List of winners and runners-up SAFF Championship: The SAFF Championship, originally known as the SAARC Gold Cup and established in 1993, has been held 14 times to date. The tournament began as a four-team event and later expanded to include eight teams.
From 1993 to 1999, the South Asian Football Championship took place every two years. However, there was a gap of four years before the next publication in 2003, followed by successive editions in 2008 and 2009.
In the inaugural version, the winner is determined based on the scoreboard standings after the round-robin stage. However, starting with the 1995 edition, the champion was decided through knockout rounds, including the semi-finals and the final.
Of the seven participating teams, only five won the title, as Afghanistan, which is no longer participating in SAFF, won the championship before leaving to form the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).
SAFF Championship – Team Success
As for the most successful team at the SAFF Championship, India holds that title having won the title a record nine times and finished as runners-up four times. This means that India has reached the final in 13 out of 14 editions so far.
The next most successful nation at the tournament was the Maldives, with two SAFF Cup titles in five final appearances. Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have each won the coveted title once.
SAFF Championship – Final 1993 to 2023
In the history of the SAFF Championship, the final had to go into extra time 4 times, of which 2 had to be penalty shoot-outs to determine the winner. An earlier final was decided by Sudden Death, while another was settled in extra time.
๐ฎ๐ณ INDIA is SAFF ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ for the 9th time๏ธโฃ! ๐
๐ 1993๐ 1997๐ 1999๐ 2005๐ 2009๐ 2011๐ 2015๐ 2021๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฏ#SAFFChampionship2023 #BlueTigers ๐ฏ #IndianFootball โฝ pic.twitter.com/3iLJQSeyWG
โ Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball)
July 4, 2023
The league also featured a third-place playoff for bronze, but this only happened in the first edition and the four subsequent editions. India (2003), Bangladesh (1995), Maldives (1999), Pakistan (1997) and Nepal (1993) have all taken third place in the playoffs so far. In the remaining eight leagues, there is no third place playoff. Nepal and Pakistan each finished in fourth place twice.
The 2023 SAFF Championship has recently come to an end with India becoming an incredible 9th champion. Eight teams participated in the championship including Kuwait and Lebanon, who participated as guest nations.
SAFF Championship – Full list of previous champions, runners-up and hosts
With each tournament period, South Asian football continues to evolve and fans eagerly await the next chapter of this exciting football journey.
Here is the full list:
|
Year |
(Servers |
Champion |
The last point |
runner-up |
|
1993 |
Pakistan |
India |
Circle |
Sri Lanka |
|
1995 |
Sri Lanka |
Sri Lanka |
1-0 (Sudden Death) |
India |
|
1997 |
Nepal |
India |
5-1 |
Maldives |
|
1999 |
India |
India |
2-0 |
Bangladesh |
|
2003 |
Bangladesh |
Bangladesh |
1-1 AET (5-3 PS) |
Maldives |
|
2005 |
Pakistan |
India |
2-0 |
Bangladesh |
|
2008 |
Maldives & Sri Lanka |
Maldives |
1-0 |
India |
|
2009 |
Bangladesh |
India |
0-0 AET (3-1 PS) |
Maldives |
|
2011 |
India |
India |
4-0 |
Afghanistan |
|
two thousand and thirteen |
Nepal |
Afghanistan |
2-0 |
India |
|
2015 |
India |
India |
2-1 AET |
Afghanistan |
|
2018 |
Bangladesh |
Maldives |
2-1 |
India |
|
2021 |
Maldives |
India |
3-0 |
Nepal |
|
2023 |
India |
India |
5-4 AET |
Kuwait |
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Source: pagasa.edu.vn