# SAFF Championship

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

## History

India is most successful team of this region. They won the title 9 times which is 7 times more than second most successful team Maldives (having won 2 times). Total countries that currently compete in the tournaments are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is held every two years. Afghanistan joined SAFF in 2005 and left the association in 2015 to become a founding member of 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 2001 was first postponed from Oct/Nov 2001 to Jan/Feb 2002 due to the suspension of the Bangladesh Football Federation from FIFA; the tournament finally took place in 2003. The 2018 edition was hosted by Bangladesh.
The 2021 edition of the tournament was postponed twice to October 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Organisation

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

### 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 | No title sponsor | 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 | Final | Final | Third place playoff | Third place playoff | Third place playoff | No. of teams |
| Ed. | Year | Hosts | Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | No. of teams |
| 1 | 1993 | Pakistan | India | | Sri Lanka | Nepal | | Pakistan | 4 |
| 2 | 1995 | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | 1–0 (a.s.d.e.t.) | India | Bangladesh and Nepal | Bangladesh and Nepal | 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 | Maldives and Pakistan | Maldives and Pakistan | 8 |
| 7 | 2008 | Maldives  Sri Lanka | Maldives | 1–0 | India | Bhutan and Sri Lanka | Bhutan and Sri Lanka | Bhutan and Sri Lanka | 8 |
| 8 | 2009 | Bangladesh | India U23 | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p) | Maldives | Bangladesh and Sri Lanka | Bangladesh and Sri Lanka | Bangladesh and Sri Lanka | 8 |
| 9 | 2011 | India | India | 4–0 | Afghanistan | Maldives and Nepal | Maldives and Nepal | Maldives and Nepal | 8 |
| 10 | 2013 | Nepal | Afghanistan | 2–0 | India | Maldives and Nepal | Maldives and Nepal | Maldives and Nepal | 8 |
| 11 | 2015 | India | India | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Afghanistan | Maldives and Sri Lanka | Maldives and Sri Lanka | Maldives and Sri Lanka | 7 |
| 12 | 2018 | Bangladesh | Maldives | 2–1 | India | Nepal and Pakistan | Nepal and Pakistan | Nepal and Pakistan | 7 |
| 13 | 2021 | Maldives | India | 3–0 | Nepal | Maldives | | Bangladesh | 5 |
| 14 | 2023 | India | India | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) | Kuwait | Bangladesh and Lebanon | Bangladesh and Lebanon | Bangladesh and Lebanon | 8 |
| 15 | 2025 | Sri Lanka | | | | | | | |

## Statistics
### Performance by nation

| Nation | Champions | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place | Semi-finalists |
| India | 9 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 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) |
| Kuwait | – | 1 (2023) | – | – | – |
| Pakistan | – | – | 1 (1997) | 2 (1993, 2003) | 2 (2005, 2018) |
| Bhutan | – | – | – | – | 1 (2008) |
| Lebanon | – | – | – | – | 1 (2023) |
    Bold = Hosts
    * = No longer SAFF member
    $^3$ = Invited as guest teams from WAFF

### Participating nations
#### Legend

* 1st – Champions
* 2nd – Runners-up
* 3rd – Third place
* 4th – Fourth place
* SF – Semifinals
* 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 | 2025 | Total |
| Bangladesh | × | SF | GS | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | GS | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | SF | | 13 |
| Bhutan | Not part of SAFF | Not part of SAFF | Not part of SAFF | Not part of SAFF | GS | GS | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | GS | | 9 |
| India | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | | 14 |
| Maldives | × | × | 2nd | 3rd | 2nd | SF | 1st | 2nd | SF | SF | SF | 1st | GS | GS | | 12 |
| Nepal | 3rd | SF | GS | 4th | GS | GS | GS | GS | SF | SF | GS | SF | 2nd | GS | | 14 |
| Pakistan | 4th | GS | 3rd | GS | 4th | SF | GS | GS | GS | GS | × | SF | DQ | GS | | 12 |
| Sri Lanka | 2nd | 1st | 4th | GS | GS | GS | SF | SF | GS | GS | SF | GS | GS | DQ | | 13 |
| Former team(s) |||||||||||||||||
| Afghanistan | Not part of SAFF | Not part of SAFF | Not part of SAFF | Not part of SAFF | GS | GS | GS | GS | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | Part of CAFA | Part of CAFA | Part of CAFA | Part of CAFA | 7 |
| Guest teams |||||||||||||||||
| Kuwait | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | 2nd | × | 1 |
| Lebanon | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | SF | × | 1 |
$^1$The third-place match was not played in 1995 and has not been played 2003 onwards. $^2$Including India U23 team. $^3$Left SAFF and joined CAFA in 2015. $^4$Invited as a guest team from the WAFF.

### All-time table

As of 4 July 2023.
| Rank | Team | Part | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | India | 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 |
$^1$Including India U23 team.

### Top goal scorers by edition

| Years | Player(s) | Goals |
| 1993 | I. M. Vijayan | 3 |
| 1995 | Mohamed Amanulla | 3 |
| 1997 | I. M. Vijayan | 6 |
| 1999 | Bhaichung Bhutia | 3 |
| 1999 | Mizanur Rahman Dawn | 3 |
| 1999 | Mohamed Wildhan | 3 |
| 1999 | Naresh Joshi | 3 |
| 2003 | Sarfraz Rasool | 4 |
| 2005 | Ali Ashfaq | 3 |
| 2005 | Ibrahim Fazeel | 3 |
| 2005 | Ahmed Thariq | 3 |
| 2008 | Harez Habib | 4 |
| 2009 | Enamul Haque | 4 |
| 2009 | Ahmed Thariq | 4 |
| 2009 | Channa Ediri Bandanage | 4 |
| 2011 | Sunil Chhetri | 7 |
| 2013 | Ali Ashfaq | 10 |
| 2015 | Khaibar Amani | 4 |
| 2018 | Manvir Singh | 3 |
| 2018 | Hassan Bashir | 3 |
| 2021 | Sunil Chhetri | 5 |
| 2023 | Sunil Chhetri | 5 |

### Overall top goal scorers

    As of 27 June 2023, 20:30 IST
Players with 10 or more goals at SAFF Championships :
| Rank | Player | Goals scored |
| 1 | Sunil Chhetri | 23 |
| 1 | Ali Ashfaq | 23 |
| 3 | Bhaichung Bhutia | 12 |
| 4 | Ibrahim Fazeel | 10 |
| 4 | Ahmed Thariq | 10 |

### Winning coaches

| Year | Team | Coach |
| 1993 | India | Jiří Pešek |
| 1995 | Sri Lanka | Jorge Perreira |
| 1997 | India | Syed Nayeemuddin |
| 1999 | India | Sukhwinder Singh |
| 2003 | Bangladesh | George Kottan |
| 2005 | India | Syed Nayeemuddin (2) |
| 2008 | Maldives | Jozef Jankech |
| 2009 | India U23 | Sukhwinder Singh (2) |
| 2011 | India | Savio Medeira |
| 2013 | Afghanistan | Mohammad Yousef Kargar |
| 2015 | India | Stephen Constantine |
| 2018 | Maldives | Petar Šegrt |
| 2021 | India | Igor Štimac |
| 2023 | India | Igor Štimac (2) |