Bhubaneswar: Odisha senior men’s football team registered a hattrick win in the 79^th National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy 2025–26, defeating host Chhattisgarh 3-1 goals at Narainpur, Chhattisgarh on Friday. Earlier in the league round matches, Odisha pipped Madhya Pradesh and Telangana by 4-0 and 1-0 goals. With the wins Odisha has successfully qualified for the next round of

the championship.

Jitu Muduli opened the account for Odisha in the 32^nd minutes and Chandra Mohan Murmu doubled the lead in the 37^th minutes, The first-half scoreboard read as 2-0 in favour of Odisha. After the change of sides, Avishek Kunjam scored a goal for the host Chhattisgarh in the 51^st minute. Odisha skipper Kartik Hental joined the party by nailing a goal in the 64^th minute and guided his team to register a convincing 3-1 victory.