2012 AFC Challenge Cup
The 2012 AFC Challenge Cup was the fourth edition of the tournament, an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging countries" in the defunct Vision Asia programme. It took place in Nepal from 8–19 March 2012. Unlike in previous editions of the tournament, there were no automatic qualifiers. Therefore, 2010 champions North Korea, runners-up Turkmenistan, and third-placed Tajikistan had to navigate the qualification phase in order to return to the finals. North Korea successfully defended their title and qualified for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup . Hosts. Maldives, Nepal, and Palestine expressed an interest to bid to host the tournament. A decision on which country would be hosts was set to be made by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on 14 June 2011, but was deferred until the AFC Executive Committee on 29 July 2011. The committee decided to endorse Nepal as the hosts of the AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Finals. Qualification. The qualification stage saw 20 eligible member associations compete in qualifiers. Draw. The draw for the final tournament was held on 1 December 2011 at the Soaltee Crown Plaza Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal. Squads . Each team could name a squad of 23 players. Group stage. "All times are Nepal Time (NPT) – " Tie-breaking criteria. The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers are in following order: Group A. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Group B. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Statistics. Individual Awards. The following awards were given for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup: Team of the tournament. The team of the tournament – Dream Team in a 4-4-2 formation.