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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 15 February 2004 | ||
| Place of birth | Keonjhar, Odisha, India | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Odisha | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Sports Odisha | |||
| Odisha Police | |||
| 2024– | Odisha | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 2025– | India | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals as of 30 May 2025 | |||
Malati Munda (born 15 February 2004) [1] is an Indian professional footballer from Odisha, who plays as a defender for the Indian Women's League club Odisha and the India national football team. She has also played for Sports Odisha and Odisha Police in the domestic competitions. [2]
Munda is from Keonjhar, Odisha. She learnt her basics at the Sports Hostel, Bhubaneswar. One of her first coaches was Geetanjali Khuntia. She is employed with Odisha Police. [3]
As a 14-year-old, Munda made her state debut as a sub-junior player in the nationals where Odisha finished second in the Sub-junior Girls National Football Championship at Cuttack in July 2018. [3]
In April 2019, she represented Odisha in the Hero Junior Girl's National Football Championship at Rajarshi Shahu Stadium in Kolhapur. [4] She scored a goal in the 48rd minute in the 13-0 win against Pondicherry, that helped Odisha reach quarterfinals. [5]
From then onwards, she played the 27th, 28th and 29th Senior Women National Football Championship for Odisha. [6] In June 2023, she represented Odisha that made the semifinals in the 27th Senior Women National Football Championship 2023 in the final round played at GNDU Main Ground in Amritsar. In the match against Rajasthan, Munda scored two goals. [7] Later, Odisha lost to Haryana in the semifinal. [6] In December 2024, she played for Odisha in the 29th Senior Women’s National Football Championship for the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy in Narainpur. In the final group match against Tamil Nadu, she scored the 1-1 equaliser in the 24th minute, to help assure Odisha a semifinal berth. [8] Odisha women's football team later entered the final but finished as runners up in the Nationals at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground. [9] In September 2025, she represented Odisha in the 30th Senior Women’s National Football Group III Championship at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa, where she scored a hat-trick in a match against Andhra Pradesh. [10] [11]
In January 2020, she was part of the Odisha under 17 football team that won the silver medal at the third Khelo India Youth Games at Guwahati. One of her first medals with senior Odisha women came when they won the silver medal in the 36th National Games at Ahmedabad on 10 October 2022. [3] In February 2025, she was part of the Odisha team that won the silver medal in the 38th National Games at Haldwani, Uttarakhand. [3]
In May 2023, she played the Indian Women's League as part of the Odisha FC and scored a goal against Lords FA Kochi in Group B at Shahibaug Police Stadium in Ahmedabad. [12] In March 2024, she was part of the Odisha Football Club that won the Indian Women’s League for the first time at Bhubaneswar. [3] [13] She scored a goal in the first match and was consistently among the goal-scorers. [14] She also played for the Odisha FC in the AFC Women’s Champions League 2024-25 against Ho Chi Minh City in the Group C matches. [15] [16]
Munda was selected among the 39 probables for the senior India women's camp announced on 19 April 2025. [17] [18] [19] [20] The senior national camp was held at Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence, Bengaluru under coach Crispin Chettri from 1 May in preparation for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers in Chiang Mai, Thailand. [21] [22] [23] She made her senior India debut in the one of the two FIFA Women's International Friendlies against Uzbekistan played at Bengaluru in May and June 2025. [24] [25] [26]
| National team | Year | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
Odisha