2018 SAFF Championship
The 2018 SAFF Championship, also known as 2018 SAFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 12th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organized by SAFF. It was initially scheduled to be hosted by Bangladesh in December 2017,[1] but later postponed to 4–15 September 2018.[2]
Tournament details | |
---|---|
Host country | Bangladesh |
Dates | 4–15 September |
Teams | 7 (from 1 sub-confederation) |
Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
Final positions | |
Champions | Maldives (2nd title) |
Runners-up | India |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 12 |
Goals scored | 29 (2.42 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | Manvir Singh (3 goals) |
Best player(s) | Mohamed Faisal |
Fair play award | Bhutan |
Host selection
On 2 January 2016, SAFF executive committee made a decision that Bangladesh would host the 2017 SAFF Championship at a meeting held in Trivandrum, India. Maldives and Bhutan made bids to host the games but the latter withdrew its bid.[1]
This was the third SAFF Championship hosted by Bangladesh, after victory in the 2003 edition and semi finalists in 2009.
The draw ceremony was held on 18 April 2018 in Dhaka.[3]
Participating nations
Country | Appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA ranking 16 August 2018 |
---|---|---|---|
Bangladesh (Host) | 11th | Champions (2003) | 194 |
Bhutan | 8th | Semi-finals (2008) | 183 |
India | 12th | Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015) | 96 |
Maldives | 10th | Champions (2008) | 150 |
Nepal | 12th | Third-Place (1993) | 161 |
Pakistan | 11th | Third-Place (1997) | 201 |
Sri Lanka | 12th | Champions (1995) | 200 |
Squads
Venue
Dhaka |
---|
Bangabandhu National Stadium |
Capacity: 36,000 |
Officials
Referees
|
Assistant Referees
|
Group stage
All times are local, BST (UTC+6:00).
Group A
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nepal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 6 | Qualified for semi-finals |
2 | Pakistan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | |
3 | Bangladesh (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 6 | |
4 | Bhutan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 |
Bangladesh | 2–0 | Bhutan |
---|---|---|
Report |
Nepal | 4–0 | Bhutan |
---|---|---|
Report |
Bangladesh | 1–0 | Pakistan |
---|---|---|
|
Report |
Bangladesh | 0–2 | Nepal |
---|---|---|
Report |
|
Group B
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | India | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 6 | Qualified for semi-finals |
2 | Maldives | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | |
3 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 1[lower-alpha 1] |
Notes:
- Maldives and Sri Lanka were level on points, goal difference, goals against and head-to-head. The winner was decided by a coin toss.[4]
Knockout phase
Bracket
Semi-finals | Final | |||||
12 September | ||||||
Nepal | 0 | |||||
15 September | ||||||
Maldives | 3 | |||||
Maldives | 2 | |||||
12 September | ||||||
India | 1 | |||||
India | 3 | |||||
Pakistan | 1 | |||||
Awards
The following awards were given for the 2018 SAFF Championship.
Fair Play award[5] | Most Valuable Player[6] | Top Goalscorer[7] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bhutan | Mohamed Faisal | Manvir Singh |
Goalscorers
There were 29 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.42 goals per match.
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Media coverage
Country | Broadcaster | Ref. |
---|---|---|
Bangladesh | Channel 9 | [8] |
India | DSport | [9] |
Maldives | Television Maldives | |
Nepal | AP1 Television | |
United States | Bleacher Report | [10][11] |
References
- "Bangladesh to host 2017 SAFF Championship". bdnews24.com. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
- "GoalNepal.com – A Complete Nepali Football website". www.goalnepal.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- Independent, The. "SAFF tourney in Dhaka in Apr". theindependentbd.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- "India 2-0 Maldives". SAFF. 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- "Fair Play Award". 15 September 2018.
- "Most Valuable Player". 15 September 2018.
- "Top Goalscorer". 15 September 2018.
- "Bangabandhu Satellite-1 starts operation with Saff Suzuki Cup coverage". Dhaka Tribune. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- "SAFF Championship 2018: Teams, fixtures, broadcast schedules and more". Goal.com. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- "B/R Live – Watch live sports online". live.bleacherreport.com. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
- "Bleacher Report Support - Answer Detail". support.live.bleacherreport.com. Retrieved 27 October 2018.