir | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 7 | | — | 2–3 | — | — | 0–0 | — |
| 4 | Bihar | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 4 | | 1–4 | 1–3 | 0–2 | — | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| 5 | Rajasthan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 14 | −13 | 4 | | 0–7 | — | — | — | — | 1–0 |
| 6 | Andhra Pradesh | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 14 | −11 | 1 | | — | 0–3 | 2–4 | — | — | — |

### Group III

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | GA | NL | AS | UP | AR | TN |
| 1 | Goa | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 11 | Final round | — | 0–0 | — | — | 2–1 | — |
| 2 | Nagaland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 11 | | — | — | 3–1 | — | — | 1–0 |
| 3 | Assam (H) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 9 | | 0–1 | — | — | — | 4–1 | — |
| 4 | Uttar Pradesh | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 7 | | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| 5 | Arunachal Pradesh | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 4 | | — | 1–1 | — | — | — | 2–1 |
| 6 | Tamil Nadu | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 13 | −10 | 0 | | 0–3 | — | 1–5 | — | — | — |

### Group IV

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | WB | MH | HR | CT | MP | DH |
| 1 | West Bengal | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | +16 | 15 | Final round | — | — | — | 2–0 | 5–0 | — |
| 2 | Maharashtra (H) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 12 | Final round | 1–2 | — | 3–1 | — | — | — |
| 3 | Haryana | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 9 | | 0–3 | — | — | — | 2–1 | — |
| 4 | Chhattisgarh | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 4 | | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Madhya Pradesh | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 4 | | — | 0–4 | — | 2–2 | — | — |
| 6 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 17 | −17 | 0 | | 0–5 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — |

### Group V

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ML | OD | SK | TG | PY | AN |
| 1 | Meghalaya | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 2 | +15 | 11 | Final round | — | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | — |
| 2 | Odisha (H) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 | +14 | 10 | Final round | — | — | 3–0 | — | 5–0 | 7–0 |
| 3 | Sikkim | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 10 | | — | — | — | 3–0 | 2–1 | — |
| 4 | Telangana | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 9 | | — | 1–0 | — | — | 5–1 | — |
| 5 | Pondicherry | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 18 | −15 | 1 | | 0–5 | — | — | — | — | 1–1 |
| 6 | Andaman and Nicobar | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 25 | −23 | 1 | | 0–9 | — | 1–3 | 0–5 | — | — |

### Group VI

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PB | MN | CH | JH | LD | HP |
| 1 | Punjab | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 13 | Final round | — | — | 1–1 | — | — | 5–0 |
| 2 | Manipur (H) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 12 | Final round | 0–1 | — | — | 5–1 | — | — |
| 3 | Chandigarh | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 7 | | — | 1–3 | — | — | — | 5–0 |
| 4 | Jharkhand | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 6 | | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Lakshadweep | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 13 | −6 | 3 | | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 4–2 | — | 1–2 |
| 6 | Himachal Pradesh | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 18 | −13 | 3 | | — | 2–5 | — | 2–1 | — | — |

### Ranking of runner-up teams

| Pos | Grp | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | I | Karnataka | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 5 | +16 | 12 | Final round |
| 2 | VI | Manipur | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 12 | Final round |
| 3 | IV | Maharashtra | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 12 | Final round |
| 4 | II | Mizoram | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 12 | |
| 5 | III | Nagaland | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 11 | |
| 6 | V | Odisha | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 | +14 | 10 | Final round |
* ↑ Odisha directly qualified for the Final round after being declared as the host of the round.

## Draw

The official draw for the 76th edition of Santosh Trophy was held on 19 January 2023 at the AIFF headquarters- the Football House, in New Delhi with AIFF Secretary General Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran assisting in the process. Nine teams who came through the qualifiers along with Services, Railways and the host of the final round - Odisha, were drawn into two groups of six each for the round beginning from 10 February. The host venue of the event was announced to be Bhubaneswar.

## Final round
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PB | KA | KL | MH | OD | GA |
| 1 | Punjab | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 11 | Semi-finals | — | — | — | 4–3 | — | 3–1 |
| 2 | Karnataka | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 9 | Semi-finals | 2–2 | — | — | — | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Kerala | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 8 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 4–4 | — | — |
| 4 | Maharashtra | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 6 | | — | 3–3 | — | — | 1–1 | — |
| 5 | Odisha (H) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 5 | | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Goa | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 0 | | — | — | 2–3 | 0–2 | 1–4 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SV | ML | RL | MN | DL | WB |
| 1 | Services | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 2 | +10 | 13 | Semi-finals | — | — | 4–0 | — | 1–1 | — |
| 2 | Meghalaya | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 10 | Semi-finals | 0–2 | — | — | 1–0 | 5–1 | — |
| 3 | Railways | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 7 | | — | 0–0 | — | — | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Manipur | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 6 | | 0–3 | — | 4–1 | — | — | — |
| 5 | Delhi | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 5 | | — | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–2 |
| 6 | West Bengal | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 1 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–4 | — | — |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 1 March 2023 - Riyadh | 1 March 2023 - Riyadh |
| Punjab | 1 |
| Punjab | 1 | 4 March 2023 - Riyadh | 4 March 2023 - Riyadh |
| Meghalaya | 2 | 4 March 2023 - Riyadh | 4 March 2023 - Riyadh |
| Meghalaya | 2 | Meghalaya | 2 |
| 1 March 2023 - Riyadh | 1 March 2023 - Riyadh | | Meghalaya | 2 |
| 1 March 2023 - Riyadh | 1 March 2023 - Riyadh | Karnataka | 3 |
| Karnataka | 3 | Karnataka | 3 |
| Services | 1 | | |
| Services | 1 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 4 March 2023 - Riyadh | 4 March 2023 - Riyadh |
| | | Punjab | 0 |
| | | Services | 2 |

### Final
## Statistics

| Rank | Player | Team | Goal(s) |
| 1 | Naro Hari Shrestha | West Bengal | 9 |
| 1 | Nijo Gilbert | Kerala | 9 |
| 3 | Robin Yadav | Karnataka | 6 |
| 3 | Arif Shaikh | Maharashtra | 6 |
| 3 | Ajay Singh | Delhi | 6 |
| Source: AIFF ||||

## Awards

| Award | Player | Team |
| Top Scorer of the Championship | Naro Hari Shrestha | West Bengal |
| Top Scorer of the Championship | Nijo Gilbert | Kerala |
| Best Goalkeeper of the Championship | Rajat Paul Lyngdoh | Meghalaya |
| Hero of the Championship | Robin Yadav | Karnataka |