Odisha suffered a hard-fought 1-0 defeat against Meghalay in their Group-B opening match of the 79th Senior Men National Football Championship 2025-26 (Final Round) for Santosh Trophy at Silapathar Stadium in Silapathar, Assam today. Odisha will next meet Services on January 24.

Football Association of Odisha (FAO) has fielded 22-member State squad for the final round of the competition, which is taking place at Dhakuakhana and Silapathar in Assam from 21 January to 8 February 2026.

A total of 12 teams including hosts Assam, defending champions West Bengal and last-year runners-up Tamil Nadu are participating in the final round in two groups. Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Rajasthan have been drawn in Group A, while Kerala, Services, Punjab, Odisha, Railways and Meghalaya have been placed in Group B.

The top four teams from each group will progress to the quarterfinals. Odisha made it to the final round after emerging Group-F toppers in the qualifying round, which was held at RKM Ashram Ground in Narainpur (Chhattisgarh) from 22 to 26 December 2025. They won all three of their league matches, defeating Madhya Pradesh 4-0, Telangana 1-0 and Chhattisgarh 3-1.

ODISHA TEAM FOR SANTOSH TROPHY FINAL ROUND:

Goalkeepers: Soumya Ranjan Das (Khordha), Siddhanta Padhan (Bargarh), Rahul Oram (Sambalpur).
Defenders: Rakesh Oram (Odisha Police), Ashok Bag, Bisal Tigga (both Rourkela), Abinash Muduli (Koraput), Pintu Samal (Cuttack), Nirmal Oram (Jharsuguda).
Mid-fielder: Arpan Lakra (Rourkela), Ranjan Soren (Kandhamal), Chandra Mohan Murmu (Bargarh), Gaurav Negi, Soumesh Mohanty (both Bhubaneswar).
Forwards: Mahesh Hansda, Suresh Khadia (both Sundargarh), Ganesh Sethi (Cuttack), Jitu Muduli, Kartik Hantal, Srikant Gadaba (all Koraput), Raisen Tudu (Odisha Police), Arbin Lakra (Bhubaneswar).
Team staff: Akshay Das (Head Coach), Chitta Ranjan Behera (Assistant Coach), Sanjay Kumar Naik (Manager), Saroj Kumar Das (Physiotherapist).

ODISHA RESULTS:

22 January 2025: Odisha lost to Meghalaya (Baby Sunday Marngar 23) 0-1.