This article is about the men's tournament. For the women's tournament, see SAFF Women's Championship.
SAFF Championship
OrganiserSAFF
Founded1993 (age 33) (as SAARC Gold Cup)
Number of teams
RegionSouth Asia
Current championsIndia (9th title)
Most successful teamIndia (9 titles)
Related compsSAFF Women's Championship
Current2026 SAFF Championship
Websitesaffederation.org

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

PeriodSponsorName
1993No title sponsorSAARC Gold Cup
1995Ceylon Tobacco CompanyBristol SAARC Gold Cup
1997No title sponsorSAFF Gold Cup
1999Coca-ColaSAFF Coca-Cola Cup
2003–2005No title sponsorSAFF Gold Cup
2008SAFF Championship
2009BEXIMCOBangabandhu SAFF Championship
2011KarbonnKarbonn SAFF Championship
2013No title sponsorSAFF Championship
2015–2018SuzukiSAFF Suzuki Cup
2021OoredooOoredoo SAFF Championship
2023Bashundhara ToiletriesBangabandhu SAFF Championship
Source: GSA

Results

Ed.YearHostsFinalThird place playoffNo. of
teams
ChampionsScoreRunners-upThird placeScoreFourth place
11993Pakistan'RRRR4
21995Sri Lanka'1–0
Bangladesh and Nepal5
31997Nepal'5–11–06
41999India'2–02–06
52003Bangladesh'1–1
2–1
8
62005Pakistan'2–0MDV and Pakistan8
72008Maldives
Sri Lanka		'1–0BHU and Sri Lanka8
82009Bangladesh'0–0
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka8
92011India'4–0MDV and Nepal8
102013Nepal'2–0MDV and Nepal8
112015India'2–1
MDV and Sri Lanka7
122018Bangladesh'2–1Nepal and Pakistan7
132021Maldives'3–0RR[a]5
142023India'1–1
Bangladesh and Lebanon8
152026Bangladesh

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.

RankTeamPartPldWDLGFGAGDPts
1India114623915810838+70132
2MDV12502511149852+4686
3Bangladesh13461812165247+566
4Nepal1446147255168−1749
5Sri Lanka1341137214865−1746
6Pakistan1239128193251−1944
7Afghanistan727124114842+640
8Kuwait1532092+711
9Lebanon1431071+610
10BHU927112515102−874

1Including India U23 team.

NationChampionsRunners-upThird-placeFourth-placeSemi-finalists
India9 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009,[b] 2011, 2015, 2021, 2023)4 (1995, 2008, 2013, 2018)1 (2003)––
Maldives2 (2008, 2018)3 (1997, 2003, 2009)2 (1999, 2021)–4 (2005, 2011, 2013, 2015)
Bangladesh1 (2003)2 (1999, 2005)1 (1995)1 (2021)3 (1995, 2009, 2023)
Afghanistan*1 (2013)2 (2011, 2015)–––
Sri Lanka1 (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
  • ' – Champions
  • ' – Runners-up
  • ' – Third place
  • ' – Fourth place
  • ' – 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
Team199319951997199920032005200820092011201320152018202120232026Total
Bangladesh×SFGS2nd1st2ndGSSFGSGSGSGSGSSFQ13
BHUNot part of SAFFGSGSSFGSGSGSGSGS×GSQ9
India21st2nd1st1st3rd1st2nd1st1st2nd1st2nd1st1stQ14
MDV××2nd3rd2ndSF1st2ndSFSFSF1stGSGSQ12
Nepal3rdSFGS4thGSGSGSGSSFSFGSSF2ndGSQ14
Pakistan4thGS3rdGS4thSFGSGSGSGS×SFDQGSQ12
Sri Lanka2nd1st4thGSGSGSSFSFGSGSSFGSGSDQQ13
Former team(s)
Afghanistan3Not part of SAFFGSGSGSGS2nd1st2ndPart of CAFA7
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

YearsPlayer(s)Goals
1993Inivalappil Mani Vijayan3
1995Mohamed Amanulla3
1997Inivalappil Mani Vijayan6
1999Bhaichung Bhutia3
Mizanur Rahman Dawn
Mohamed Wildhan
Naresh Joshi
2003Sarfraz Rasool4
2005Ali Ashfaq3
Ibrahim Fazeel
Ahmed Thariq
2008Harez Habib4
2009Enamul Haque4
Ahmed Thariq
Channa Ediri Bandanage
2011Sunil Chhetri7
2013Ali Ashfaq10
2015Khaibar Amani4
2018Manvir Singh3
Hassan Bashir
2021Sunil Chhetri5
2023Sunil Chhetri5

Overall

Players with 10 or more goals
RankNationPlayerGoals scored
1Sunil Chhetri23
Ali Ashfaq
3Bhaichung Bhutia12
4Ibrahim Fazeel10
Ahmed Thariq

Winning coaches

YearTeamCoach
1993IndiaJiří Pešek
1995Sri LankaJorge Perreira
1997IndiaSyed Nayeemuddin
1999IndiaSukhwinder Singh
2003BangladeshGeorge Kottan
2005IndiaSyed Nayeemuddin (2)
2008MDVJozef Jankech
2009India U23Sukhwinder Singh (2)
2011IndiaSavio Medeira
2013AfghanistanMohammad Yousef Kargar
2015IndiaStephen Constantine
2018MDVPetar Šegrt
2021IndiaIgor Štimac
2023IndiaIgor 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.[6]

References

  1. ^ "From SAARC Gold Cup to SAFF Championship". Givemegoal.com.np. 3 August 2013. Archived 13 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Infos at goalnepal.com". Archived 2017-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
  3. ^ "We Will Try Our Best To Host SAFF 2021 Matches In Pokhara". Goal Nepal. 27 July 2021. Archived 27 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine. 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 13 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  6. ^ "South Asian Gold Cup 2009 (Dhaka)"