SAFF Championship: List of all the Winners

SAFF Championship: List of all the Winners

The South Asian Football Federation Championship or in short known as the SAFF Gold cup is one of the biggest competition of football in South Asia. The competition kick started in 1993 with Pakistan as the first host nation of the competition.

Currently there are seven nations which play the SAFF Championship which includes Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan used to be a part of the SAFF but in 2015 they decided to leave the association and became the founding member of the Central Asian Football Association.

Through the years we have seen all the nations give an equal level of fight to each other and put everything in line to win the title of the SAFF Championship. Some of the Nations who have won the competition since the tournament kickstarted in 1993 are:

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1. India

SAFF Championship, India

India has won the SAFF Championship 7 times and has been dominating the competition since the very beginning of the time.

1993

In 1993, SAFF Championship was held in Lahore, Pakistan and only four nations played in the competition. The tournament was in a round robin format and India won the very first SAFF Championship title after defeating Sri Lanka and Nepal, and drawing against Pakistan. Inivalappil Mani Vijayan was the highest scorer in the competition with 3 goals for India.

1997

In 1997, SAFF Championship was held in Kathmandu, Nepal and six nations were playing in the competition. The format of the tournament was changed into Group Stage plus Knockout after the first season. India won their second title in the SAFF Championship after they defeated Maldives 5-1 in the finals. Inivalappil Mani Vijayan became the highest scorer in the competition with 6 goals for India.

1999

In 1999, SAFF Championship was held in Goa, India with 6 nations taking part in the competition. India won their third title in the SAFF Championship after defeating Bangladesh 2-0 in the finals. Baichung Bhutia from India along with three other players was the highest goalscorers in the competition with 3 goals.

2005

In 2005, SAFF Championship was held in Pakistan with 8 nations taking part in the competition. India secured their fourth title in the SAFF Championship after defeating Bangladesh 2-0 in the finals. Merajuddin Wadoo and Baichung Bhutia made their name in the scoresheet to provide India with their fourth victory in the SAFF Championship.

2009

In 2009, SAFF Championship was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh with 8 nations taking part in the competition. India played against Maldives in the finals as both the teams gave neck to neck fight to each other taking the match into the penalties where the Blue tigers secured their fifth title after winning 3-1 in the penalties. E.B. Channa along with two others became the highest goalscorer for India with 4 goals.

2011

In 2011, SAFF Championship was held in Orissa, India with 8 nations taking part in the competition. India secured an easy victory in the finals against Afghanistan, winning the match 4-0 and bagging their sixth SAFF Championship title in 18 years. Sunil Chhetri became the highest goalscorer of the competition with 7 goals in his name for India.

2015

In 2015, SAFF Championship was held in Kerala, India with 7 nations taking part in the competition. India went up against Afghanistan in the finals, the match was going on with both teams giving neck to neck fight to each other but Sunil Chhetri came in at the last moment to score the winning goal for India at 101st minute of the game, bagging their seventh SAFF Championship title.

2. Maldives

Maldives have won the SAFF Championship 2 times and both the times they faced India in the finals.

2008

In 2008, SAFF Championship was hosted by Maldives and Sri Lanka with 8 nations taking part in the competition. Maldives went up against India in the Finals and was determined to win the title after their two losses in finals previously. Mukhthar Naseer came in with the winning goal for Maldives at the 87minute of the game to secure their first title in the SAFF Championship.

2018

In 2018, SAFF Championship was hosted by Bangladesh as 7 nations took part in the competition. Maldives went up against India again and secured their hard fought second title in the SAFF Championship. Mahudhee came in with an early goal at the 19th minute of the game putting Maldives in 1-0 lead, later on Fasir added the second goal providing a cushion at the 66th minute of the game. Although India came in with a goal but it was pretty late for a comeback and the match ended in 2-1 win for Maldives.

3. Sri Lanka

The 1995 SAFF Championship was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with only five nations taking part in the competition. Sri Lanka faced India in the finals and both the teams gave an eye catching performance on the field. Sarath Wellage tilted the game in the favour of the Sri Lankan at the 108th minute of the game scoring the winning goal to bag Sri Lanka’s first SAFF Championship title. Mohammed Amanulla became the highest goalscorer of the tournament, scoring 3 goals for Sri Lanka.

4. Bangladesh

The 2003 SAFF Championship was hosted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with 8 Nations taking part in the competition. Bangladesh went against Malidves in the finals and both the teams after giving a tough fight to each other ended the match in 1-1 draw at the end of extra time. Bangladesh succesfully secured the penalties with a 5-3 win as they grabbed their first SAFF Championship title.

5. Afghanistan

In 2013 the SAFF Championship was hosted by Nepal as 8 Nations took part in the competition. Afghanistan went head to head with India in the finals of the tournament and with their swift gameplay they were successful enough to defeat the 7 times champions. Azadzoy opened the scoring for Afghanistan at the 9th minute of the game to which later on in the 62nd minute of the game Ahmadi added to end the match in their favour with a 2-0 scoreline, bagging their first and only SAFF Championship title.

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