2025 SAFF U-19 Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | India |
| Dates | 9–18 May 2025 |
| Teams | 6 (from 1 sub-confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | India (4th title) |
| Runners-up | Bangladesh |
| Third place | Maldives Nepal |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 9 |
| Goals scored | 36 (4 per match) |
| Attendance | 31,668 (3,519 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Danny Meitei (5 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Mohammed Arbas |
| Best goalkeeper | Suraj Singh Aheibam |
| Fair play award | India |
← 2024 2026 → | |
The 2025 SAFF U-19 Championship was the 7th edition of the SAFF U-19 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-19 national teams from South Asia region, organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The tournament was played in Yupia, India from 9–18 May 2025.[1]
Bangladesh were the defending champions, who won their maiden title by defeating Nepal 4–1 in the final on 28 August 2024.[2]
On 18 May 2025, India won their fourth title by beating Bangladesh 4–3 on penalty in the final after a 1–1 draw at the end of the regular time.[3]
Venue
All matches were played at Golden Jubilee Stadium in Yupia, Arunachal Pradesh, India.[4]
| Yupia | |
|---|---|
| Golden Jubilee Stadium | |
| Capacity: 15,000 | |
Participants teams
The following six national teams participated in the tournament.[5]
| Team | Appearances | Previous Best performance |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 7th | Champions (2024) |
| Bhutan | 6th | Fourth place (2017, 2019) |
| India | 7th | Champions (2019, 2022, 2023) |
| Maldives | 7th | Third place (2019) |
| Nepal | 7th | Champions (2015, 2017) |
| Sri Lanka | 4th | Group stage (2019, 2022) |
Players eligibility
Each team had to register a squad of minimum 16 and maximum 23 players. Players born on or after 1 January 2007 were eligible to compete in the tournament (as per FIFA eligibility rules of underage competitions[6]).
- Squads
Team squads
| Bangladesh[7] | Bhutan[8] | India[9] | Maldives[8] | Nepal[10] | Sri Lanka[11] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Draw
The draw ceremony of the tournament was held on 11 March 2025.[1]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 |
|---|---|---|
| India (hosts) Maldives |
Nepal Bhutan |
Bangladesh Sri Lanka |
Draw result
|
|
Match officials
(†): Also performed as assistant referee in some matches.
- Referees
- Assistant Referees & Fourth Official
Group stage
- Times listed are UTC+05:30 Indian Standard Time (IST).
| 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 | Bangladesh | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Maldives | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Bhutan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 1 |
Source: Soccerway
| Bangladesh | 2–2 | Maldives |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Bhutan | 0–3 | Bangladesh |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Referee: Nabindra Maharjan (Nepal)
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | +12 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Nepal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 0 |
Knockout stage
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 16 May – Yupia | ||||||
| Bangladesh | 2 | |||||
| 18 May – Yupia | ||||||
| Nepal | 1 | |||||
| Bangladesh | 1 (3) | |||||
| 16 May – Yupia | ||||||
| India (p) | 1 (4) | |||||
| India | 3 | |||||
| Maldives | 0 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Bangladesh | 2–1 | Nepal |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Final
| Bangladesh | 1–1 | India |
|---|---|---|
| Ahmed 61' | Report | Shami 2' |
| Penalties | ||
|
3–4 |
|
Winners
| 7th SAFF U-19 Championship 2025 Champions |
|---|
India Fourth title |
Statistics
Goalscorers
There have been 36 goals scored in 9 matches, for an average of 4 goals per match.
5 goals
3 goals
2 goals
- Sujan Dangol
- Singamayum Shami
1 goal
Source: GSA
Hat-tricks
| No. | Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Danny Meitei | India | Sri Lanka | 8–0 | 9 May 2025 | [12] |
- Note: Bold indicates the winning team.
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:[3]
| Fair Play Award | Best goalkeeper | Top scorer(s) | Most valuable player | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | Suraj Singh Aheibam | Danny Meitei | Mohammed Arbas |
Broadcasting
| Territory | Broadcaster(s) | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| No restricted territory | Sportzworkz (YouTube channel) |
2025 SAFF U19 matches playlist on YouTube |
See also
References
- ^ a b "Hosts India drawn with Nepal, Sri Lanka in SAFF U19 Championship 2025". All India Football Federation. 11 March 2025. Archived from the original on 18 March 2025. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ^ Singh, Sweta (29 August 2024). "Bangladesh makes a historic win in SAFF U-20 Championship football tournament". DD News. Kathmandu. Archived from the original on 30 April 2025. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ^ a b Rawat, Akhil (18 May 2025). "India crowned SAFF U19 champions". All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 19 May 2025. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
- ^ "SAFF U-19 Championship heads to Arunachal Pradesh in historic first". India Today. 7 February 2025. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ^ "Bibiano Fernandes names 35 probables for SAFF U19 Championship". All India Football Federation. 19 April 2025. Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ^ "Regulations for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025 (Article 24: Eligibility)" (PDF). The Hub (FIFA). Retrieved 11 May 2025.
- ^ "Bangladesh announce U-19 squad for upcoming SAFF". Daily Sun (Bangladesh). 6 May 2025. Archived from the original on 11 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
- ^ a b "SAFF U19 Championship 2025, match report: Maldives vs Bhutan" (PDF). South Asian Football Federation. 13 May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
- ^ "Bibiano Fernandes' 25-member squad arrives in Arunachal Pradesh for SAFF U19 Championship". All India Football Federation. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
- ^ "Final squad for SAFF U-19 Championship announced". All Nepal Football Association. 27 April 2025. Archived from the original on 1 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
- ^ "SAFF U19 Championship 2025, Match Report: Sri Lanka vs India" (PDF). South Asian Football Federation. 9 May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
- ^ "India put eight past Sri Lanka in perfect start to SAFF U19 campaign". All India Football Federation. 9 May 2025. Archived from the original on 9 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
External links
- Official website
- 2025 SAFF U-19 Championship at GSA
- 2025 SAFF U-19 Championship at Soccerway