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 took place from 21–30 September 2023 in Kathmandu, Nepal.[1][2]

2023 SAFF U-19 Championship
Tournament details
Host countryNepal
Dates21–30 September 2023
Teams6 (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions India (3rd title)
Runners-up Pakistan
Tournament statistics
Matches played9
Goals scored26 (2.89 per match)
Attendance23,233 (2,581 per match)
Top scorer(s)Bhutan Jigme Namgyel
India Gwgmsar Goyary
Nepal Samir Tamang
(3 goals each)
Best player(s)India Manglenthang Kipgen
Best goalkeeperIndia Lionel Daryl Rymmei
Fair play award Bhutan
2022
2024

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

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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
 
2023 SAFF U-19 Championship

Teams

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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

Draw

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The draw was held in BFF House in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 22 July 2023 at 12:00 BST (UTC+6).[6]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3
    Nepal (hosts)
  India
  Maldives
  Bhutan
  Bangladesh
  Pakistan

Draw result

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Group A
Pos Team
A1     Nepal
A2   Maldives
A3   Pakistan
Group B
Pos Team
B1   India
B2   Bhutan
B3   Bangladesh

Match officials

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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

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Players born on or after 1 January 2005 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

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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.

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. 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;
  5. Goal difference in all group matches;
  6. Goals scored in all group matches;
  7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
  8. 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);
  9. Drawing of lots.

Group A

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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
Source: GSA
(H) Hosts
Pakistan  1–0    Nepal
  • Ali Zafar   76'
Report
Attendance: 3,500
Referee: Astha Aditya Dipesh (India)

Maldives  1–1  Pakistan
  • Shanaan Rasheed Rashad   39'
Report
  • Shah Jahan   84'
Attendance: 212
Referee: Sabuj Kumar Das (Bangladesh)

Nepal    4–1  Maldives
  • Prashant Laksam   17'
  • Samir Tamang   30', 90+6'
  • Nirajan Dhami   88'
Report
  • Adam Layaan Rasheed   58'
Attendance: 3,709
Referee: Pema Tshewang (Bhutan)

Group B

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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
Source: GSA
Bangladesh  0–3  India
Report
  • Gwgmsar Goyary   1'
  • Naoba Meitei Pangabam   45+5'
  • Arjun Singh Oinam   90'
Attendance: 201
Referee: Nadheem Ali (Maldives)

Bhutan  4–3  Bangladesh
  • Jigme Namgyel   32', 68'
  • Kingzang Tenzi   45+3'
  • Rinzin Dorji   84'
Report
  • Md Rubel Shaikh   3'
  • Asadul Molla   30'
  • Razu Ahmed Zisan   55'
Attendance: 300
Referee: Adnan Anjum (Pakistan)

India  2–1  Bhutan
  • Gwgmsar Goyary   37'
  • Ricky Meetei Haobam   64'
Report
  • Jigme Namgyel   20'
Attendance: 425
Referee: Nabin Maharjan (Nepal)

Knockout stage

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Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
27 September – Kathmandu
 
 
  Pakistan (p)0 (6)
 
30 September – Kathmandu
 
  Bhutan0 (5)
 
  Pakistan0
 
27 September – Kathmandu
 
  India3
 
  India (p)1 (3)
 
 
    Nepal1 (2)
 

Semi-finals

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Pakistan  0–0  Bhutan
Report
Penalties
6–5
  • Kinzang Tenzing  
  • Jigme Namgyel  
  • Rinzin Dorji  
  • Ugyen Dorji  
  • Pema Zangpo  
  • Tshetrim Pelzang  
Attendance: 315
Referee: Astha Aditya Dipesh (India)
India  1–1    Nepal
  • Sahil Khurshid   26'
Report
Penalties
  • Arjun Singh Oinam  
  • Dinesh Singh Soubam  
  • Gwgmsar Goyary  
  • Ricky Meetei Haobam  
  • Manglenthang Kipgen  
3–2
  • Ashwin Ghorasainee  
  • Prashant Laksam  
  • Kushal Deuba  
  • Lachhu Thapa  
  • Bikram Tamang  
Attendance: 12,656
Referee: Adnan Anjum (Pakistan)

Final

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Pakistan  0–3  India
Report
  • Manglenthang Kipgen   64', 85'
  • Gwgmsar Goyary   90+5'
Attendance: 1,615
Referee: Nadheem Ali (Maldives)

Winner

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 5th SAFF U-19 Championship 2023 Champions 
 
India
Fifth title

Awards

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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[8]

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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There have been 26 goals scored in 9 matches, for an average of 2.89 goals per match.

3 goals

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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ a b "SAFF Championship: Groups revealed for U-16, U-19 youth events". Khel Now. 22 July 2023. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Draw revealed for SAFF U16 and U19 Championships". The AIFF. 22 July 2023. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  3. ^ "India beats Bangladesh to clinch U20 SAFF Championship". sportstar.thehindu.com. 5 August 2022. Archived from the original on 5 August 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  4. ^ "India defeat Bangladesh to win SAFF U-20 Championship 2022". Khel Now. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Suspension of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) from 21 January 2023 until further notice" (PDF). FIFA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Draw revealed for SAFF U16 and U19 Championships". The AIFF. 22 July 2023. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  7. ^ a b "INDIA WINS SAFF U19 CHAMPIONSHIP 2023 TITLE". www.saffederation.org. 30 September 2023. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  8. ^ Rawat, Akhil (30 September 2023). "CHAMPS!!! Triple-strike Blue Colts send crippled Pakistan packing". the-aiff.com. Kathmandu: All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.