SAFF U-20 Championship
| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Region | South Asia (SAFF) |
| Number of teams | 7 |
| Current champions | India (4th title) |
| Most successful team(s) | India (4 titles) |
| 2025 SAFF U-19 Championship | |
The SAFF U-18/U-19/U-20 Championship or SAFF Youth Championship is a biennial football championship for male footballers under the age of 20 and is organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The championship was held for the first time in August 2015 in Nepal.[1] The tournaments are held just before AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification matches, keeping in mind about proper preparation for that.[2]
Results
- U18 Category
| Year | Host | Final | Third place match/Semi-finalists | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 2017 | Nepal |
RR | Bangladesh |
India |
RR | Bhutan | |||
| 2019 | India |
2–1 | Bangladesh |
Maldives |
1–0 | Bhutan | |||
- U19 Category
| Year | Host | Final | Third place match/Semi-finalists | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 2015 | Nepal |
1–1
(5–4 p) |
India |
Afghanistan and Bangladesh | |||||
| 2023 | India |
3–0 | Pakistan |
Bhutan and Nepal | |||||
| 2025 | India |
1–1
(4–3 p) |
Bangladesh |
Nepal and Maldives | |||||
- U20 Category
| Year | Host | Final | Third place match/Semi-finalists | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 2022 | India |
5–2
(a.e.t.) |
Bangladesh |
Nepal |
RR | Maldives | |||
| 2024 | Bangladesh |
4–1 | Nepal |
Bhutan and India | |||||
Participating nations
- Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- 4th – Fourth place
- 5th – Fifth place[a]
- SF – Semifinals[b]
- GS – Group stage
- q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
- — Hosts
- × – Did not enter
- • – Did not qualify
- × – Withdrew before qualification
- — Withdrew/Disqualified after qualification
- — Not part of SAFF
| Team | 2015 |
2017 |
2019 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | SF | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | GS | 1st | 2nd | 7 |
| Bhutan | GS | 4th | 4th | × | SF | SF | GS | 6 |
| India | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 1st | SF | 1st | 7 |
| Maldives | GS | 5th | 3rd | 4th | GS | GS | SF | 7 |
| Nepal | 1st | 1st | GS | 3rd | SF | 2nd | SF | 7 |
| Pakistan | × | × | × | × | 2nd | × | × | 1 |
| Sri Lanka | × | × | GS | GS | × | GS | GS | 4 |
| Former Team | ||||||||
| Afghanistan | SF | Not a SAFF member | 1 | |||||
Statistics
Performance by nation
| Nation | Champions | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place | Semi-Finalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 4 (2019, 2022, 2023, 2025) | 1 (2015) | 1 (2017) | – | 1 (2024) |
| Nepal | 2 (2015, 2017) | 1 (2024) | 2 (2022, 2025) | – | 1 (2023) |
| Bangladesh | 1 (2024) | 4 (2017, 2019, 2022, 2025) | – | – | 1 (2015) |
| Pakistan | – | 1 (2023) | – | – | – |
| Maldives | – | – | 1 (2019) | 1 (2022) | 1 (2025) |
| Bhutan | – | – | – | 2 (2017, 2019) | 2 (2023, 2024) |
| Afghanistan* | – | – | – | – | 1 (2015) |
| Sri Lanka | – | – | – | – | – |
- Notes
- ^ Format of the 2017 tournament was single round-robin between the 5 participating teams. Nepal won the title on head-to-head rule of classification.[3]
- ^ No third-place match was held in 2015 and 2023.
Awards
| Tournament | Most Valuable Player | Top scorer(s) | Goals | Best Goalkeeper | Fair play award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Not Awarded | Anjan Bista Bimal Magar |
3 | Not Awarded | India |
| 2017 | Orgyen Tshering | Jafar Iqbal | 5 | Not Awarded | Bhutan |
| 2019 | Ninthoinganba Meetei | Foysal Ahmed Fahim Tanvir Hossain Gurkirat Singh |
2 | Not Awarded | Bhutan |
| 2022 | Gurkirat Singh | Gurkirat Singh | 8 | Not Awarded | Sri Lanka |
| 2023 | Manglenthang Kipgen | Jigme Namgyel Gwgmsar Goyary Samir Tamang |
3 | Lionel Daryl Rymmei | Bhutan |
| 2024 | Mirajul Islam | Mirajul Islam | 4 | Md Asif | Nepal |
| 2025 | Mohammed Arbas | Danny Meitei | 5 | Suraj Singh Aheibam | India |
See also
References
- ^ "Nepal to Host First Ever SAFF U19 Championship From August 20–29". Goal Nepal. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ^ "SAFF U20 Championship 2022: Gurkirat Singh hat-trick powers Indian football team to title". Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ "Format changed". The Daily Star. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.