Five Odisha FC players to watch in Punjab FC clash at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Punjab FC will host Odisha FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi in the final fixture of the opening matchweek of the Indian Super League 2026-27 season, in a game that pits the home side against the Juggernauts.
Odisha finished last season having won just two of their 13 matches and ended in the lower echelon of the points table. The club have brought in several new signings ahead of the campaign, including Hrithik Tiwari, Stephen Eze and Everton, and have retained former Kerala Blasters head coach T. G. Purushothaman, who has massive experience coaching in the top tier. Ahead of Odisha’s first game against the Shers in the national capital, the club and supporters have highlighted key players to watch.
Goalkeeper Hrithik Tiwari is a 24-year-old custodian from Guwahati who was FC Goa’s first-choice keeper in the AFC Champions League 2 campaign and has played against teams such as Al Nassr. Tiwari progressed through the ranks at SAI Guwahati before joining the Gaurs, where he had his breakthrough. Odisha signed him after he won the ISL Golden Glove last season, when he kept five clean sheets and recorded a 78% save percentage.
Stephen Eze, a Nigerian defender from Makurdi, is noted for the impact he had at Jamshedpur FC, where he helped Khalid Jamil’s side make it to the finals of the Super Cup. Eze has worn the jerseys of Queen’s Park FC in Scotland and NK Solin in Croatia. He also won the Bulgarian Cup in 2018–19 with Lokomotiv Plovdiv and represented them in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers. His physical presence makes him a frequent target on set pieces.
Ali, a Kolkata-born striker, was part of India’s squad in the marquee FIFA International window against Panama, Brazil and Uruguay and is one of the few Odisha FC players to have been called up to the senior national team. He is a versatile forward who can drift wide to the left or right and has earned over 20 caps for the senior national team, scoring one goal. Ali previously played for the Marina Machans before joining Odisha FC in 2024.
Eid, a Sweden-born Palestinian winger, has domestic experience in Sweden and the Middle East and has represented clubs such as Persebaya Surabaya in Indonesia, Bangkok United in Thailand and Al-Muharraq in Bahrain. Across his last two seasons in Vietnam he registered 19 goals and 10 assists. Eid is left-footed, an attacking creator as well as a scorer, and can slot in as a secondary centre-forward if coach Purushothaman alters the team’s shape.
Everton, a Brazilian centre forward from Alagoas, played a leading role in PSM Makassar’s title-winning season in the Indonesian top tier, racking up 14 goals and 6 assists that campaign. He has experience in top-tier leagues in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Indonesia and featured in the AFC Cup during his stint with clubs in Southeast Asia. Everton is expected to be Odisha’s primary source of goals and Purushothaman will rely a lot on him up front.
The fixture will be available live on YouTube and SonyLiv, as promoted by the club ahead of the match.