The 2018 SAFF Championship final was a football match that took place on 15 September 2018 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. It was announced that the matches during the tournament, including the final, would take place at the Bangabandhu nation stadium, Dhaka.[1] The Maldives came out 2–1 winners against India to secure their second SAFF Championship.[2][3]
Venue
| Dhaka | |
|---|---|
| Bangabandhu National Stadium | |
| Capacity: 36,000 | |
|
Route to the final
India and Maldives were in the same group alongside Sri Lanka, against whom both these teams played their first match.[4] Maldives were held onto a 0–0 draw by Lankans but India defeated them 2–0.[5] This result left Maldives and Sri Lanka level on points, goal difference, goals against and head-to-head. The place for the semi-final spot was then decided by a coin toss in which Maldives came on top.[6][7][8]
In the first semi-final Maldives defeated Nepal 3–0 and in the second semi-final match India defeated their arch-rivals Pakistan by the score of 3–1 to reach the final.[9][10][11] India came to this tournament with a young squad missing senior players like Sunil Chhetri and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu as part of preparation for their 2019 AFC Asian Cup campaign.[12]
| Maldives | Round | India | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Sri Lanka
|
0–0 | Match 1 | Sri Lanka
|
2–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 India
|
0–2 | Match 2 |  Maldives
|
2–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Final standings |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Result | Knockout stage | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Nepal
|
3–0 | Semi-finals |  Pakistan
|
3–1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Match details
       Maldives
|
   India
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Assistant referees:[13]
|
Match rules:
|
See also
References
- ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava (2 July 2015). “Trivandrum will host upcoming SAFF Cup in December 2015/January 2016”. SportsKeeda. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ “SAFF Cup final, Maldives vs India: Key highlights”.
- ^ “Maldives win 2018 SAFF Championship final”. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
- ^ “Indian football team clubbed with Maldives, Sri Lanka in 2018 SAFF Cup”.
- ^ “Ashique Kuruniyan, Lalianzuala Chhangte on target as India beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in SAFF Cup”.
- ^ “Maldives in semis riding on toss”.
- ^ “Sri Lanka denied semi-final after coin-toss”.
- ^ “India 2-0 Maldives”. SAFF. 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ “Nepal stumble yet again in semis”.
- ^ “Losing to India is a major disaster in Pakistan – except at football”. 14 September 2018. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ “Pakistan go down 3-1 to India in SAFF Cup semi-final”.
- ^ “India announces 20-member squad for SAFF Ch’ship”.
- ^ a b c d “FINAL: MALDIVES vs INDIA”. saffsuzukiucp.org. South Asian Football Federation. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.