SAFF Championship

The South Asian Football Federation Championship or SAFF Championship, officially called SAFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reasons (previously known as South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup and SAFF Gold Cup), is the main international association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by the South Asian Football Federation. Previous names have included the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup in 1993 and South Asian Gold Cup in 1995. Seven teams currently compete in the South Asian Football Federation Tournament.

SAFF Suzuki Cup
Founded1993 (1993) as SAARC Gold Cup
RegionSAFF
Number of teams
7
Current champions Maldives (2nd title)
Most successful team(s) India (7 titles)
Websitewww.saffsuzukicup.org
2021 SAFF Championship

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 Federation (CAFF).

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 Bangladeshi FA from FIFA; the tournament finally took place in 2003. The 2018 edition was hosted by Bangladesh.[2]

The 13th edition of the SAFF Championship tournament was originally scheduled to be held in 2020 at Bangladesh.[3][4] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was postponed from its original date of 2020 to 2021.[5]

Results
Year Host Final Third Place Match
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
India
Bangladesh		 RR
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
(5–3 pen.)
Maldives
India		 2–1
Pakistan
Year Host Final Losing semi-finalists
Champion Score Runner-up
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
(3–1 pen.)
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
Bangladesh

Statistics

Performance by nation
Nation Champions Runners-up Third-place Fourth-place Semi-finalists
 India 7 (1993, 1997, 1999*, 2005, 2009, 2011*, 2015*) 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 (1993) 2 (1995, 1999) 3 (2011, 2013*, 2018)
 Pakistan – – 1 (1997) 2 (1993*, 2003) 2 (2005*, 2018)
 Bhutan – – – – 1 (2008)
* = Hosts

Participating nations
Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • SF – Semifinals[lower-alpha 1]
  • GS – Group stage
  • q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
  •     — Hosts
  •  ×  – Did not enter
  •  •  – Did not qualify
  •  ×  – Withdrew before qualification
  •     — Withdrew/Disqualified after qualification
  •     — Not part of SAFF


Team
1993
1995
1997
1999
2003
2005
2008
2009
2011
2013
2015
2018
2021		 Total
 Afghanistan Not part of SAFF GS GS GS GS 2nd 1st 2nd Not part of SAFF 7
 Bangladesh × SF GS 2nd 1st 2nd GS SF GS GS GS GS 11
 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 12
 Maldives × × 2nd 3rd 2nd SF 1st 2nd SF SF SF 1st 10
   Nepal 3rd SF GS 4th GS GS GS GS SF SF GS SF 12
 Pakistan 4th GS 3rd GS 4th SF GS GS GS GS × SF 12
 Sri Lanka 2nd 1st 4th GS GS GS SF SF GS GS SF GS 12
Notes
  1. The third-place match was not played in 1995 and has not been played after 2003.

All-time table

As of 2018.

Rank Team Part Pld W D L GF GA Dif Pts
1  India 1252341089234+58106
2  Maldives 10432211109144+4777
3  Bangladesh 11381510134338+555
4  Sri Lanka 1237136184660−1445
5  Pakistan 1136128163242−1044
6  Afghanistan 727124114842+640
7    Nepal 1238116214456−1239
8  Bhutan 82411221393−804


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
Mihazur Rehman
Mohamed Wildhan
2003 Sarfraz Rasool 4
2005 Ibrahim Fazeel 3
Ali Ashfaq
Ahmed Thariq
2008 Harez Habib 4
2009 Enamul Haque 4
Ahmed Thariq
E. B. Channa
2011 Sunil Chhetri 7
2013 Ali Ashfaq 10
2015 Khaibar Amani 4
2018 Manvir Singh 3

Overall top goalscorers
Players with 10 or more goals at SAFF Championships
Rank Nation Player Goals scored
1 Ali Ashfaq 20
2 Sunil Chhetri 13
3 Bhaichung Bhutia 12
4 Ibrahim Fazeel 10
Ahmed Thariq

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "From SAARC Gold Cup to SAFF Championship". Givemegoal.com.np. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
    2. Infos at goalnepal.com
    3. "Bangladesh to host SAFF Championship in Sept 2020". Prothom Alo. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
    4. "BD to host SAFF C'ship in Sept, 2020". The Daily Star. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
    5. "Coronavirus: SAFF Championship postponed to 2021". Goal. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
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