Ahead of the last matchday in Group E, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu were the other two sides vying for a last-eight berth. However, the latter could only earn a last-gasp draw against already-eliminated Punjab to bow out of the first-ever U-20 Men’s NFC.
West Bengal 3-0 Uttarakhand
(Santanu Naskar 3′, Rahul Naskar 60′, Shibam Munda 69′)
West Bengal took an early lead in the must-win clash after Santanu Naskar scored in the third minute. Rahul Naskar and Shibam Munda added a second and a third in the 60th and 69th minute, respectively. The former is West Bengal’s top scorer in the tournament so far with three goals. While the winners finished atop Group E with seven points, Uttarakhand ended their campaign in third place with a solitary win over Punjab on the opening day to their name.
West Bengal will face the winner of Group C in the first quarter-final on April 19 at 07:30 IST.
Punjab 2-2 Tamil Nadu
(P: Krishna 13′, Harpreet Singh 25′; TN: Jayasurya S 35′, Rakshith D 90+7′)
Punjab, who were out of the running for the knockout stage after back-to-back losses to Uttarakhand and West Bengal, took a surprise lead through Krishna’s goal in the 13th minute. They doubled their advantage in the 25th minute as Harpreet Singh latched on to Arshdeep Singh’s through ball and rifled a solid strike from right outside the box.
Tamil Nadu halved the deficit in the 35th minute, with Jayasurya S drilling the ball into the bottom corner from 25 yards out. They then made it 2-2 in the 97th minute as Rakshith D equalised with a looping header from a corner. However, the point did no good to Tamil Nadu as they ended up in second place with five points. Punjab finished bottom of the table with the one point.