2018 Santosh Trophy final

Prior to reaching the 2018 final, Kerala had played the final of the Santosh Trophy 13 times, winning on five occasions, most recently in 2004.[7] For this edition of the tournament, Kerala were placed in Group A with Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Manipur, and eventually final opponent West Bengal.[8]

Kerala's first match of the competition occurred on 19 March against Chandigarh. A brace from Jithin M.S. and three goals from Sajith Poulose, Afdal V.K. and Sreekuttan V.S. respectively earned Kerala an opening 5–1 victory.[9] Four days later, Kerala defeated Manipur 6–0. Jithin Gopalan scored a brace while Afdal V.K., Rahul K.P., and Jithin M.S. scored the other three goals. The sixth goal came from an own goal by Roshan Singh.[10] Two days later, on 25 March, Kerala would earn another major victory, 3–0 over Maharashtra. Rahul Raj opened the scoring in the 24th minute before Jithin M.S. scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the 39th. Rahul K.P. scored Kerala's third in the 58th minute.[11] Finally, on 27 March, Kerala played their final match of the group stage against eventually final opponent West Bengal. Rahul K.P. scored his third goal of the tournament in the 90th minute to give Kerala the victory and top of the group.[12]

With the group stage finished, Kerala would take on Mizoram in the knockout semi-final match at the Mohun Bagan Ground.[13] An Afdal V.K. goal in the 54th minute was enough to give Kerala the victory and a spot in their 14th final.[14]

West Bengal is entering this final as the most winningest team in competition history, winning the competition 32 times, including the final from the previous year. As well as their 32 championships, West Bengal were runners-up in the tournament 12 times. The second most winningest side in the competition is Punjab, with eight championships.[7]

For this edition of the Santosh Trophy, West Bengal were placed in Group A alongside Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Manipur, and their finals opponent, Kerala.[8] Their match was against Manipur on 19 March at the Sailen Manna Stadium. A Sumit Das brace and a goal from Bidyasagar Singh gave West Bengal a comfortable 3–0 opening victory.[15] Two days later, West Bengal took on Maharashtra and won 5–1. Maharashtra took the lead early in the 8th minute through Leander Dharmai. West Bengal came back in the second half and equalized through Manotosh Chakladar in the 55th minute. Jiten Mumru then gave West Bengal the lead in the 62nd minute before Bidyashagar Singh scored their third in the 79th minute. The scoring was rounded off by a Bidyashagar Singh goal for a brace and Rajon Barman.[16]

Then, on 25 March, Bidyashagar Singh scored his third goal of the tournament as West Bengal defeated Chandigarh 1–0.[17] Despite the victory, West Bengal head coach, Ranjan Chowdhury, was displeased with his team's performance: "I’m not at all happy with the team’s performance. We probably played the worst match of the tournament today."[17] Two days later, West Bengal succumbed to their first defeat of the tournament, a 1–0 defeat against their finals opponent Kerala.[12]

After the group stage, with West Bengal finishing second in Group A, the side were to play Group B winners Karnataka on 30 March. During the match, West Bengal captain Jiten Murmu opened the scoring in the 57th minute before Tirthankar Sarkar secured the victory for West Bengal in the 92nd minute and sent his side to their 45th final.[18]

Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata

On 21 February 2018, it was announced by the All India Football Federation that the Santosh Trophy would take place in Kolkata.[19] Prior to the beginning of the tournament, Kushal Das, the AIFF's General Secretary, said that he was looking forward to the Indian Football Association (West Bengal's state football federation) successfully hosting the competition.[19]

Before the final, during the tournament, three different stadiums were used in and around Kolkata. The Rabindra Sarobar Stadium and the Sailen Manna Stadium were extensively used throughout the group stage before the Mohun Bagan Ground hosted some matches towards the end of the group stage and during the semi-finals.[20] For the final of the competition, the match will be played at the Salt Lake Stadium.[21]

Despite taking the victory in their prior match during the group stage, Kerala will not come into this match as favorites. Due to being hosts in the final and history, West Bengal are favorites. Previously, both Kerala and West Bengal have met in the final of the Santosh Trophy twice, back in 1989 and 1994. On both occasions, West Bengal came out as the winners in penalty shootouts.[22] However, even with history not on Kerala's side, their head coach, Satheevan Balan, was optimistic before the final: "We know the statistics. But that is not something we are concerned about. Stats have been against us since the start of the tournament. We were not fancied when we started the campaign and many doubted us to even make it past the qualifiers. But now we are in the final. We have considered every game as a final since arriving here and on Sunday, it will be the same."[22]

For West Bengal, the hosts will be looking to reverse their defeat to Kerala from the group stage. "There is no pressure. The team has confidence in its ability to win the final,” said Bengal head coach Ranjan Chowdhury. “They are organised and strong defensively. Whoever wins needs to earn the trophy by playing well."[22] West Bengal will also enter the match still as reigning champions, after they won in the final the previous season against Goa 1–0.[23] For Kerala, this will be their first final appearance since 2013 and their first attempt to win the trophy since 2004. "We can create history as it was 14 years ago that Kerala last won the prestigious trophy, but we will play without pressure," said head coach, Satheevan Balan.[23]

Coming into the match, West Bengal had the league's best defense, only conceding twice throughout the tournament while Kerala have scored the most goals during the competition.[22]