The 2021 SAFF Championship, known as Ooredoo SAFF Championship 2021 for sponsorship reasons, was the thirteenth edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organised by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). Initially, it was decided to be hosted by Pakistan in 2020, but was postponed to September 2021 in Bangladesh. However, the tournament was postponed again to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Maldives as host.

Host selection

On 11 April 2018, SAFF decided to allow Pakistan to host the tournament after the restoration of Pakistan Football Federation's membership by FIFA and since then it would be country's first international football tournaments. However, on 15 September 2019, SAFF president Kazi Salahuddin and general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal along with representatives of seven member countries decided to host the regional tournament in Bangladesh. This was to be the last edition to be held in even years, as it was decided that the subsequent editions would be held in odd years.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was postponed from its original date of 2020 to 2021, and it was supposed to be held in September 2021. Later, Bangladesh withdrew from hosting due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lack of sponsors, after which Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli asked All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) to "initiate the process" of hosting the tournament in Nepal. In July, the ANFA received an offer to host the tournament. Meanwhile, the Football Association of Maldives submitted their bid to host the tournament. On 9 August 2021, Maldives was declared as the hosts after an online meeting of the executive committee.

Participating nations

The Pakistan Football Federation was sanctioned by FIFA in April 2021, hence they were ineligible to participate in the competition. Bhutan initially abstained from participation as their government refused to permit the national football team to travel abroad. However, Bhutan's withdrawal was only confirmed when the fixtures were released on 18 August 2021.

CountryAppearancePrevious best performanceFIFA ranking 16 September 2021
Bangladesh12thChampions (2003)189
India13thChampions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015)107
Maldives11thChampions (2008, 2018)158
Nepal13thThird-Place (1993)168
Sri Lanka13thChampions (1995)205

Squads

For the list of squads that appeared in the tournament, see 2021 SAFF Championship squads.

Venue

The National Football Stadium in capital Malé hosted all the matches.

MaléMalé
National Football Stadium
Capacity: 11,850

Officials

Referees

Assistant Referees

Group stage

After the suspension of Pakistan and the withdrawal of Bhutan, the format was changed to a single group round robin format where the top two teams advance to the final.

Table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1India422052+38Advance to the final
2Nepal421154+17
3Maldives (H)42024406
4Bangladesh412134−15
5Sri Lanka401325−31

Matches

Sri Lanka0–1Bangladesh
Barman 56' (pen.)
Nepal1–0Maldives
Dangi 86'
Bangladesh1–1India
Arafat 74'Chhetri 26'
Sri Lanka2–3Nepal
Hamilton 57' De Silva 90+4' (pen.)S. Lama 33' Bista 51' Ghalan 86'
India0–0Sri Lanka
Maldives2–0Bangladesh
Mohamed 55' Ashfaq 74' (pen.)
Maldives1–0Sri Lanka
Ashfaq 6'
Nepal0–1India
Chhetri 82'
Bangladesh1–1Nepal
Reza 9'Bista 88' (pen.)
India3–1Maldives
M. Singh 33' Chhetri 62', 71'Ashfaq 45' (pen.)

Final

India3–0Nepal
Chhetri 49' Wangjam 50' Samad 90+1'

Champion

SAFF Championship 2021
India Eighth title

Awards

Most Valuable PlayerTop ScorerFair Play
India Sunil ChhetriIndia Sunil ChhetriMaldives

Goalscorers

There were 22 goals scored in 11 matches, for an average of 2 goals per match.

5 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Source:

Prize money

Prize money amounts were announced in 2021.

PositionAmount (USD)
Champions50,000
Runner-up25,000
Total75,000

Broadcasting rights

CountryBroadcaster
BangladeshT Sports
IndiaEurosport
MaldivesYes TV
NepalAction Sports
Sri LankaSupreme TV and Football SriLanka TV