SAFF Championship

SAFF Championship
Founded	1993; 31 years ago, as SAARC Gold Cup
Region	SAFF
Number of teams	7 Bangladesh; Bhutan; India; Maldives; Nepal; Pakistan; Sri Lanka;
Current champions	India (8th title)
Most successful team(s)	India (8 titles)
Website	saffederation.org
	2021 SAFF Championship

The South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly known as SAFF Championship (previously known as South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup and South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup), is the main international association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). All seven teams are eligible to compete in tournament.

History

The countries that currently compete in the tournaments are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is held every two years.^[1] Afghanistan joined SAFF in 2005 and left the association in 2015 to become a founding member of Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).

The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship kicked off in Lahore in 1993, evolving out of its forerunner, the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Gold Cup. Since its inception, the biennial competition has developed into South Asia's premier football tournament, promoting the regional development of the game. The SAFF Championship 2001 was first postponed from Oct/Nov 2001 to Jan/Feb 2002 due to the suspension of the Bangladesh Football Federation from FIFA; the tournament finally took place in 2003. The 2018 edition was hosted by Bangladesh.^[2]

The 2021 edition of the tournament was postponed twice to October 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3]

Results

Year	Host	Final			Third place match/Losing semi-finalists
Year	Host	Champion	Score	Runner-up	3rd Place	Score	4th Place
1993 Details	Pakistan	India	^RR	Sri Lanka	Nepal	^RR	Pakistan
1995 Details	Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	1–0 (a.s.d.e.t.)	India	Bangladesh and Nepal
1997 Details	Nepal	India	5–1	Maldives	Pakistan	1–0	Sri Lanka
1999 Details	India	India	2–0	Bangladesh	Maldives	2–0	Nepal
2003 Details	Bangladesh	Bangladesh	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p)	Maldives	India	2–1 (a.s.d.e.t.)	Pakistan
2005 Details	Pakistan	India	2–0	Bangladesh	Maldives and Pakistan
2008 Details	Maldives & Sri Lanka	Maldives	1–0	India	Bhutan and Sri Lanka
2009 Details	Bangladesh	India	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p)	Maldives	Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
2011 Details	India	India	4–0	Afghanistan	Maldives and Nepal
2013 Details	Nepal	Afghanistan	2–0	India	Maldives and Nepal
2015 Details	India	India	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Afghanistan	Maldives and Sri Lanka
2018 Details	Bangladesh	Maldives	2–1	India	Nepal and Pakistan
2021 Details	Maldives	India	3–0	Nepal	^[a]
2023 Details	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

^ The format of the tournament was changed to round-robin due to the suspension of Pakistan and the withdrawal of Bhutan.^[4]

Statistics

Performance by nation

Nation	Champions	Runners-up	Third-place	Fourth-place	Semi-finalists
India	8 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009^[a], 2011, 2015, 2021)	4 (1995, 2008, 2013, 2018)	1 (2003)	–	–
Maldives	2 (2008, 2018)	3 (1997, 2003, 2009)	1 (1999)	–	4 (2005, 2011, 2013, 2015)
Bangladesh	1 (2003)	2 (1999, 2005)	1 (1995)	–	2 (1995, 2009)
Afghanistan*	1 (2013)	2 (2011, 2015)	–	–	–
Sri Lanka	1 (1995)	1 (1993)	–	1 (1997)	3 (2008, 2009, 2015)
Nepal	–	1 (2021)	1 (1993)	2 (1995, 1999)	3 (2011, 2013, 2018)
Pakistan	–	–	1 (1997)	2 (1993, 2003)	2 (2005, 2018)
Bhutan	–	–	–	–	1 (2008)

Bold = Hosts

* = Not part of SAFF anymore

Notes

^ India was represented by India U-23 team

Participating nations

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
SF – Semifinals¹
GS – Group stage
dq – Disqualified/Suspended by FIFA/AFC/SAFF.
q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
— Hosts
× – Did not enter
× – Withdrew before tournament begins
— Not part of SAFF

Team	1993	1995	1997	1999	2003	2005	2008	2009	2011	2013	2015	2018	2021	Total
Bangladesh	×	SF	GS	2nd	1st	2nd	GS	SF	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	12
Bhutan	Not part of SAFF				GS	GS	SF	GS	GS	GS	GS	GS	×	8
India	1st	2nd	1st	1st	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	13
Maldives	×	×	2nd	3rd	2nd	SF	1st	2nd	SF	SF	SF	1st	GS	11
Nepal	3rd	SF	GS	4th	GS	GS	GS	GS	SF	SF	GS	SF	2nd	13
Pakistan	4th	GS	3rd	GS	4th	SF	GS	GS	GS	GS	×	SF	dq	11
Sri Lanka	2nd	1st	4th	GS	GS	GS	SF	SF	GS	GS	SF	GS	GS	13
Former Team
Afghanistan²	Not part of SAFF				GS	GS	GS	GS	2nd	1st	2nd	Not part of SAFF		7

¹The third-place match was not played in 1995 and has not been played 2003 onwards.
²Left SAFF and joined CAFA in 2015.

All-time table

As of 2021^[update].

Rank	Team	Part	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	India	13	57	37	12	8	100	36	+64	123
2	Maldives	11	47	24	11	12	95	48	+47	83
3	Bangladesh	12	42	16	12	14	46	42	+4	60
4	Nepal	13	43	13	7	23	49	63	−14	46
5	Sri Lanka	13	41	13	7	21	48	65	−17	46
6	Pakistan	11	36	12	8	16	32	42	−10	44
7	Afghanistan	7	27	12	4	11	48	42	+6	40
8	Bhutan	8	24	1	1	22	13	93	−80	4

Top goalscorers by edition

Years	Player(s)	Goals
1993	I. M. Vijayan	3
1995	Mohamed Amanulla	3
1997	I. M. Vijayan	6
1999	Naresh Joshi	3
	Bhaichung Bhutia
	Mizanur Rahman
	Mohamed Wildhan
2003	Sarfraz Rasool	4
2005	Ibrahim Fazeel	3
	Ali Ashfaq
	Ahmed Thariq
2008	Harez Habib	4
2009	Enamul Haque	4
	Ahmed Thariq
	Channa Ediri Bandanage
2011	Sunil Chhetri	7
2013	Ali Ashfaq	10
2015	Khaibar Amani	4
2018	Manvir Singh	3
2021	Sunil Chhetri	5

Overall top goalscorers

Players with 10 or more goals at SAFF Championships
Rank	Player	Goals scored
1	Ali Ashfaq	23
2	Sunil Chhetri	18
3	Bhaichung Bhutia	12
4	Ibrahim Fazeel	10
4	Ahmed Thariq	10

References

^ "From SAARC Gold Cup to SAFF Championship". Givemegoal.com.np. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
^ Infos at goalnepal.com
^ "We Will Try Our Best To Host SAFF 2021 Matches In Pokhara". Goal Nepal. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
^ Mukherjee, Soham (9 September 2021). "SAFF Championship 2021: Everything you need to know". Goal. Archived from the original on 13 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.

External links

[5] The format of the tournament was changed to round-robin due to the suspension of Pakistan and the withdrawal of Bhutan.^[4]

[6] India was represented by India U-23 team

[1] "From SAARC Gold Cup to SAFF Championship". Givemegoal.com.np. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2014.

[2] Infos at goalnepal.com

[3] "We Will Try Our Best To Host SAFF 2021 Matches In Pokhara". Goal Nepal. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.

[4] Mukherjee, Soham (9 September 2021). "SAFF Championship 2021: Everything you need to know". Goal. Archived from the original on 13 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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See also Geography Codes Player/Club of the Century Women's football

v t e SAFF Championship
Tournaments	Pakistan 1993 Sri Lanka 1995 Nepal 1997 India 1999 Bangladesh 2003 Pakistan 2005 Maldives/Sri Lanka 2008 Bangladesh 2009 India 2011 Nepal 2013 India 2015 Bangladesh 2018 Maldives 2021 India 2023
Squads	1995 1999 2003 2005 2008 2009 2011 2013 2015 2018 2021 2023
Finals	2011 2013 2015 2018 2021 2023

v t e South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)
International competitions	SAFF Championship South Asian Games Women's Championship SAFF Club Championship
Youth competitions	U-20 Championship U-17 Championship U-18 Women's Championship U-15 Women's Championship
Member associations	Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
Football in South Asian countries	Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
National teams	Bangladesh M W Bhutan M W India M W Maldives M W Nepal M W Pakistan M W Sri Lanka M W
Domestic leagues	Bangladesh M W Bhutan M India M W Maldives M Nepal M W Pakistan M W Sri Lanka M
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