2023 SAFF U-19 Championship
The 2023 SAFF U-19 Championship was the 5th edition of the SAFF U-19 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-19 national teams organized by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). It was took place from 21–30 September 2023 in Kathmandu, Nepal.[1][2]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Nepal |
| Dates | 21–30 September 2023 |
| Teams | 6 (from 1 sub-confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  India (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  Pakistan |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 9 |
| Goals scored | 26 (2.89 per match) |
| Attendance | 23,233 (2,581 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Jigme Namgyel Gwgmsar Goyary Samir Tamang(3 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Manglenthang Kipgen |
| Best goalkeeper | Lionel Daryl Rymmei |
| Fair play award | Bhutan |
India are the defending champions, who won their second title in 2022 by defeating Bangladesh in the final on 5 August 2022.[3][4]
Venue
On 22 July 2023, SAFF announced the tournament will be held at the Dasharath Rangasala in Kathmandu, Nepal.[1][2]
| Kathmandu | |
|---|---|
| Dasharath Rangasala | |
| Capacity: 15,500 | |
 |
|
Teams
Sri Lanka are ineligible for participation as they are suspended by FIFA.[5] Other six SAFF teams are eligible to participate.
| Team | Appearances in the SAFF U-17 Championship |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|
 Bangladesh | 5th | Runners-up (2017, 2019, 2022) |
| Bhutan | 4th | Fourth place (2017, 2019) |
| India | 5th | Winners (2019, 2022) |
 Maldives | 5th | Third place (2019) |
| Nepal | 5th | Winners (2015, 2017) |
| Pakistan | 1st | – |
Match officials
- Referees
- Nadheem Hussain
- Astha Aditya Purkay
- Sabuj Kumar Das
- Adnan Anjum
- Nabin Maharjan
- Pema Tshewang
- Assistant referees
- Shaheem Hussain
- Yadhav Kishan Kanaya
- M Sawant Dipesh
- Passang Passang
- Sharif SM Junayed
- Mehboob Ali
Players eligibility
Players born on or after 1 January 2004 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+05:45 Nepal Standard Time (NST).
| 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 yellow cards = 3 points, 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 | Pakistan |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 2 | Nepal (H) |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 3 | |
| 3 | Maldives |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 1 |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 2 | Bhutan |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | Bangladesh |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 0 |
| Bangladesh | 0–3 | India |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Bhutan | 4–3 | Bangladesh |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Knockout stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 27 September–Kathmandu | ||||||
| Pakistan (p) | 0(6) | |||||
| 30 September–Kathmandu | ||||||
| Bhutan | 0(5) | |||||
| Pakistan | 0 | |||||
| 27 September–Kathmandu | ||||||
| India | 3 | |||||
| India (p) | 1(3) | |||||
| Nepal | 1(2) | |||||
Semi-finals
| Pakistan | 0–0 | Bhutan |
|---|---|---|
| Report | ||
| Penalties | ||
|
6–5 |
|
Winner
| 5th SAFF U-19 Championship 2023 Champions |
|---|
India Fifth title |
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
| Fair Play Award | Best goalkeeper | Most valuable player | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhutan[7] |
Lionel Daryl Rymmei[7] |
Manglenthang Kipgen[7] |
Statistics
Goalscorers
There have been 26 goals scored in 9 matches, for an average of 2.89 goals per match.
3 goals
- Jigme Namgyel
- Gwgmsar Goyary
- Samir Tamang
2 goals
- Manglenthang Kipgen
1 goal
- Md Rubel Shaikh
- Asadul Molla
- Razu Ahmed Zisan
- Kingzang Tenzi
- Rinzin Dorji
- Ricky Meetei Haobam
- Sahil Khurshid
- Naoba Meitei Pangabam
- Arjun Singh Oinam
- Shanaan Rasheed Rashad
- Adam Layaan Rasheed
- Prashant Laksham
- Nirajan Dhami
- Ali Zafar
- Shah Jahan
Source: GSA
Final standing
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
India | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
 |
Pakistan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
 |
Nepal | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Bhutan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Maldives | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
See also
References
- "SAFF Championship: Groups revealed for U-16, U-19 youth events". Khel Now. 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- "Draw revealed for SAFF U16 and U19 Championships". The AIFF. 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- "India beats Bangladesh to clinch U20 SAFF Championship". sportstar.thehindu.com. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- "India defeat Bangladesh to win SAFF U-20 Championship 2022". Khel Now. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- "Suspension of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) from 21 January 2023 until further notice" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- "Draw revealed for SAFF U16 and U19 Championships". The AIFF. 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- "INDIA WINS SAFF U19 CHAMPIONSHIP 2023 TITLE". www.saffederation.org. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.