The Senior Women’s National Football Championship which is known as the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy now heads to the Final Round after the conclusion of group-stage games in November 2023. Nine teams out of 30 that started including six group winners and three best second-placed teams have made it to the Final Round joined by three direct entrants. Twelve teams were divided into two groups. The Final Rounds will kick off on May 1, 2024, in West Bengal. The final will be played on May 15, 2024.
Hosts West Bengal, defending champions Tamil Nadu, and runners-up Haryana have automatically qualified for the round. The former two are in the same group joined by Group D winners Punjab, Group B champions Delhi and Group C runners-up Chandigarh. Meanwhile, Haryana has been placed in the second group alongside groups A, C and E winners Manipur, Sikkim and Odisha respectively with two second-placed sides Maharashtra (Group A) and Jharkhand (Group D). The top two teams from each group qualify for the semi-finals.
Group A
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu won the Senior Women’s National Football Championship for the second time last year and earned a direct entry to the Final Round of the present edition. It was a powerful display from the side going on to lift the trophy by winning all their matches and conceding just twice only during the knockout stage. They wish to become only the second side after Manipur to retain the trophy in the competition history.
Punjab
Punjab came up top in Group D which they also hosted to make it to the Final Round. This will be the first participation for them in the Final Round since 2017-18. Punjab won every match in the group stage, scoring 12 goals and conceding just three. They were the fifth side from the group stage to take full points from all available games.
Delhi
Group B winners Delhi are also making the Final Round after five years and will be tackling a difficult group with holders Tamil Nadu and former winners Railway and West Bengal. So far their group stage performance has been excellent having won all their matches and conceding only once. They are also among the highest scorers in the tournament this season with 19.
Railways
Scoring an incredible 38 goals and keeping clean sheets in all four matches, Railways poses the best record in the group stages and looks like the team to beat in the competition. The two-time winners of the competition will want to add to their tally having failed after reaching three finals since their last triumph in the 2015-16 season.
West Bengal
West Bengal gained direct entry to the Final Round by being the hosts of this stage of the competition. Also a two-time winner, the team has not won the competition since back in 1997 and has not reached the final for over a decade. They are also the record runners-up of the competition with 13 appearances in the final. West Bengal hopes to make the current season a memorable one but needs to battle familiar foes Tamil Nadu in the same group again.
Chandigarh
Chandigarh is the only side in this group to have finished as runners-up in Group C of the first round. However, they were the best second-placed side in the tournament this season without losing a single match. Chandigarh has amassed two victories and three draws so far.
Group B
Haryana
Haryana had a remarkable run in the Senior Women’s NFC last season having reached the final of the competition for the first time. The team remained unbeaten throughout the competition before the showpiece and also topped their Final Round group which contained West Bengal, Railways and record-winners Manipur. They will face the latter once again hoping to make another fairytale run. Haryana are the third direct entrant to this round this season.
Manipur
Having an unmatched record of 21 titles to their name, Manipur are willing to extend their dominance in the Senior Women’s NFC after failing at this stage last time out. The queens of the competition qualified from the group stages with comfortable ease. They scored the third-most goals in the tournament with 27 without conceding and winning all the matches in Group A.
Odisha
Odisha won the Gold in the National Games soon after topping Group E in the Senior Women’s NFC in November last year. With Odisha FC also winning a maiden IWL title, Odisha will feel this is the period for them to shine more and grab the national championship now. The side has grabbed only one honour so far which came in 2011 having reached five more finals of the competition. Odisha too qualified for the Final Round after winning all their matches in the group stage.
Sikkim
Sikkim topped Group C without losing a match and finished top with a four-point lead. They scored 12 goals and conceded just once from five games. Sikkim potentially had the best performance ever in their Senior Women’s NFC history and would like to carry the form forward in the Final Round.
Jharkhand
Jharkhand managed to finish second in Group D to qualify for the Final Round. They finished just three points away from the group toppers Punjab but ahead of third-place Uttarakhand with the same difference of points. Jharkhand finished third in the Final Round last time with Odisha, also in the group this time, finishing eight points ahead of them.
Maharashtra
Also finished second, Maharashtra had a three-point difference with Railways and Bihar in third. Taking just one loss from four matches, the side scored 33 goals to become the second-most scorer in the tournament this season. Maharashtra finished bottom in their Final Round group last time without taking a point, something they will want to change this year.
