2020 AFC Solidarity Cup

The 2020 AFC Solidarity Cup was originally to be the 2nd edition of the AFC Solidarity Cup, an international football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

2020 AFC Solidarity Cup
Tournament details
DatesCancelled
TeamsMaximum 10 (from 1 confederation)

In April 2016, it was proposed to take place in September 2020 but was rescheduled to December.[1] In May 2019, it was rescheduled once more to March 2020.[2] The AFC announced on 17 September 2019 that it was to be played between 30 November and 13 December 2020.[3] However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, the Solidarity Cup could not be played as scheduled.[4] On 10 September 2020, the AFC announced that the 2020 tournament would be cancelled, with the next edition to be played in 2024.[5]

Nepal would have been the defending champions.

Qualified teams

The competition would be contested by a maximum of ten teams. All teams which were neither competing in the third round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers nor the third round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers would have been eligible to enter, including:[3]

  • The six teams which were eliminated from the first round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers.
  • The four teams which were eliminated from the play-off round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament[upper-alpha 1] Previous best performance FIFA Rankings
 BhutanAFC First Round loser11 June 20190 (debut)—189
 BruneiAFC First Round loser11 June 20191 (2016)Fourth place (2016)191
 Timor-LesteAFC First Round loser11 June 20191 (2016)Group stage (2016)196
 LaosAFC First Round loser11 June 20191 (2016)Third place (2016)188
 PakistanAFC First Round loser11 June 20190 (debut)[upper-alpha 2]—201
 MacauAFC First Round loser27 June 2019[upper-alpha 3]1 (2016)Runners-up (2016)182
N/AAFC Playoff Round 2 loserN/A
N/AAFC Playoff Round 2 loserN/A
N/AAFC Playoff Round 2 loserN/A
N/AAFC Playoff Round 2 loserN/A
  1. Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
  2. Pakistan had qualified for the 2016 edition but later withdrew. Therefore, this would be Pakistan's 1st appearance.
  3. Macau did not send their team for the second leg due to safety reasons following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings.[6] The AFC referred the matter to FIFA,[7] which announced on 27 June 2019 that the match was declared a 3–0 forfeit victory to Sri Lanka, and consequently qualifying Sri Lanka to the second round.[8]

References
  1. "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". AFC. 12 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017.
  2. "AFC Competitions Calendar 2020" (PDF). AFC. 22 March 2019.
  3. "Uzbekistan, Bahrain recommended as hosts for 2020 AFC U-19 & U-16 Championships". AFC. 17 September 2019.
  4. "Update on upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Asia". AFC. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  5. "AFC Executive Committee announces updates to 2020 competitions calendar". AFC. 10 September 2020.
  6. "Football - Macau not sending team to Sri Lanka due to security concerns". Reuters. 8 June 2019.
  7. "AFC Statement". AFC. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  8. "FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctions Macau Football Association". FIFA.com. 27 June 2019.
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