SAFF_Championship
SAFF Championship
Football tournament of Asia
The South Asian Football Federation Championship (erstwhile South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup and South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup), is the main subcontinental 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.
 Original SAFF Championship trophy | |
| Organising body | SAFF |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993; 31 years ago (1993) (as SAARC Gold Cup) |
| Region | South Asia |
| Number of teams | |
| Current champions |  India (9th title) |
| Most successful team(s) | India (9 titles) |
| Website | saffederation.org |
 2023 SAFF Championship | |
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]
Performance by nation
| Nation | Champions | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place | Semi-finalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India |
9 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009[lower-alpha 2], 2011, 2015, 2021, 2023) | 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) | – | 3 (1995, 2009, 2023) |
 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) |
 Kuwait3 |
– | 1 (2023) | – | – | – |
 Pakistan |
– | – | 1 (1997) | 2 (1993, 2003) | 2 (2005, 2018) |
 Bhutan |
– | – | – | – | 1 (2008) |
 Lebanon3 |
– | – | – | – | 1 (2023) |
- Bold = Hosts
- * = No longer SAFF member
- 3 = Invited as guest teams from WAFF
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 | SF | 13 |
| Bhutan |
Not part of SAFF | GS | GS | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | GS | 9 | |||
| India2 |
1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 14 |
| Maldives |
× | × | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | SF | 1st | 2nd | SF | SF | SF | 1st | GS | GS | 12 |
| Nepal |
3rd | SF | GS | 4th | GS | GS | GS | GS | SF | SF | GS | SF | 2nd | GS | 14 |
| Pakistan |
4th | GS | 3rd | GS | 4th | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | SF | DQ | GS | 12 |
| Sri Lanka |
2nd | 1st | 4th | GS | GS | GS | SF | SF | GS | GS | SF | GS | GS | DQ | 13 |
| Former team(s) | |||||||||||||||
| Afghanistan3 |
Not part of SAFF | GS | GS | GS | GS | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | Part of CAFA | 7 | |||||
| Guest teams | |||||||||||||||
| Kuwait4 |
× | 2nd | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Lebanon4 |
× | SF | 1 | ||||||||||||
1The third-place match was not played in 1995 and has not been played 2003 onwards.
2Including India U23 team.
3Left SAFF and joined CAFA in 2015.
4Invited as a guest team from the WAFF.
All-time table
As of 4 July 2023[update].
| Rank | Team | Part | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India1 |
14 | 62 | 39 | 15 | 8 | 108 | 38 | +70 | 132 |
| 2 | Maldives |
12 | 50 | 25 | 11 | 14 | 98 | 52 | +46 | 86 |
| 3 | Bangladesh |
13 | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 52 | 47 | +5 | 66 |
| 4 | Nepal |
14 | 46 | 14 | 7 | 25 | 51 | 68 | −17 | 49 |
| 5 | Sri Lanka |
13 | 41 | 13 | 7 | 21 | 48 | 65 | −17 | 46 |
| 6 | Pakistan |
12 | 39 | 12 | 8 | 19 | 32 | 51 | −19 | 44 |
| 7 | Afghanistan |
7 | 27 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 48 | 42 | +6 | 40 |
| 8 | Kuwait |
1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 11 |
| 9 | Lebanon |
1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 10 |
| 10 | Bhutan |
9 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 15 | 102 | −87 | 4 |
1Including India U23 team.
Top goal scorers by edition
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| Years | Player(s) | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | I. M. Vijayan |
3 |
| 1995 | Mohamed Amanulla |
3 |
| 1997 | I. M. Vijayan |
6 |
| 1999 | Bhaichung Bhutia |
3 |
| Mizanur Rahman Dawn | ||
| Mohamed Wildhan | ||
| Naresh Joshi | ||
| 2003 | Sarfraz Rasool |
4 |
| 2005 | Ali Ashfaq |
3 |
| Ibrahim Fazeel | ||
| 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 |
| Hassan Bashir | ||
| 2021 | Sunil Chhetri |
5 |
| 2023 | Sunil Chhetri |
5 |
Overall top goal scorers
- As of 27 June 2023, 20:30 IST
| Rank | Nation | Player | Goals scored |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
Sunil Chhetri | 23 |
|
Ali Ashfaq | ||
| 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 |
Syed Nayeemuddin |
| 1999 | India |
Sukhwinder Singh |
| 2003 | Bangladesh |
 George Kottan |
| 2005 | India |
Syed Nayeemuddin |
| 2008 | Maldives |
 Jozef Jankech |
| 2009 | India U23 |
Sukhwinder Singh |
| 2011 | India |
Savio Medeira |
| 2013 | Afghanistan |
Mohammad Yousef Kargar |
| 2015 | India |
 Stephen Constantine |
| 2018 | Maldives |
 Petar Šegrt |
| 2021 | India |
Igor Štimac |
| 2023 | India |
Igor Štimac |
- 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 the India U-23 team.
- "From SAARC Gold Cup to SAFF Championship". Givemegoal.com.np. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
- "Infos at goalnepal.com". Archived from the original on 2017-08-18. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- "We Will Try Our Best To Host SAFF 2021 Matches In Pokhara". Goal Nepal. 27 July 2021. Archived from the original on 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.