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This article is about the men’s tournament. For the women’s tournament, see SAFF Women’s Championship.

The SAFF Championship (earlier the SAARC Gold Cup and the SAFF Gold Cup) is the primary football competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), determining the sub-continental champion of the South Asia.

History

Countries that currently compete in the tournaments are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is held approximately every two years. India won the title 9 times, 7 more than second most successful, Maldives.[1] Afghanistan joined the SAFF in 2005 and left in 2015 to become a founding member of the 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 was first postponed from October 2001 to January 2002 due to the suspension of the Bangladesh Football Federation; the tournament finally took place in 2003.[2] The 2021 edition of the tournament was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

Organisation

Sports marketing, media, and event management company Sportfive (formerly Lagardère Sports) has been involved in the tournament since 2025.[4]

Title sponsorship

Period Sponsor Name
1993 No title sponsor SAARC Gold Cup
1995 Ceylon Tobacco Company Bristol SAARC Gold Cup
1997 No title sponsor SAFF Gold Cup
1999 Coca-Cola SAFF Coca-Cola Cup
2003–2005 No title sponsor SAFF Gold Cup
2008 SAFF Championship
2009 BEXIMCO Bangabandhu SAFF Championship
2011 Karbonn Karbonn SAFF Championship
2013 No title sponsor SAFF Championship
2015–2018 Suzuki SAFF Suzuki Cup
2021 Ooredoo Ooredoo SAFF Championship
2023 Bashundhara Toiletries Bangabandhu SAFF Championship
Source: GSA

Results

Ed. Year Hosts Final Third place playoff No. of
teams
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1 1993 Pakistan
India 		RR
Sri Lanka
Nepal 		RR
Pakistan 		4
2 1995 Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka 		1–0
(a.s.d.e.t.)
India 		 Bangladesh and    Nepal 5
3 1997   Nepal
India 		5–1
Maldives
Pakistan 		1–0
Sri Lanka 		6
4 1999 India
India 		2–0
Bangladesh
Maldives 		2–0
Nepal 		6
5 2003 Bangladesh
Bangladesh 		1–1 (a.e.t.)
(5–3 p)
Maldives
India 		2–1
(a.s.d.e.t.)
Pakistan 		8
6 2005 Pakistan
India 		2–0
Bangladesh 		 Maldives and  Pakistan 8
7 2008 Maldives
Sri Lanka
Maldives 		1–0
India 		 Bhutan and  Sri Lanka 8
8 2009 Bangladesh
India U23 		0–0 (a.e.t.)
(3–1 p)
Maldives 		 Bangladesh and  Sri Lanka 8
9 2011 India
India 		4–0
Afghanistan 		 Maldives and    Nepal 8
10 2013   Nepal
Afghanistan 		2–0
India 		 Maldives and    Nepal 8
11 2015 India
India 		2–1
(a.e.t.)
Afghanistan 		 Maldives and  Sri Lanka 7
12 2018 Bangladesh
Maldives 		2–1
India 		   Nepal and  Pakistan 7
13 2021 Maldives
India 		3–0
Nepal
Maldives 		RR[a]
Bangladesh 		5
14 2023 India
India 		1–1 (a.e.t.)
(5–4 p)
Kuwait 		 Bangladesh and  Lebanon 8
15 2026 Bangladesh

Overall records

In this ranking 3 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. Matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored.

As of 2023 SAFF Championship
Portrait of Hamidullah Karimi
Afghanistan’s Hamid Karimi holding the SAFF trophy after winning the 2013 SAFF Championship
Rank Team Part Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  India1 14 62 39 15 8 108 38 +70 132
2  Maldives 12 50 25 11 14 98 52 +46 86
3  Bangladesh 13 46 18 12 16 52 47 +5 66
4    Nepal 14 46 14 7 25 51 68 −17 49
5  Sri Lanka 13 41 13 7 21 48 65 −17 46
6  Pakistan 12 39 12 8 19 32 51 −19 44
7  Afghanistan 7 27 12 4 11 48 42 +6 40
8  Kuwait 1 5 3 2 0 9 2 +7 11
9  Lebanon 1 4 3 1 0 7 1 +6 10
10  Bhutan 9 27 1 1 25 15 102 −87 4

1Including India U23 team.

Nation Champions Runners-up Third-place Fourth-place Semi-finalists
 India 9 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009,[b] 2011, 2015, 2021, 2023) 4 (1995, 2008, 2013, 2018) 1 (2003) – –
 Maldives 2 (2008, 2018) 3 (1997, 2003, 2009) 2 (1999, 2021) – 4 (2005, 2011, 2013, 2015)
 Bangladesh 1 (2003) 2 (1999, 2005) 1 (1995) 1 (2021) 3 (1995, 2009, 2023)
 Afghanistan* 1 (2013) 2 (2011, 2015) – – –
 Sri Lanka 1 (1995) 1 (1993) – 1 (1997) 3 (2008, 2009, 2015)
   Nepal – 1 (2021) 1 (1993) 2 (1995, 1999) 3 (2011, 2013, 2018)
 Kuwait3 – 1 (2023) – – –
 Pakistan – – 1 (1997) 2 (1993, 2003) 2 (2005, 2018)
 Bhutan – – – – 1 (2008)
 Lebanon3 – – – – 1 (2023)
Bold = Hosts
* = No longer SAFF member
3 = Invited as guest teams from WAFF

Results by tournament

Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • SF – Semifinals1
  • GS – Group stage
  • DQ – Disqualified/Suspended by FIFA/AFC/SAFF
  • Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
  •     — Hosts
  •  ×  – Did not enter
  •  ×  – Withdrew before tournament begins
  •     — Not part of SAFF
Team 1993 1995 1997 1999 2003 2005 2008 2009 2011 2013 2015 2018 2021 2023 2026 Total
 Bangladesh × SF GS 2nd 1st 2nd GS SF GS GS GS GS GS SF Q 13
 Bhutan Not part of SAFF GS GS SF GS GS GS GS GS × GS Q 9
 India2 1st 2nd 1st 1st 3rd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st Q 14
 Maldives × × 2nd 3rd 2nd SF 1st 2nd SF SF SF 1st GS GS Q 12
   Nepal 3rd SF GS 4th GS GS GS GS SF SF GS SF 2nd GS Q 14
 Pakistan 4th GS 3rd GS 4th SF GS GS GS GS × SF DQ GS Q 12
 Sri Lanka 2nd 1st 4th GS GS GS SF SF GS GS SF GS GS DQ Q 13
Former team(s)
 Afghanistan3 Not part of SAFF GS GS GS GS 2nd 1st 2nd Part of CAFA 7
Guest teams
 Kuwait4 × 2nd × 1
 Lebanon4 × 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.

Top goalscorers

Ali Ashfaq of Maldives scored the most number of goals in a single championship, 10 goals at the 2013 Championship
Years Player(s) Goals
1993 India Inivalappil Mani Vijayan 3
1995 Sri Lanka Mohamed Amanulla 3
1997 India Inivalappil Mani Vijayan 6
1999 India Bhaichung Bhutia 3
Bangladesh Mizanur Rahman Dawn
Maldives Mohamed Wildhan
Nepal Naresh Joshi
2003 Pakistan Sarfraz Rasool 4
2005 Maldives Ali Ashfaq 3
Maldives Ibrahim Fazeel
Maldives Ahmed Thariq
2008 Afghanistan Harez Habib 4
2009 Bangladesh Enamul Haque 4
Maldives Ahmed Thariq
Sri Lanka Channa Ediri Bandanage
2011 India Sunil Chhetri 7
2013 Maldives Ali Ashfaq 10
2015 Afghanistan Khaibar Amani 4
2018 India Manvir Singh 3
Pakistan Hassan Bashir
2021 India Sunil Chhetri 5
2023 India Sunil Chhetri 5

Overall

Sunil Chhetri tackling against Afghanistan.
Sunil Chhetri at the 2011 SAFF Championship
As of 27 June 2023
Players with 10 or more goals
Rank Nation Player Goals scored
1 India Sunil Chhetri 23
Maldives Ali Ashfaq
3 India Bhaichung Bhutia 12
4 Maldives Ibrahim Fazeel 10
Maldives Ahmed Thariq

Winning coaches

Syed Nayeemuddin at a football workshop in 24 Paraganas District, West Bengal, India
1. Syed Nayeemuddin
Štimac during a training session of Sepahan.
2. Igor Štimac
Both Syed Nayeemuddin and Igor Štimac won the SAFF Championship twice with the India national team.
Year Team Coach
1993  India Czech Republic Jiří Pešek
1995  Sri Lanka Brazil Jorge Perreira
1997  India India Syed Nayeemuddin
1999  India India Sukhwinder Singh
2003  Bangladesh Austria George Kottan
2005  India India Syed Nayeemuddin (2)
2008  Maldives Slovakia Jozef Jankech
2009  India U23 India Sukhwinder Singh (2)
2011  India India Savio Medeira
2013  Afghanistan Afghanistan Mohammad Yousef Kargar
2015  India England Stephen Constantine
2018  Maldives Croatia Petar Šegrt
2021  India Croatia Igor Štimac
2023  India Croatia Igor Štimac (2)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 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.[5]
  2. ^ India was represented by the India U-23 team.

References

  1. ^ “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.
  2. ^ “Infos at goalnepal.com”. Archived from the original on 2017-08-18. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
  3. ^ “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.
  4. ^ “SAFF Ex.Co meeting approves home or away format for SAFF Championship 2025”. saffederation.org. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
  5. ^ 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.