SAFF U-20 Championship
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The SAFF U-18/U-19/U-20 Championship is an annual football championship for male footballers under the age of 20 and is organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The championship was held for the first time in August 2015 in Nepal. The tournaments are held just before AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification matches, keeping in mind about proper preparation for that.
Results
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed. | Year | Cat. | Host | Final | Third place playoff | No. of teams | ||||
| 1 | 2015 | U-19 | Nepal | Nepal | 1–1 (5–4 p) | India | Afghanistan and Bangladesh | 6 | ||
| 2 | 2017 | U-18 | Bhutan | Nepal | RR | Bangladesh | India | RR | Bhutan | 5 |
| 3 | 2019 | Nepal | India | 2–1 | Bangladesh | Maldives | 1–0 | Bhutan | 6 | |
| 4 | 2022 | U-20 | India | India | 5–2 (a.e.t.) | Bangladesh | Nepal | RR | Maldives | 5 |
| 5 | 2023 | U-19 | Nepal | India | 3–0 | Pakistan | Bhutan and Nepal | 6 | ||
| 6 | 2024 | U-20 | Nepal | Bangladesh | 4–1 | Nepal | Bhutan and India | 6 | ||
| 7 | 2025 | U-19 | India | India | 1–1 (4–3 p) | Bangladesh | Nepal and Maldives | 6 | ||
| 8 | 2026 | U-20 | Maldives | Bangladesh | 0–0 (4–3 p) | India | Nepal and Bhutan | 7 |
Participating nations
Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- 4th – Fourth place
- 5th – Fifth place
- SF – Semifinals
- GS – Group stage
- q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
- — Hosts
- × – Did not enter
- • – Did not qualify
- × – Withdrew before qualification
- — Withdrew/Disqualified after qualification
- — Not part of SAFF
| Team | Nepal 2015 | Bhutan 2017 | Nepal 2019 | India 2022 | Nepal 2023 | Nepal 2024 | India 2025 | Maldives 2026 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | SF | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | GS | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 8 |
| Bhutan | GS | 4th | 4th | × | SF | SF | GS | SF | 7 |
| India | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 1st | SF | 1st | 2nd | 8 |
| Maldives | GS | 5th | 3rd | 4th | GS | GS | SF | GS | 8 |
| Nepal | 1st | 1st | GS | 3rd | SF | 2nd | SF | SF | 8 |
| Pakistan | × | × | × | × | 2nd | × | × | GS | 2 |
| Sri Lanka | × | × | GS | GS | × | GS | GS | GS | 5 |
| Former Team | |||||||||
| Afghanistan | SF | Not a SAFF member | 1 |
Statistics
Performance by nation
| Nation | Champions | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place | Semi-Finalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 4 (2019, 2022, 2023, 2025) | 2 (2015, 2026) | 1 (2017) | – | 1 (2024) |
| Bangladesh | 2 (2024, 2026) | 4 (2017, 2019, 2022, 2025) | – | – | 1 (2015) |
| Nepal | 2 (2015, 2017) | 1 (2024) | 1 (2022) | – | 3 (2023, 2025, 2026) |
| Pakistan | – | 1 (2023) | – | – | – |
| Maldives | – | – | 1 (2019) | 1 (2022) | 1 (2025) |
| Bhutan | – | – | – | 2 (2017, 2019) | 3 (2023, 2024, 2026) |
| Afghanistan* | – | – | – | – | 1 (2015) |
| Sri Lanka | – | – | – | – | – |
Notes
Awards
| Tournament | Most Valuable Player | Top scorer(s) | Goals | Best Goalkeeper | Fair play award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Not Awarded | Nepal Anjan Bista Nepal Bimal Magar | 3 | Not Awarded | India |
| 2017 | Bhutan Orgyen Tshering | Bangladesh Jafar Iqbal | 5 | Not Awarded | Bhutan |
| 2019 | India Ninthoinganba Meetei | Bangladesh Foysal Ahmed Fahim Bangladesh Tanvir Hossain India Gurkirat Singh | 2 | Not Awarded | Bhutan |
| 2022 | India Gurkirat Singh | India Gurkirat Singh | 8 | Not Awarded | Sri Lanka |
| 2023 | India Manglenthang Kipgen | Bhutan Jigme Namgyel India Gwgmsar Goyary Nepal Samir Tamang | 3 | India Lionel Daryl Rymmei | Bhutan |
| 2024 | Bangladesh Mirajul Islam | Bangladesh Mirajul Islam | 4 | Bangladesh Md Asif | Nepal |
| 2025 | India Mohammed Arbas | India Danny Meitei | 5 | India Suraj Singh Aheibam | India |
| 2026 | India Omang Dodum | Maldives Mohamed Ilan Imran India Omang Dodum | 3 | Bangladesh Md Ismail Hossain Mahin | Maldives |