# 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship

The 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship was the fifth edition of the SAFF U-15 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-15 national teams organized by SAFF. The tournament was hosted by Nepal from October 25 to November 3, 2018, at ANFA Complex in Lalitpur, Nepal. Six out of seven teams from the region took part, as Sri Lanka later withdrew their team, and the teams were divided into two groups. On 3 November 2018, Bangladesh edged out Pakistan in a close match decided in a penalty shootout to claim their second SAFF title.

## Host selection

A draw for tournament ceremony was held on 13 September 2018 at conference room of Bangladesh Football Federation. BFF general secretary Abu Naeem Shohag, chairman of the BFF Media Committee Amirul Islam Babu and Mindu Dorji, the deputy general secretary of Bhutan Football Federation was among those present.
Initially all of seven countries team participated for the draw, two groups A and B were made, A consisted of Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan and group B consisted of India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka
But later Sri Lanka withdrew its team from the tournament and the groups were redefined.
| Group A | Group B |
| Nepal  Bangladesh  Maldives  Pakistan ‡ | India  Bhutan  Sri Lanka †  Pakistan |
    † Sri Lanka withdrew before tournament
    ‡ Pakistan drawn to Group B, thus both the groups redefined

## Squads

Players born on or after 1 January 2003 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team had to register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom had to be goalkeepers.

## Participating teams

| Team | Appearances in the SAFF U-16 Championship | Previous best performance |
| Bangladesh | 5th | Champions (2015), (2018) |
| Bhutan | 3rd | Fourth Place |
| India | 5th | Champions (2013, 2017) |
| Maldives | 4th | Group Stage |
| Nepal (Host) | 5th | Runners-up (2013, 2017) |
| Pakistan | 3rd | Champions (2011) |

## Venues

* Lalitpur
* ANFA Complex
* Capacity: 6,000

## Group stage

* All matches were played at Lalitpur, Nepal.
* Times listed are UTC+05:45.
Key to colours in group tables :
* Group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
| 1 | Bangladesh | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 6 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 2 | Nepal (H) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 3 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 3 | Maldives | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
| 1 | Pakistan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 6 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 2 | India | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 3 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 3 | Bhutan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0 | |

## Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 1 November – ANFA Complex | 1 November – ANFA Complex |
| Bangladesh | 1 (4) |
| Bangladesh | 1 (4) | 3 November – ANFA Complex | 3 November – ANFA Complex |
| India | 1 (2) | 3 November – ANFA Complex | 3 November – ANFA Complex |
| India | 1 (2) | Bangladesh | 1 (3) |
| 1 November – ANFA Complex | 1 November – ANFA Complex | | Bangladesh | 1 (3) |
| 1 November – ANFA Complex | 1 November – ANFA Complex | Pakistan | 1 (2) |
| Pakistan | 4 | Pakistan | 1 (2) |
| Nepal | 0 | | |
| Nepal | 0 | Third Place | Third Place |
| | | 3 November – ANFA Complex | 3 November – ANFA Complex |
| | | India | 1 |
| | | Nepal | 0 |

## Knockout stage

* All matches will be played at Lalitpur, Nepal.
* Times listed are UTC+05:45

### Final
## Winner

* 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship champions
* Bangladesh Second title

## Awards

The following awards were given for the 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship.
| Fair Play Award | Fair Play Award | Most Valuable Player | Most Valuable Player | Golden Boot Award | Golden Boot Award |
| Bangladesh | Bangladesh | Haseeb Khan | Haseeb Khan | Nihat Jaman Ucchash | Nihat Jaman Ucchash |

## Goalscorers

There were 47 goals scored in 10 matches, for an average of 4.7 goals per match.
4 goals
* Nihat Jaman Ucchash
3 goals
* Md Ashikur Rahman
* Moin Ahmed
* Mohib Ullah
2 goals
* Rasel Ahmed
* Shubho Paul
* Thlacheu Vanlalruatfela
* Jaan Limbu
* Mudassar Nazar
1 goal
* Ibne Ahad Sakil
* Rajon Howladar
* Nafiz Basher
* Harsh Shailesh Patre
* Subba Kushang
* Aman Xalxo
* Namas Thapa Magar
* Sasank Bohora
* Dipesh Rai
* Adnan Justin
* Iftikar Ahmed
* Wasif