![]() Original SAFF Championship trophy | |
Organising body | SAFF |
---|---|
Founded | 1993 | (as SAARC Gold Cup)
Region | South Asia |
Number of teams | |
Current champions | ![]() |
Most successful team(s) | ![]() |
Website | saffederation.org |
![]() |
Tournaments |
---|
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.
History
[edit]India is most successful team of this region. They won the title 9 times which is 7 times more then second most succesfull team Maldievs( won 2 times only). Total 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
[edit]Statistics
[edit]Performance by nation
[edit]Nation | Champions | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place | Semi-finalists |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
9 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009[b], 2011, 2015, 2021, 2023) | 4 (1995, 2008, 2013, 2018) | 1 (2003) | – | – |
![]() |
2 (2008, 2018) | 3 (1997, 2003, 2009) | 1 (1999) | – | 4 (2005, 2011, 2013, 2015) |
![]() |
1 (2003) | 2 (1999, 2005) | 1 (1995) | – | 3 (1995, 2009, 2023) |
![]() |
1 (2013) | 2 (2011, 2015) | – | – | – |
![]() |
1 (1995) | 1 (1993) | – | 1 (1997) | 3 (2008, 2009, 2015) |
![]() |
– | 1 (2021) | 1 (1993) | 2 (1995, 1999) | 3 (2011, 2013, 2018) |
![]() |
– | 1 (2023) | – | – | – |
![]() |
– | – | 1 (1997) | 2 (1993, 2003) | 2 (2005, 2018) |
![]() |
– | – | – | – | 1 (2008) |
![]() |
– | – | – | – | 1 (2023) |
- Bold = Hosts
- * = No longer SAFF member
- 3 = Invited as guest teams from WAFF
Participating nations
[edit]- Legend
Team | ![]() 1993 |
![]() 1995 |
![]() 1997 |
![]() 1999 |
![]() 2003 |
![]() 2005 |
![]() ![]() 2008 |
![]() 2009 |
![]() 2011 |
![]() 2013 |
![]() 2015 |
![]() 2018 |
![]() 2021 |
![]() 2023 |
Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
× | SF | GS | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | GS | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | SF | 13 |
![]() |
Not part of SAFF | GS | GS | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | GS | 9 | |||
![]() |
1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 14 |
![]() |
× | × | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | SF | 1st | 2nd | SF | SF | SF | 1st | GS | GS | 12 |
![]() |
3rd | SF | GS | 4th | GS | GS | GS | GS | SF | SF | GS | SF | 2nd | GS | 14 |
![]() |
4th | GS | 3rd | GS | 4th | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | SF | DQ | GS | 12 |
![]() |
2nd | 1st | 4th | GS | GS | GS | SF | SF | GS | GS | SF | GS | GS | DQ | 13 |
Former team(s) | |||||||||||||||
![]() |
Not part of SAFF | GS | GS | GS | GS | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | Part of CAFA | 7 | |||||
Guest teams | |||||||||||||||
![]() |
× | 2nd | 1 | ||||||||||||
![]() |
× | 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
[edit]As of 4 July 2023[update].
![Potrait of Hamidullah Karimi](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Hamid_Karimi.jpg/160px-Hamid_Karimi.jpg)
Rank | Team | Part | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
14 | 62 | 39 | 15 | 8 | 108 | 38 | +70 | 132 |
2 | ![]() |
12 | 50 | 25 | 11 | 14 | 98 | 52 | +46 | 86 |
3 | ![]() |
13 | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 52 | 47 | +5 | 66 |
4 | ![]() |
14 | 46 | 14 | 7 | 25 | 51 | 68 | −17 | 49 |
5 | ![]() |
13 | 41 | 13 | 7 | 21 | 48 | 65 | −17 | 46 |
6 | ![]() |
12 | 39 | 12 | 8 | 19 | 32 | 51 | −19 | 44 |
7 | ![]() |
7 | 27 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 48 | 42 | +6 | 40 |
8 | ![]() |
1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 11 |
9 | ![]() |
1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 10 |
10 | ![]() |
9 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 15 | 102 | −87 | 4 |
1Including India U23 team.
Top goal scorers by edition
[edit]![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Ali_Ashfaq_2021.jpg/159px-Ali_Ashfaq_2021.jpg)
Years | Player(s) | Goals |
---|---|---|
1993 | ![]() |
3 |
1995 | ![]() |
3 |
1997 | ![]() |
6 |
1999 | ![]() |
3 |
![]() | ||
![]() | ||
![]() | ||
2003 | ![]() |
4 |
2005 | ![]() |
3 |
![]() | ||
![]() | ||
2008 | ![]() |
4 |
2009 | ![]() |
4 |
![]() | ||
![]() | ||
2011 | ![]() |
7 |
2013 | ![]() |
10 |
2015 | ![]() |
4 |
2018 | ![]() |
3 |
![]() | ||
2021 | ![]() |
5 |
2023 | ![]() |
5 |
Overall top goal scorers
[edit]![Sunil Chhetri tackling against Afghanistan.](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Ahmad_Faisal_-_football_-_C.jpg/180px-Ahmad_Faisal_-_football_-_C.jpg)
- 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
[edit]Year | Team | Coach |
---|---|---|
1993 | ![]() |
![]() |
1995 | ![]() |
![]() |
1997 | ![]() |
![]() |
1999 | ![]() |
![]() |
2003 | ![]() |
![]() |
2005 | ![]() |
![]() |
2008 | ![]() |
![]() |
2009 | ![]() |
![]() |
2011 | ![]() |
![]() |
2013 | ![]() |
![]() |
2015 | ![]() |
![]() |
2018 | ![]() |
![]() |
2021 | ![]() |
![]() |
2023 | ![]() |
![]() |
See also
[edit]- SAFF Women's Championship
- AFC Asian Cup
- Asian Games
- AFF Championship
- CAFA Championship
- EAFF E-1 Football Championship
- WAFF Championship
- Sub-continental football championships in Asia
- Football at the South Asian Games
Notes
[edit]- ^ 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.
References
[edit]- ^ "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.