SAFF Championship
Organising body | SAFF |
---|---|
Founded | 1993 | , as SAARC Gold Cup
Region | South Asia |
Number of teams | |
Current champions | India (8th title) |
Most successful team(s) | India (8 titles) |
Website | saffederation.org |
2023 SAFF Championship |
Tournaments | |
---|---|
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 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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[a] |
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 Bangladesh | ||||
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 |
Maldives [b] |
Statistics
Performance by nation
Nation | Champions | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place | Semi-finalists |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
India | 8 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009[c], 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
Participating nations
- Legend
Team | 1993 |
1995 |
1997 |
1999 |
2003 |
2005 |
2008 |
2009 |
2011 |
2013 |
2015 |
2018 |
2021 |
2023 |
Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bangladesh | × | SF | GS | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | GS | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | Q | 12 |
Bhutan | Not part of SAFF | GS | GS | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | Q | 8 | |||
India | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | Q | 13 |
Maldives | × | × | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | SF | 1st | 2nd | SF | SF | SF | 1st | GS | Q | 11 |
Nepal | 3rd | SF | GS | 4th | GS | GS | GS | GS | SF | SF | GS | SF | 2nd | Q | 13 |
Pakistan | 4th | GS | 3rd | GS | 4th | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | SF | dq | Q | 11 |
Sri Lanka | 2nd | 1st | 4th | GS | GS | GS | SF | SF | GS | GS | SF | GS | GS | Q | 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 Dawn | ||
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
Rank | Nation | Player | Goals scored |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ali Ashfaq | 23 | |
2 | Sunil Chhetri | 18 | |
3 | Bhaichung Bhutia | 12 | |
4 | Ibrahim Fazeel | 10 | |
Ahmed Thariq |
Winning coaches
Year | Team | Coach |
---|---|---|
1993 | India | Jiri Pesek |
1995 | Sri Lanka | Jorge Perreira |
1997 | India | Sukhwinder Singh |
1999 | India | Sukhwinder Singh |
2003 | Bangladesh | George Kottan |
2005 | India | Syed Nayeemuddin |
2008 | Maldives | Jozef Jankech |
2009 | India | Sukhwinder Singh |
2011 | India | Savio Medeira |
2013 | Afghanistan | Mohammad Yousef Kargar |
2015 | India | Stephen Constantine |
2018 | Maldives | Petar Segrt |
2021 | India | Igor Štimac |
See also
- SAFF Women's Championship
- AFC Asian Cup
- AFF Championship
- CAFA Championship
- EAFF E-1 Football Championship
- WAFF Championship
- Sub-continental football championships in Asia
- SABA Championship
- South Asian Games
Notes
- ^ India was represented by India U-23 team
- ^ The format of the tournament was changed to round-robin due to the suspension of Pakistan and the withdrawal of Bhutan. Maldives finished third in points and hence listed as third place.[4]
- ^ India was represented by India U-23 team
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
- Articles with short description
- Articles using Template:Background color with invalid colour combination
- Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2021
- All articles containing potentially dated statements
- Official website not in Wikidata
- SAFF Championship
- SAFF competitions
- Recurring sporting events established in 1993
- 1993 establishments in Asia