The 2026 Junior Boys’ National Football Championship for Dr BC Roy Trophy will begin on August 25 in Bengaluru and Narainpur, with 32 teams competing across Tiers 1 and 2 for national football honours.
The 2026 edition of the Junior Boys’ National Football Championship (NFC) for the Dr BC Roy Trophy is set to begin on August 25, with matches scheduled across Bengaluru and Narainpur. The prestigious youth football tournament will run until September 9, featuring 32 teams competing across two tiers as young players battle for national honours.
Tier 1 of the championship will be hosted at the Bangalore Football Stadium in Bengaluru, while Tier 2 matches will be played at the RK Ashram Ground in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh. Both tiers will feature 16 teams each, divided into four groups of four teams.
The group-stage format will provide a direct route to the knockout stage, with the winners of each group advancing to the semi-finals. The four teams reaching the semi-finals in each tier will then compete for a place in the respective final.
The 2026-27 edition will also continue the promotion-relegation system introduced three seasons ago to create a competitive structure between the two tiers. Uttar Pradesh and Assam, who finished as the two finalists in the 2025-26 edition, have earned promotion to Tier 1 for the new season.
They will replace Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the bottom two teams in Tier 1 last season, who have been relegated to Tier 2 for the 2026-27 campaign. The system is designed to give teams an opportunity to move between the two levels based on their performances.
Manipur enter the tournament as the defending champions. They claimed the previous title after defeating West Bengal 3-0 in last year’s final in Amritsar. Their title-winning campaign will put them among the teams to watch when the new edition begins later this month.
The Junior Boys’ National Football Championship for the Dr BC Roy Trophy has a long history in Indian football. The competition was established in 1962 and provides affiliated State Associations of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with an important platform to compete at the national level.
The championship was traditionally conducted for the Under-19 age group. However, the tournament was converted into an Under-15 competition from the 2023-24 edition, reflecting its growing role in developing young football talent in the country.
The previous editions have also witnessed strong performances from several states. In the 2024-25 Tier 1 competition, held in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, 15 teams participated. They were divided into three groups of four and one group of three, with the group winners progressing to the semi-finals. West Bengal eventually defeated Odisha 2-0 in the final to lift the trophy.
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Tier 2 of the 2024-25 championship was hosted in Nagaon, Assam. A total of 19 teams participated, divided into three groups of five and one group of four. Telangana emerged victorious after defeating Manipur 4-2 on penalties in the final, securing their first-ever NFC trophy.
With the 2026 edition set to bring together 32 teams across Bengaluru and Narainpur, the Dr BC Roy Trophy will once again provide a major national platform for India’s emerging footballers. The tournament is expected to offer young players valuable competitive experience while contributing to the country’s broader youth football development structure.
