Maharashtra Misses Santosh Trophy Final Round Qualification for Second Consecutive Year

by FC December 22, 2025

For the second year in a row, the Maharashtra senior men’s football team has seen its national ambitions cut short in the qualifying stages of the 79th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy.

After a promising but ultimately heartbreaking 2023-24 campaign where they missed the knockout stages by a single point, the state side has struggled to replicate its former glory, failing to progress from the preliminary group stage for the second consecutive season.

The 2025-26 qualifiers in Group I proved to be a repeat of a painful script as collective lapses and inconsistent performances left the Western India Football Association (WIFA) representatives sitting third in the standings for consecutive year.

Maharashtra entered the Group I qualifiers held at the Vidhyadhar Nagar Stadium in Jaipur with a sense of cautious optimism. The squad was led by the experienced defender Umesh Perambra as captain, supported by vice-captain Paramjit Baghel (GK), under the prolific guidance of head coach Santosh Kumar Kashyap. Placed alongside hosts Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (DNHDD), the path to the final round required perfection in a group where only the top team was guaranteed progression.

The campaign got off to a disastrous start on December 17th against a clinical Gujarat side. Maharashtra struggled to find their rhythm early on and were punished for their lack of clinical edge. Gujarat’s Moinuddin was the star of the show, netting a brace that put Maharashtra on the back foot. Any hopes of a late comeback were extinguished when substitute Dharmesh Parmar fired home a third goal in the dying minutes to seal a heavy 3-0 defeat. In a short four-team group, losing the opening fixture is often a fatal blow to qualification hopes, and Maharashtra found themselves playing catch-up from the very first whistle of the tournament.

There was a brief glimmer of hope in the second match on December 19th as Maharashtra bounced back against DNHDD. The team showed a much-needed aggressive intent, with Zeeshan Ahmed spearheading the attack. Zeeshan’s clinical brace within the first 30 minutes set the tone for a dominant display, followed by a goal from Mohammad Owais Ashraf just before the halftime break. Karan Ravindra Chavan added a fourth in the second half to wrap up a 4-0 victory, briefly reviving hopes that a final-day win against the hosts could spark a miracle.

However, the final-day showdown against Rajasthan on December 21st turned into another collective nightmare. Needing a win to stay in contention, Maharashtra instead suffered a collapse similar to their opening-day loss. The hosts capitalized on a series of mishaps, with Aditya Chahar and captain Mukesh Kumar scoring in the first half to put Rajasthan in a commanding position. A late injury-time goal from vice-captain Milan Poonia sealed a 3-0 win for Rajasthan, mirroring a similar scoreline from Maharashtra’s previous meeting with the hosts last year.

With this result, Rajasthan topped the group on goal difference to qualify for the final round in Assam, leaving Maharashtra to finish third with just three points. As the final round of the Santosh Trophy 2025-26 proceeds without them, Maharashtra football will need to reflect on these back-to-back qualifying exits and look toward a significant rebuild for the seasons to come.

_{^{PC: WIFA Media}}

Mumbai Super League Fixtures, Standings and News – Click Here

Mumbai Premier League News – Click Here

Also Read: Kalina Rangers CFF First Victory in MPL Secured

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the latest happenings in the world of Indian Football.