Shillong, May 22: Meghalaya will face Kerala in the quarterfinals of the Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men’s National Football Championship 2026 in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, on Saturday, with both teams coming into the knockout round with a fantastic record behind them. Kick-off will be at 7am.
Meghalaya topped Group A with a full 12 points after beating Bihar 3-1 in their opener on 9 May followed by a 5-0 win against Jharkhand, 8-1 against Andhra Pradesh on 13 May and 3-0 versus Rajasthan on 17 May.
Coached by Jeffrey Warlarpih, the Meghalaya boys will face their toughest contest yet as they go up against Kerala, who were first in Group C. Kerala defeated Chandigarh 5-1 on 13 May, Uttarakhand 3-0 on 15 May, Andaman & Nicobar Islands 12-0 on 19 May and Jammu & Kashmir 6-1 on 21 May. Meghalaya and Kerala faced each other last year in this same tournament. That time they were both drawn in the same group, with Meghalaya winning 2-1.
However, being an age-category event, there are only a couple of players from 2025 in the Meghalaya squad this year. With both sides enjoying unbeaten runs and boasting impressive attacking form, Saturday’s quarterfinal promises to be a fiercely contested encounter between two of the tournament’s standout teams. Meghalaya will look to continue their dream campaign and draw confidence from last year’s victory over Kerala, while the southern side will be eager to avenge that defeat and book a place in the semifinals.
