Subroto Cup 2026, the 65th edition of the Subroto Cup International Football Tournament, opens in New Delhi NCR on August 18 with 107 school teams from across India competing across three age categories, one of them from Sri Lanka.

The Subroto Cup 2026 schedule falls into three separate phases spread over two cities. Matches for the Junior Girls Under 17 category run first, from August 18 to August 27, in New Delhi NCR. The tournament then shifts to Bengaluru for the Sub Junior Boys Under 15 category, from September 1 to September 9. It returns to New Delhi NCR for the Junior Boys Under 17 category, the tournament's oldest and largest draw, from September 15, with the final and closing ceremony on September 24.

Subroto Cup 2026 draws 107 teams

The 107 teams represent schools and educational bodies from states and Union Territories across the country. More than 215 matches will be played across the three categories, organisers said at the tournament's curtain raiser this week.

Matches in New Delhi NCR will be staged at five grounds. Ambedkar Stadium, Tejas Football Ground, Subroto Park Football Ground, Pinto Park Football Ground and Rajokri Football Ground will host the Junior Girls and Junior Boys categories. In Bengaluru, the Sub Junior Boys matches move to the Air Force School at Jalahalli, the Air Force School at Yelahanka and the Subroto Football Ground at Jalahalli.

An age check in Bengaluru

An age determination test will be conducted for teams in the Sub Junior Boys category in Bengaluru, organisers said. It is a standard check at a level where a year's difference in age can decide a contest.

What the Chief Guest said

The announcement was made at an event attended by Air Marshal S. Sivakumar VSM, Air Officer in Charge Administration and Vice Chairman of the Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society. He was the Chief Guest. Former India women's team captain Ashalata Devi Loitongbam, a Manipur born defender who became the first Indian woman to play 100 international matches and now turns out for East Bengal in the Indian Women's League, attended as Guest of Honour.

Air Mshl Sivakumar said the Indian Air Force and the Society were committed to making the tournament bigger and better every year, and that it offered young athletes a platform to take the next step in their careers. He congratulated the qualifying teams and asked them to play in the spirit of sportsmanship.

The football calendar this year follows a run of medals by Army and Navy competitors at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where service sportspersons accounted for close to half of India's total tally.

Trophies still to be defended

Farook Higher Secondary School of Kerala arrives as the defending Junior Boys champion, having won the 64th edition in 2025. Betkuchi High School in Guwahati, Assam, holds the Junior Girls title. Minerva Public School, affiliated to the CISCE board, is the reigning Sub Junior Boys champion.

How the tournament has grown

The tournament has widened in scope since its early years. A Sub Junior Boys category was added in 1998, opening the competition to a younger age group alongside the original Under 17 event. A Junior Girls category followed later, extending participation to school teams from the country's girls' football setup.

Teams reach the national rounds through zonal and state level qualifiers, run in coordination with school education boards, before the surviving sides travel to Delhi and, for the Sub Junior Boys category this year, to Bengaluru.

Subroto Cup 2026 traces back to 1958

The tournament is organised by the Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society under the aegis of the Air Force Sports Control Board, the sporting arm of the Indian Air Force that functions under the Ministry of Defence. It was first played in 1960, with about 50 school teams taking part.

It takes its name from Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, the country's first Chief of the Air Staff, who conceived the idea of a school football tournament in 1958 and did not live to see it played. He died in Tokyo later that year. The society that carries his name was formed after his death, and the first tournament, held in 1960, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The tournament has been played every year since, growing from a domestic school competition into one that draws teams from beyond India's borders. It sits alongside the Durand Cup on the services' football calendar, the older of the two tournaments but the one the Air Force does not organise on its own.

Registration details and the eligibility rules for each category are listed in the tournament's prospectus, published on its official website ahead of every edition.