2023 SAFF Championship

The 2023 SAFF Championship (known as the 2023 Bangabandhu SAFF Championship for sponsorship reasons)^[1] was the 14th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organised by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The event was held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore, India from 21 June to 4 July 2023.

2023 SAFF Championship

Tournament details
Host country	India
Dates	21 June – 4 July
Teams	8 (from 2 sub-confederations)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	India (9th title)
Runners-up	Kuwait
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15
Goals scored	38 (2.53 per match)
Attendance	93,993 (6,266 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Sunil Chhetri (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Sunil Chhetri
Best goalkeeper	Anisur Rahman Zico
Fair play award	Nepal
← 2021 2025 →

India, the defending champions, won their ninth championship by defeating Kuwait in the final.^[2]

Host selection

At the SAFF Executive Committee meeting, held on 17 October 2021 in the Maldives, Football Sri Lanka expressed their interest to bid for hosting the tournament.^[3] However, FIFA suspended Sri Lanka on 21 January 2023, which ceased them from hosting and participation in any football tournament.^[4]

Later on 30 January 2023, SAFF unofficially announced that only Nepal had applied for hosting rights till the deadline which is 29 January 2023.^[5] The host was supposed to be announced following the SAFF members' meeting during 33rd AFC Congress in Manama, Bahrain on 1 February 2023. On 14 February 2023, India were declared as the hosts of the 14th edition of the championship.^[6][7] On 19 March 2023, AIFF announced Bangalore as the host city for SAFF Championship 2023.^[8]

Participating nations

Football Sri Lanka was sanctioned by FIFA on 21 January 2023, which made them ineligible for participation in the competition.^[4] Kuwait and Lebanon were invited as guest teams with a view to increase the number of teams for the championship and make the event more competitive.^[9]

Country	Appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA ranking (6 April 2023)^[10]
Bangladesh	13th	Champions (2003)	192
Bhutan	9th	Semi-finals (2008)	185
India	14th	Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021)	101
Kuwait	1st	Debut (invitee)	143
Lebanon	1st	Debut (invitee)	99
Maldives	12th	Champions (2008, 2018)	154
Nepal	14th	Runners-up (2021)	174
Pakistan	12th	Third place (1997)	195

Squads

Main article: 2023 SAFF Championship squads

Each team had to register a squad with a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 23 players, at least three of whom must be goalkeepers.

Venue

The Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore, Karnataka, India hosted all the matches.^[8]

Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Sree Kanteerava Stadium	Bangalore
12°58′10.92″N 77°35′36.24″E / 12.9697000°N 77.5934000°E / 12.9697000; 77.5934000 (Bangalore)
Capacity: 25,810 seats

Draw

The draw ceremony of this tournament was held on 17 May 2023 at 12:30 IST in New Delhi, India.^[11]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Lebanon (99)   India (101) (hosts)	Kuwait (143)   Maldives (154)	Nepal (174)   Bhutan (185)	Bangladesh (192)   Pakistan (195)

Draw result

Group A	Group B
India	Lebanon
Kuwait	Maldives
Nepal	Bhutan
Pakistan	Bangladesh

Officiating

Referees

•   Md Alamgir Sarker
•   Pema Tshewang
•   Crystal John
•   Sinan Hussain
•   Prajwol Chhetri
•   Irshad Ul Haq

Assistant referees

•   Mohammad Nuruzzaman
•   Phurpa Wangchuk
•   S Manikandan
•   Sumanta Dutta
•   Ahmed Hassan
•   Nani Ram Thapa Magar

Group stage

All times are local, IST (UTC+5:30).

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kuwait	3	2	1	0	8	2	+6	7	Qualified for Semi-finals
2	India (H)	3	2	1	0	7	1	+6	7
3	Nepal	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3	3
4	Pakistan	3	0	0	3	0	9	−9	0

Source: Global Sports Archive
(H) Hosts

21 June 2023 (2023-06-21)

15:30

Kuwait	3–1	Nepal
El Ebrahim   23' Al-Khaldi   42' Daham   65' (pen.)		Bista   69'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 1,200

Referee: Md Alamgir Sarker (Bangladesh)

21 June 2023 (2023-06-21)

19:30

India	4–0	Pakistan
Chhetri   10', 16' (pen.), 75' (pen.) Kumam   81'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 22,860

Referee: Prajwol Chhetri (Nepal)

---

24 June 2023 (2023-06-24)

15:30

Pakistan	0–4	Kuwait
		Al-Enezi   10' Al-Faneeni   17', 45+1' Al-Rasheedi   69'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 309

Referee: Pema Tshewang (Bhutan)

24 June 2023 (2023-06-24)

19:30

Nepal	0–2	India
		Chhetri   62' N. M. Singh   70'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 12,642

Referee: Sinan Hussain (Maldives)

---

27 June 2023 (2023-06-27)

15:30

Nepal	1–0	Pakistan
Chaudhary   80'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 250

Referee: Sinan Hussain (Maldives)

27 June 2023 (2023-06-27)

19:30

India	1–1	Kuwait
Chhetri   45+2'		A. Ali   90+2' (o.g.)

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 9,562

Referee: Md Alamgir Sarker (Bangladesh)

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Lebanon	3	3	0	0	7	1	+6	9	Qualified for Semi-finals
2	Bangladesh	3	2	0	1	6	4	+2	6
3	Maldives	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1	3
4	Bhutan	3	0	0	3	2	9	−7	0

Source: Global Sports Archive

22 June 2023 (2023-06-22)

15:30

Lebanon	2–0	Bangladesh
Maatouk   80' Bader   90+6'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 50

Referee: Crystal John (India)

22 June 2023 (2023-06-22)

19:30

Maldives	2–0	Bhutan
Mohamed   6' (pen.) N. Hassan   90'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 200

Referee: Irshad Ul Haq (Pakistan)

---

25 June 2023 (2023-06-25)

15:30

Bangladesh	3–1	Maldives
Rakib   42' Kazi   67' Morsalin   90'		Hamza   18'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 100

Referee: Prajwol Chhetri (Nepal)

25 June 2023 (2023-06-25)

19:30

Bhutan	1–4	Lebanon
Gyeltshen   79'		Sadek   11' Al Haj   23' Bader   35' M. Zein   42'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 250

Referee: Irshad Ul Haq (Pakistan)

---

28 June 2023 (2023-06-28)

15:30

Lebanon	1–0	Maldives
Maatouk   24'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 50

Referee: Pema Tshewang (Bhutan)

28 June 2023 (2023-06-28)

19:30

Bhutan	1–3	Bangladesh
Dorji   12'		Morsalin   21' Jigme   31' (o.g.) Rakib   36'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Referee: Crystal John (India)

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	1 July 2023
	Kuwait (a.e.t.)	1
					4 July 2023
	Bangladesh	0
					Kuwait	1 (4)
	1 July 2023
					India (p)	1 (5)
	Lebanon	0 (2)
	India (p)	0 (4)

Semi-finals

1 July 2023 (2023-07-01)

15:00

Kuwait	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Bangladesh
Al-Buloushi   105+2'

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 500

Referee: Crystal John (India)

1 July 2023 (2023-07-01)

19:30

Lebanon	0–0 (a.e.t.)	India
Penalties
Maatouk   Shour   Sadek   Bader	2–4	Chhetri   A. Ali   Mahesh   Udanta

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 19,640

Referee: Sinan Hussain (Maldives)

Final

Main article: 2023 SAFF Championship final

4 July 2023 (2023-07-04)

19:30

Kuwait	1–1 (a.e.t.)	India
Khaldi   14'		Chhangte   36'
Penalties
Daham   Otaibi   Dhaferi   Naji   Khaldi   Hajeyah	4–5	Chhetri   Jhingan   Chhangte   Udanta   S. Bose   Mahesh

Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore

Attendance: 26,380

Referee: Prajwol Chhetri (Nepal)

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 38 goals scored in 15 matches, for an average of 2.53 goals per match.

5 goals

•   Sunil Chhetri

2 goals

•   Rakib Hossain
•   Shekh Morsalin
•   Mobarak Al-Faneeni
•   Shabaib Al-Khaldi
•   Khalil Bader
•   Hassan Maatouk
•   Hamza Mohamed

1 goal

•   Tariq Kazi
•   Tsenda Dorji
•   Chencho Gyeltshen
•   Udanta Singh Kumam
•   Naorem Mahesh Singh
•   Lallianzuala Chhangte
•   Abdullah Al-Buloushi
•   Mohammad Daham
•   Khalid El Ebrahim
•   Hasan Al-Enezi
•   Eid Naser Al-Rasheedi
•   Ali Al Haj
•   Mohamad Omar Sadek
•   Mahdi Zein
•   Naiz Hassan
•   Anjan Bista
•   Aashish Chaudhary

1 own goal

•   Phuntsho Jigme (against Bangladesh)
•   Anwar Ali (against Kuwait)

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Top Scorer	Goalkeeper	Fair Play
Sunil Chhetri	Sunil Chhetri (5 goals)	Anisur Rahman Zico	Nepal

Champion

SAFF Championship 2023
India 9th title

Prize money

Prize money amounts were announced in 2023.^[12]

Position	Amount (USD)
Champions	50,000
Runner-up	25,000
Total	75,000

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster	Ref.
Bangladesh	T Sports	^[1]
India	DD Bharati, DD Sports, FanCode	^[13]
Kuwait	Kuwait Television	^[14]
Lebanon	LBCI	^[15]
Maldives	ICE TV, Yes TV	^[16]^[17]
Nepal	Kantipur Television	^[18]^[19]
Pakistan	Geo Super, A Sports	^[20]

See also

•  India portal
•  Football portal

• 2022 SAFF Women's Championship
• 2022 AFF Championship
• 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship
• 2023 CAFA Nations Cup
• 2023 WAFF Championship
• 2023 AFC Asian Cup
• 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

References

1. "Bashundhara Toiletries Limited becomes title sponsor of SAFF Championship 2023". daily-sun.com. 21 June 2023. from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
2. "SAFF Championship 2021 Final: India defeats Nepal 3-0 to lift title for the eighth time". Sportstar. The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 16 October 2021. from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
3. Premlal, Sushil (10 October 2021). "FSL keen to host 2023 SAFF Tourney". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
4. "Suspension of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) from 21 January 2023 until further notice" (PDF). digitalhub.fifa.com. Zurich. 22 January 2022. (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
5. "সাফের স্বাগতিক হতে শুধু নেপালের আবেদন". Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 29 January 2023. from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
6. "SAFF confirms Sports Partner International as the official commercial partner". saffederation.org. 14 February 2023. from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
7. "SAFF Championship 2023: All you need to know, dates, schedule, match timings, venue". Sportstar. Chennai: The Hindu. 16 June 2023. from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
8. "Bengaluru to host 2023 SAFF Championship". the-aiff.com. from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
9. "Lebanon to compete in SAFF Championship". saffederation.org. 8 May 2023. from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
10. "FIFA Men's Ranking". fifa.com. from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
11. Chatterjee, Triyasha (15 May 2023). "SAFF Championship 2023 Draw on May 17, Indian Football Team eye consecutive titles - Follow SAFF 2023 LIVE". www.insidesport.in. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
12. "SAFF Championship 2023 Awards And Winners". India TV News. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
13. "India vs Pakistan, SAFF Championship live streaming; When and where to watch football match live". India Today. 21 June 2023. from the original on 25 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
14. تلفزيون دولة الكويت [@KwtTelevision] (21 June 2023). ‏للإعلان عبر تلفزيون دولة الكويت على القناة الثالثة الرياضية خلال مباريات بطولة كأس اتحاد جنوب اسيا لكرة القدم 2023 ، التواصل مع ادارة الاعلان التجاري والتسويق whatsapp : [phone] (Tweet) (in Arabic). from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023 – via Twitter.
15. LBCI TV [@LBCILebanon] (20 June 2023). تابعوا مباراة منتخب لبنان ضد بنغلادش ضمن بطولة إتحاد جنوب آسيا لكرة القدم... الخميس الساعة 1 بعد الظهر على شاشة الـLBCI [Watch the Lebanon national team match against Bangladesh in the SAFF Championship... Thursday at 1:00 pm on LBCI] (Tweet) (in Arabic). from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023 – via Twitter.
16. @ICEmdv (20 June 2023). "The most awaited SAFF 2023 is here, brought to you by @medianetmv in partnership with @psm_mkt" (Tweet). from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023 – via Twitter.
17. @YES_Maldives (20 June 2023). "Get ready, Maldives! SAFF 2023 is here! @psm_mkt in partnership with @medianetmv brings you the action! Stay tuned for matches, goals, and unforgettable moments. Are you ready?" (Tweet). from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023 – via Twitter.
18. "Kantipur TV to broadcast SAFF Championship 2023 Live in Nepal". dailylivescores.com. 7 June 2023. from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
19. "SAFF Championship 2023: Nepal vs India: Where and how to watch in India and Nepal?". khelnow.com. from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
20. Nasir, Saad (27 June 2023). "How to Watch Pakistan Vs. Nepal SAFF Championship: Live Stream and Timings". propakistani.pk. from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.