# 2018 SAFF Championship

The 2018 SAFF Championship, also known as the 2018 SAFF Suzuki Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 12th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organized by SAFF. It was initially scheduled to be hosted by Bangladesh in December 2017, but later rescheduled to 4–15 September 2018.

## Host selection

On 2 January 2016, the SAFF executive committee made a decision that Bangladesh would host the 2017 SAFF Championship at a meeting held in Trivandrum, India. Maldives and Bhutan made bids to host the games but the latter withdrew its bid.
This was the third SAFF Championship hosted by Bangladesh, after victory in the 2003 edition and semi-finalists in 2009.
The draw ceremony was held on 18 April 2018 in Dhaka.

## Participating nations

| Country | Appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA ranking 16 August 2018 |
| Bangladesh (Host) | 11th | Champions (2003) | 194 |
| Bhutan | 8th | Semi-finals (2008) | 183 |
| India | 12th | Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015) | 96 |
| Maldives | 10th | Champions (2008) | 150 |
| Nepal | 12th | Third-Place (1993) | 161 |
| Pakistan | 11th | Third-Place (1997) | 201 |
| Sri Lanka | 12th | Champions (1995) | 200 |

### Squads
## Venue

| Dhaka | Dhaka |
| Bangabandhu National Stadium | Dhaka |
| Capacity: 36,000 | Dhaka |

## Officials
### Referees

* Rowan Arumughan
* Hasan Akrami
* Mohammad Arafah
* Hettikamkanamge Perera
* Hanna Hattab
* Sivakorn Pu-udom

### Assistant Referees

* Manir Ahmmad Dali
* Sapam Kennedy
* Hassan Zeheiri
* Priyanga Palliya Guruge
* Apichit Nophuan
* Ali Mohammed Al Hasani

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Nepal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 6 | Qualified for semi-finals |
| 2 | Pakistan | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | Qualified for semi-finals |
| 3 | Bangladesh (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 6 | |
| 4 | Bhutan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | India | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 6 | Qualified for semi-finals |
| 2 | Maldives | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 1 | Qualified for semi-finals |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 1 | |
* 1 2 Maldives and Sri Lanka were level on points, goal difference, goals against and head-to-head. The winner was decided by a coin toss.

## Knockout phase
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 12 September | 12 September |
| Nepal | 0 |
| Nepal | 0 | 15 September | 15 September |
| Maldives | 3 | 15 September | 15 September |
| Maldives | 3 | Maldives | 2 |
| 12 September | 12 September | | Maldives | 2 |
| 12 September | 12 September | India | 1 |
| India | 3 | India | 1 |
| Pakistan | 1 | | |

### Final
## Champion

* SAFF Championship 2018
* Maldives Second title

## Awards

The following awards were given for the 2018 SAFF Championship.
| Fair Play award | Fair Play award | Fair Play award | Most Valuable Player | Most Valuable Player | Most Valuable Player | Top Goalscorer | Top Goalscorer | Top Goalscorer |
| Bhutan | Bhutan | Bhutan | Mohamed Faisal | Mohamed Faisal | Mohamed Faisal | Manvir Singh Hassan Bashir | Manvir Singh Hassan Bashir | Manvir Singh Hassan Bashir |

## Goalscorers

There were 29 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.42 goals per match.
3 goals
* Manvir Singh
* Hassan Bashir
2 goals
* Topu Barman
* Sumeet Passi
* Ibrahim Waheed Hassan
* Bimal Gharti Magar
1 goal
* Mahbubur Rahman
* Lallianzuala Chhangte
* Ashique Kuruniyan
* Nikhil Poojari
* Ali Fasir
* Akram Abdul Ghanee
* Ibrahim Mahudhee
* Sunil Bal
* Nirajan Khadka
* Bharat Khawas
* Nawayug Shrestha
* Ananta Tamang
* Ahmed Faheem
* Muhammad Ali
* Muhammad Riaz

## Media coverage

| Country | Broadcaster |
| Bangladesh | Channel 9 |
| India | D Sport |
| Maldives | Television Maldives |
| Nepal | AP1 Television |
| United States | Bleacher Report |