SAFF Championship 2023: Format, Fixtures, Telecast and more

Published at :June 18, 2023 at 6:52 PM

Modified at :July 2, 2023 at 9:15 PM

The tournament is set to commence from 21st June.

The 2023 SAFF Championship is within striking distance, as the eight participating nations buckle up to take on each other in a demanding two-week long tournament.

In what is to be the 14th edition of the competition organised by the South Asian Football Federation, a total of eight teams will participate, with two nations invited as guest participants - Kuwait and Lebanon.

With the competition set to take place within a few days time, here is everything you need to know about the 2023 SAFF Championship.

Teams

Format

The eight teams participating in the 2023 SAFF Championship have been divided into two groups of four. Every team will play against all of its group opponents in a round-robin format. At the end of all games, the group winner, along with the runner up, will qualify for the knockouts.

In the knockout stages, the winner of the first group, will face the runner up from the other group, and vice versa.

The teams playing are going to be ranked on points. For a win, a team will get three points, one point for a draw and none for a loss. At the end of all the games, if two teams are tied on points, then the following criteria are to be followed.

Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams
Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams tied teams
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams
Goal difference in all group matches
Goals scored in all group matches
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group
Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points)
Drawing of lots

Venue

All the games will be played at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, India.

Telecast

The SAFF Championship 2023 telecast details are yet to be announced.

June 21, 2023

Kuwait 3-1 Nepal

India 4-0 Pakistan

June 22, 2023

Lebanon 2-0 Bangladesh

Maldives 2-0 Bhutan

June 24, 2023

Pakistan 0-4 Kuwait

Nepal 0-2 India

June 25, 2023

Bangladesh 3-1 Maldives

Bhutan 1-4 Lebanon

June 27, 2023

Nepal 1-0 Pakistan

India 1-1 Kuwait

June 28, 2023

Lebanon 1-0 Maldives

Bhutan vs Bangladesh, 19:30 IST.

Semi-finals:

July 1, 2023

Kuwait 1-0 Bangladesh

Lebanon (2) 0-0 (4) India

Final:

July 4, 2023

Kuwait vs India, 7:30 PM IST

Standings

Group A

Pos	Team	Points	MP	W	L	D	GD
1	Kuwait	7	3	2	0	1	6
2	India	7	3	2	0	1	6
3	Nepal	3	3	1	2	0	-3
4	Pakistan	0	3	0	3	0	-9

Group B

Pos	Team	Points	MP	W	L	D	GD
1	Lebanon	9	3	3	0	0	6
2	Bangladesh	6	3	2	1	0	2
3	Maldives	3	3	1	2	0	-1
4	Bhutan	0	3	0	3	0	-7