SAFF Championship: Indian football teams rule the roost - history and roll of honour
India are the most successful team in the SAFF Championship. While the men have won nine of 14 tournaments, women have won five of six editions. Full list of winners.
Football
The SAFF Championship is an international football tournament primarily contested by teams from the South Asian sub-continent. It is organised by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), one of the five sub-confederations under the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives were the six founding members of SAFF in 1997. Bhutan joined SAFF in 2000, thereby increasing the number of member nations to seven. Afghanistan became a SAFF member in 2005 but moved to the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) in 2015.
The first edition of the football championship for South Asian countries was held in 1993, four years before the formation of SAFF.
In 1993, the tournament was known as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Gold Cup. It was changed to the South Asian Gold Cup in 1995 and was renamed to SAFF Gold Cup in 1997 until 2005. The tournament has been called SAFF Championship since 2008.
India won the inaugural edition played in Lahore, Pakistan. Sri Lanka finished runners-up. The tournament was played in a single round-robin league format with no knockout games.
The 1993 edition was the only time that had no knockouts. Indian football legend IM Vijayan scored India’s three of the four goals and was the tournament’s top goalscorer.
SAFF Women’s Championship was introduced in 2010 in Bangladesh. The Indian women’s football team won the first title with a 1-0 victory over Nepal. Sasmita Mallik netted the winner.
Men’s SAFF Championship winners
The Indian men’s football team has been a dominant force throughout the tournament’s 30-year history. Indian men have made it to all finals except in 2003.
Of the 14 editions, India have won nine men’s SAFF Championship titles.
The first-ever final of the SAFF Championship, between India and Sri Lanka, went into extra time where Sri Lanka prevailed for their maiden win over India in football.
The 1997 edition saw the deadly trio of IM Vijayan, Bhaichung Bhutia and Jo Paul Ancheri lead India’s attack. The Blue Tigers scored 12 goals in the tournament from four matches. Five came in the final against Maldives as India took home the trophy with a 5-1 win.
India won the tournament in 1999 as well. The next edition was held four years later, where hosts Bangladesh upset India in the semi-finals and went on to win the title on penalties against the Maldives. It was the only time India did not play in the SAFF final.
India bounced back to win the title in 2005, after defeating Bangladesh in the final held in Islamabad.
The 2008 SAFF Championship was the first time the tournament was hosted jointly by two countries, Sri Lanka and Maldives. The Maldives were crowned champions that year.
The next three editions of the SAFF Championship saw a fierce rivalry between India and Afghanistan. The two teams played all the three finals. India won in 2011 and 2015 while Afghanistan emerged champions in 2013.
The Maldives won their second SAFF Championship title in 2018 after defeating India in the final.
In the last edition in 2021, Nepal created history by making it to their first-ever SAFF Championship final. However, they lost to India in the summit clash. Sunil Chhetri, India’s leading goalscorer in international football, was the tournament’s top scorer.
India beat Kuwait to defend the title in Bengaluru in 2023.
Sunil Chhetri is also the highest goal-scorer at the SAFF Championship with 23 goals. He shares the honour with Maldivian legend Ali Ashfaq.
Women’s SAFF Championship winners
India’s performance in the first five editions of the women’s SAFF Championship has been exceptional. They scored 50 goals from five matches in the inaugural edition held in Dhaka in 2010, without conceding one. The Indian women’s football team won the final by a modest 1-0 against Nepal.
India were at their attacking best in the second edition too. They scored 33 goals and conceded just one, an early goal against Nepal in the final, which India won 3-1.
The performances of other teams kept improving but India’s quality was still unmatched. They thumped Nepal 6-0 in the 2014 final and secured a 3-1 over first-time finalists Bangladesh in 2016.
India defeated Nepal for the fourth time in the final in 2019.
The 2022 edition saw both Nepal and Bangladesh beat India once during the competition and meet in the final. Nepal’s dismal run in the final continued to haunt them as Bangladesh emerged victorious after a 3-1 victory.