South Asian Football Federation Championship is a biennial football tournament that brings together teams from South Asia. Since its inception in 1993, this prestigious competition has become a vibrant platform for showcasing the talent, determination, and passion of teams from the region.
The 2023 SAFF Championship is set to kick off on 21 June with Nepal taking on new entrants Kuwait in the opening match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, India. The tournament will feature six regular members of SAFF, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, and Bhutan, and two additional teams, Kuwait and Lebanon.
The most highly-anticipated match of the tournament between arch-rivals Pakistan and India will take place on the opening night at the same venue. The Men in Green will play their first match against India since 2018. The final of the tournament will be played on 4 July in Bengaluru.
The stakes couldn’t be higher, as the eight teams look to be crowned the champions of South Asia. Here is everything you need to know about the SAFF Championship 2023:
Format
Eight teams in the tournament have been divided into two groups, consisting of four teams each. The teams will play against each of their group opponents once and the top two teams from each group at the end of the round will qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament.
In the semi-finals, the top team in Group A will face the second-placed team in Group B while the second-placed team in Group A will face the top team in Group B. The winners of both semi-finals will face off in the final of the tournament.
Here is how the teams will be ranked in the group stages:
| 1 | Points obtained in matches played directly against each other by the tied teams. |
| 2 | The difference between the number of goals scored and conceded in matches played directly against each other by the tied teams. |
| 3 | The total number of goals scored in matches played directly against each other by the tied teams. |
| 4 | The difference between the total number of goals scored and conceded in all matches of the group stage. |
| 5 | The total number of goals scored in all matches of the group stage. |
| 6 | If only two teams are tied and they played against each other in the last round of the group stage, a penalty shoot-out will determine the winner. |
| 7 | Disciplinary points awarded based on the number of yellow and red cards received (1 point for a yellow card, 3 points for a red card resulting from two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, and 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card). |
| 8 | A random drawing of lots to determine the winner if all other tiebreaker criteria are still unable to determine a clear winner. |
Groups
Both groups contain four teams. Pakistan, India, Kuwait, and Nepal have been drawn in Group A while Bangladesh, Lebanon, Maldives, and Bhutan are drawn together in Group B.
| Group A | Group B |
| Pakistan | Bangladesh |
| India | Bhutan |
| Kuwait | Lebanon |
| Nepal | Maldives |
Squads
Pakistan
| Yousuf Butt | Saqib Hanif | Salman-ul-Haq | Easah Suliman |
| Abdullah Iqbal | Abdullah Shah | Mamoon Moosa Khan | Haseeb Khan |
| Sardar Wali | Mohammad Sufyan | Umar Hayar | Ali Khan Niazi |
| Ali Uzair | Rahis Nabi | Harun Hamid | Alamgir Ghazi |
| Hassan Bashir | Otis Khan | Shayek Dost | Muhammad Waleed |
| Mohammad Adnan Yaqoob | Abdul Arshad | Muhammad Waheed |
India
| Gurpreet Singh | Amrinder Singh | Phurba Lachenpa Tempa | Subhasish Bose |
| Pritam Kotal | Sandesh Jhingan | Anwar Ali | Akash Mishra |
| Mehtab Singh | Rahul Bheke | Liston Colaco | Ashique Kuruniyan |
| Suresh Singh Wangjam | Rohit Kumar | Udanta Singh | Anirudh Thapa |
| Naorem Mahesh Singh | Nikhil Poojary | Jeakson Singh | Sahal Abdul Samad |
| Lalengmawia Ralte | Lallianzuala Chhangte | Rowlin Borges | Nandha Kumar |
| Sunil Chhetri | Rahim Ali | Ishan Pandita |
Kuwait
| Sulaiman Abdulghafoor | Bader Al-Saanoun | Fahad Al-Hajeri | Khaled Ebrahim | Abdullah Al-Buloushi | Hamad Al-Qallaf |
| Ali Abdel Al-Rasoul | Mahdi Dashti | Sultan Al-Enezi | Hamad Al-Harbi | Redha Hani | Fawaz Ayedh |
| Ahmad Al-Dhefiri | Abdullah Ghanim | Faisal Zayed | Mubarak Al-Fnaini | Bader Tareq Ali | Ahmed Zanki |
| Eid Al-Rasheedi | Ali Khalaf | Shabaib Al-Khaldi | Salman Al-Awadhi |
Nepal
| Kiran Chemjong | Deep Karki | Bishal Shrestha | Nishan Khadka |
| Simanta Thapa | Bimal Pandey | Ananta Tamang | Devendra Tamang |
| Sanish Shrestha | Awas Lamichhane | Mani Lama | Laken Limbu |
| Pujan Uparkoti | Arik Bista | Rohit Chand | Nabin Lama |
| Dipak Raj Singh Thakuri | Ayush Ghalan | Manish Dangi | Anjan Bista |
| Bimal Magar | Nawayung Shrestha | Aashish Chaudhary |
Bangladesh
| Anisur Rahman Zico | Sahidul Alam | Mitul Marma | Topu Barman |
| Mehedi Hassan | Isa Faysal | Alomgir Molla | Tariq Kazi |
| Rahmat Mia | Bishwanath Ghosh | Jamal Bhuyan | Mohammad Ridoy |
| Sohel Rana | Md Sohel Rana | Shekh Morsalin | Mojibur Rahman Jony |
| Robiul Hasan | Rakib Hossain | M Foysal Ahmed Fahim | Mohammad Ibrahim |
| Md Rafiqul Islam | Aminur Sajib | Sumon Reza |
Bhutan
| Gyeltshen Zangpo | Tshering Dendup | Tobgay | Chimi Tshewang |
| Tenzin Norbu | Tenzin Dorji | Nima Tshering | Phuntsho Jigme |
| Dawa Tshering Jr | Karma Sonam | Dorji | Lobzang Chogyal |
| Karma Shedrup Tshering | Tshelthrim Namgyel | Tandin Dorji | Kinga Wangchuk |
| Phub Thinley | Sherub Dorji | Tsenda Dorji | Santa Kumar |
| Chencho Gyeltshen | Nima Wangdi | Yeshi Dorji |
Lebanon
| Mehdi Khalil | Ali Al-Sabaa | Antoine Al-Douaihy | Maxime Aoun |
| Felix Michel | Mohammad Al-Hayek | Abdul Razzak Dakramanji | Hussein Zein |
| Hasan Kourani | Walid Shour | Jihad Ayoub | Hasan Srour |
| Mouhammed-Ali Dhaini | Nader Matar | Alee Tneich | Ali Al-Haj |
| Mahdi Zein | Soony Saad | Khalil Bader | Hassan Maatouk |
| Ali Markabawi | Zein Farran | Karim Darwiche |
Maldives
| Samooh Ali | Ahmed Numaan | Hussain Sifau | Ibrahim Aisam | Haisham Hassan |
| Hassan Raif | Hussain Nihaan | Hassan Shifaz | Hmaza Mohamed | Hussain Shareef |
| Naiz Hassan | Mohamed Irufan | Ali Fasir | Mohamed Faisal | Hassan Nazeem |
| Ibraheem Mahudhee Hussain | Nishaam Mohamed Rasheed | Ahmed Hassan | Humaid Hussain | Ahmed Rizuvan |
| Mohamed Shafeeu | Mohamed Sakhaau | Ahmed Aiham | Mohamed Nizam | Vishah Abdul Majeed |
| Ahnaf Rasheed | Ibrahim Usamaa | Mohamed Naaim | Shaihan Ali | Mohamed Saaif |
| Farooq Ismail | Ahmed Bassam | Ali Najih | Shifan Hassan | Shanaan Rasheed |
| Ansar Ibrahim | Mohamed Jailam | Ibrahim Waheed Hassan | Abdulla Yaameen | Ahmed Maish Rasheed |
*Preliminary squad
Schedule
The tournament will commence on 21 June with the group stage set to conclude on 28 June. The semi-finals will be played on 1 July while the final will be held on 4 July.
Here is the complete schedule:
| Date | Fixture | Time | Venue |
| 21 June | Kuwait vs Nepal | 3:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Pakistan vs India | 7:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru | |
| 22 June | Lebanon vs Bangladesh | 3:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Maldives Bhutan | 7:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru | |
| 24 June | Pakistan vs Kuwait | 3:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru |
| India vs Nepal | 7:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru | |
| 25 June | Bangladesh vs Maldives | 3:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Bhutan vs Lebanon | 7:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru | |
| 27 June | Pakistan vs Nepal | 3:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru |
| India vs Kuwait | 7:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru | |
| 28 June | Lebanon vs Maldives | 3:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Bangladesh vs Bhutan | 7:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru | |
| 1 July | Semi-Final 1 | 3:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru |
| Semi-Final 2 | 7:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru | |
| 4 July | Final | 7:00 PM | Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru |
