SAFF U-16 Championship: Format, Fixtures, Standings and more

The SAFF U-16 Championship will be played in Bhutan.

The stage is all set for the 8th edition of the SAFF U-16 Championship, as young lads from six south Asian nations roll up their sleeves for the 10-day tournament. 

India, who are the most successful team in the competition, and also the reigning champions, will look to lift the silverware yet again. 

With that said, let us now take a brief look at everything you need to know about the 2023 SAFF U-16 Championship.

Teams

India

Nepal 

Bangladesh 

Bhutan

Maldives

Pakistan

Format

All six participating nations have been drawn into two groups of three, where the teams will compete in a round-robin format. Once all teams in the group have played against each one of their group opponents, the top two teams from every group will go to the semifinals of the competition.

The winner of group A will play against the runner-up of group B, whereas the winners of group B will take on runner-up of group A. The semifinals will be a one-off game, where the winners will directly go into the finals.

Teams will be ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings.

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
5. Goal difference in all group matches;
6. Goals scored in all group matches;
7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
8. 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);
9. Drawing of lots.

Venue

The 2023 SAFF U-16 Championship will be played at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Player Eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 2007 are eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team has to register a squad of minimum 16 players and maximum 23 players; at least two players of the squad must be goalkeepers.

India’s Fixtures

2nd September – Bangladesh VS India  (2:30 pm IST)

5th September – Nepal VS India  (2:30 pm IST)

Standings

Group A

Pos	Team	Points	MP	W	L	D	GD
1	India	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Nepal	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Bangladesh	0	0	0	0	0	0

Group B

Pos	Team	Points	MP	W	L	D	GD
1	Pakistan	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Maldives	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Bhutan	0	0	0	0	0	0

India’s squad

Goalkeepers: Rohit, Aheibam Suraj Singh and Arush Hari.

Defenders: Ngariyambam Abhijit, Mohammed Kaif, Yaipharemba Chingakham, Usham Thoungamba, Vumlenlal Hangshing, Chingtham Renin Singh and Karish Soram.

Midfielders: Newton Singh, Kangujam Yoihenba Meitei, Levis Zangminlun, Bobby Singh, Abdul Salha, Ngamgouhou Mate, Vishal Yadav, Manbhakupar Malngiang and Md Arbash.

Forwards: Ningthoukhongjam Rishi Singh, Ahongshangbam Samson, Lairenjam Bharat and Airborlang Kharthangmaw.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.