# 2023 SAFF U-16 Championship

The 2023 SAFF U-16 Championship was the eighth edition of the SAFF U-16 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-17 national teams organized by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). Its was played from 2–10 September 2023 in Thimphu, Bhutan.
India are the defending champions, who won their fifth title in 2023 by defeating Bangladesh in the final. Pakistan were given the fair play award.

## Venue

All matches were held at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan.
Thimphu :
| Changlimithang Stadium ||
| Capacity: 15,000 ||
| | Thimphu |

## Teams

Sri Lanka are ineligible for participation as they are suspended by FIFA. Other six SAFF teams are eligible to participate.
| Team | Appearances in the SAFF U-17 Championship | Previous best performance |
| Bangladesh | 8th | Winners (2015, 2018) |
| Bhutan | 6th | Fourth place (2017) |
| India | 8th | Winners (2013, 2017, 2019, 2022) |
| Maldives | 6th | Group stage (2011, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022) |
| Nepal | 8th | Runners-up (2013, 2017, 2019, 2022) |
| Pakistan | 4th | Winners (2011) |

### Draw

The draw was held in BFF House in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 22 July 2023 at 12:00 BST (UTC+6).
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 |
| Bhutan (hosts) India | Nepal Maldives | Bangladesh Pakistan |

#### Draw result

Group A :
| Pos | Team |
| A1 | India |
| A2 | Nepal |
| A3 | Bangladesh |
Group B :
| Pos | Team |
| B1 | Bhutan |
| B2 | Maldives |
| B3 | Pakistan |

## Match officials
### Referees

* Md. Nasir Uddin
* Penjor Ugyen
* Kabin Byanjankar
* Zaheer Hussain
* Senthil N Nathan

### Assistant referees

* Sunwar Hem Kumar
* Madhav Khatri
* Bikash Sarker
* Raeef Rauf
* B. Nagoorkani

## Players eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 2007 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team has to register a squad of minimum 16 players and maximum 23 players, minimum two of whom must be goalkeepers.

## Group stage

* Times listed are UTC+06:00 Bhutan Time.
Key to colours in group tables :
* Group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals

### Tiebreakers

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.
* Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
* If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
* Goal difference in all group matches;
* Goals scored in all group matches;
* Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
* Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellots, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
* Drawing of lots.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | India | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 6 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 2 | Bangladesh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 3 | Nepal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Pakistan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 2 | Maldives | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 3 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 3 | Bhutan (H) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 8 September – Thimphu | 8 September – Thimphu |
| India | 8 |
| India | 8 | 10 September – Thimphu | 10 September – Thimphu |
| Maldives | 0 | 10 September – Thimphu | 10 September – Thimphu |
| Maldives | 0 | India | 2 |
| 8 September – Thimphu | 8 September – Thimphu | | India | 2 |
| 8 September – Thimphu | 8 September – Thimphu | Bangladesh | 0 |
| Pakistan | 1 | Bangladesh | 0 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | | |

### Final
## Winner

* 8th SAFF U-16 Championship 2023 Champions
* India Fifth title

## Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Fair Play Award | Fair Play Award | Goalkeeper | Goalkeeper | Golden Boot Award | Golden Boot Award |
| Pakistan | Pakistan | Suraj Singh | Suraj Singh | Md Arbas | Md Arbas |

## Statistics
### Goalscorers

There were 29 goals scored in 10 matches, for an average of 2.9 goals per match.
3 goals
* Md Arbash
2 goals
* Subhan Karim
* Sonam Dorji
* Airborlang Kharthangmaw
* Levis Zangminlun
1 goal
* Md Ashikur Rahman
* Md Mursed Ali
* Md Abu Sayed
* Bharat Lairenjam
* Thougngamba Singh Usham
* Vishal Yadav
* Md Kaif
* Manbha Kupar Malngiang
* Tandin Phuntsho
* Ubaidullah Khan
* Abdul Samad
* Abdul Ghani
* Mohamed Ilan Imran
* Ethan Ibrahim Zaki
1 own goal
* Ahmed Mifzal (against Pakistan)
* Kingyel Wancchuk Dorji (against Maldives)
Source: GSA