SAFF Championship: Top 10 goalscorers of all time

These players have set benchmarks for not only this competition but across all levels.

India’s record at the SAFF Championship has been near-perfect. Since the inaugural win in Lahore, 1993, the Blue Tigers have won the tournament a record eight times. Legends like IM Vijayan set scintillating records which were not broken for the next 18 years.

However, India’s most decorated footballer Sunil Chhetri smashed the same in his first appearance in the championship’s 2011 edition. But there were quite a few players who made a name for themselves in this competition. Some were Indian while the rest were from the neighbouring nations. Let us see who are the top 10 goalscorers of all time in the SAFF Championship.

10. Mohamed Amanulla

You might have heard Amanulla’s name while he was the Sri Lankan national team coach from 2009 to 2010. Maybe even while he was at the helm of Renown FC and Saunders FC. But did you know that he was the leading force behind the Golden Army’s first and only SAFF Championship title?

Back in the day, Amanulla was a goal-hungry forward and he scored three goals in the 1995 edition of the tournament. It might seem a humble return but remember that he had to come up against the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia and IM Vijayan. He ended the championship, then called South Asian Gold Cup, as the top goalscorer. 

9. Sarfraz Rasool

Talented Pakistani attacking midfielder Sarfraz Rasool was busy playing for KRL FC in the Pakistan Premier League in 2003. When the Pakistan national team came calling, however, he repaid their faith in earnest. Rasool won the 2003 SAFF Cup Golden boot with four goals and etched his name in history.

More so, because this was the first time that the leading goal scorer was not part of the championship-winning team. In fact he set the trend as multiple players afterwards, won the boot without being able to help their country to the win. Rasool surely inspired another generation of footballers with his exploits for his country. 

8. Sushil Kumar Singh

Sushil Kumar Singh is the next name in the list and he scored four goals across three tournaments in 2008, 2009 and 2011. His first was part of a 4-0 rout of Nepal in the 2008 group stages in Maldives. Incidentally, it was also his first international goal. He was elected captain for the 2009 tournament in Bangladesh, where India sent their U-23 squad.

Following the same, he notched the solitary goals in the wins over Nepal and Bangladesh. He turned in a brilliant free-kick against the latter which sent India into the final as the Blue Tigers beat Maldives on penalties to win their fifth SAFF trophy. Sushil's most stunning goal, however, came two years later on home soil in Delhi. In the 2011 final, he blasted in a screamer from outside the box in injury time to cap off a memorable 4-0 win as India lifted their sixth SAFF title.

7. Jeje Lalpekhlua

The Mizoram-born striker and recently-retired star of Indian football was another player to grace the SAFF Championship. His goalscoring feats spanned across three editions of the tournament ; in 2009, 2011 and 2015. The Mizo sniper scored the late goal in a 1-0 victory in the former. In 2011, the FPAI best young player of the year award-winner netted in a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka in the group stage.

He then followed it up with another strike in the final against Afghanistan, helping India win the trophy. However, Jeje’s most important contribution came in the 2015 edition as his brace against Maldives in the semi-final helped India steamroll into the finals.

His all-important equaliser in the 72nd minute set the premise for Sunil Chhetri to win the game in extra time for the Blue Tigers. In total six of Jeje’s 29 international goals came from the SAFF Championship. 

6. IM Vijayan

Nicknamed “Kalo Harin” or the “Ebony Deer”, IM Vijayan was one of the stalwarts and all-time greats of Indian football. One third of his 30-goal tally (which makes him India’s second all-time international top scorer) came from the SAFF Championship.

In fact, Vijayan scored India’s first-ever goal in the competition. He then went on to become the Golden Boot winner in the inaugural edition of the SAARC Gold Cup (now SAFF Championship) in Lahore, 1993 with three goals. The prodigious poacher stirred up the 1997 edition with a record-breaking six goals from three braces.

These consisted of one against Bangladesh in the group stage, one against Pakistan in the semi-finals and against Maldives in the final. His brace against Maldives was part of a ruthless 5-1 thrashing that saw India win their second trophy ever. His tenth SAFF Championship goal came in 2003 in the 2-1 win against Pakistan and he hung up his boots in the same year.  

5. Ibrahim Fazeel 

Forward-midfielder hybrid “Oppo” broke into the international scoring scene with his joint-top scorer record in 2005. However, just like Rasool, Maldives could not win the tournament despite two more of their players being the joint top scorers.

Those players were none other than Ahmed Thariq and Maldives legend Ali Ashfaq. However, in 2008, he played a crucial part of the Maldives side that went all the way to win the lucrative SAFF Championship trophy. That year Afghanistan’s Harez Habib topped the charts but it was Fazeel alongside Thariq and Ashfaq that stole the show. Overall Fazeel managed to get 10 strikes that puts him in joint fourth place for SAFF Championship all-time top scorers.

4. Ahmed Thariq

Addressed as “Tom” by his beloved fans, Thariq was part of the legendary Fazeel-Ashfaq-Thariq trio that scored goals for fun. It was especially in the SAFF Championship that they seemed to hone their goalscoring instincts. Thariq himself scored 10 times in the tournament.

He led the chart in the 2005 edition of the tournament with a hat trick against Afghanistan. After that, he had a modest return of a single goal in the 2008 edition. However, the trophy-run in 2008 fueled him and he returned to become joint-top scorer again in 2009.

With goals against Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and India Thariq won the Golden boot alongside Enamul Haque of Bangladesh and Channa Bandanage of Sri Lanka. The final two of his goals came in the 2011 SAFF Championship in a brace against Bangladesh.

3. Bhaichung Bhutia

The Sikkimese Sniper netted a dozen goals in Indian colors in the SAFF Championship. His scoring streak spanned across five different editions from 1995 to 2008. His brace against Sri Lanka in 1995 included his first senior goal for India. Bhutia went on to score three more in the 1997 tournament in Kathmandu, including in the final against Maldives.

Named the most valuable player In the 1999 edition in Goa, Bhutia was the joint top-scorer with three goals. The fox-in-the-box scored three against Pakistan in the group stage, Maldives in the semi-final and in the crucial final against Bangladesh. He was named captain for the Indian side in the 2005 SAFF Championship. Leading from the front, he scored two goals, including one in the 2-0 final win over Bangladesh, leading the Blue Tigers to their fourth title in Islamabad.

The 2008 edition featured his final appearance. In his last dance, he scored the second goal in a 4-0 victory over Nepal in the tournament opener. That was effectively the last of his 12 SAFF Championship goals.

2. Ali Ashfaq

The fact that Ashfaq no longer contends in this competition but still remains at the top albeit for a short time is no joke. Maldives’ “Man of Steel” is regarded as one of the best players in the South Asian region. A prolific and individualistic goalscorer, he is a free-kick specialist and a clinical finisher.

His trademark style of scoring is beating the defenders and rounding off the keeper to score. He is considered as the best Maldivian footballer ever, most notably when he was named as the "World's 2nd best top goal scorer" in 2013 by IFFHS.

He was also named as South Asia's Best Player in 2014 by eultimategoal.com. With 58 international goals, the left-footed wizard made a name for himself. Of those, 23 of his strikes came in the SAFF Championship. He broke into the scene as joint scorer with Fazeel and Thariq in 2005.

After winning the championship and the most valuable player award in 2008, his next notable contribution was in the 2013 edition. It was a path-breaking year for the gifted attacker as he notched a record-high 10 goals.

Ashfaq scored a stunner in the 2015 SAFF Championship group stage game against Bhutan, after beating a couple of defenders outside the area. That was the last of his 23 goals for his country in the championship.

1. Sunil Chhetri

It’s no secret that India’s most decorated footballer Sunil Chhetri is all the way up top in this list and will soon make it to the summit. India’s leading goalscorer and fourth all-time active international goalscorer. Captain Fantastic, with his opening hattrick against Pakistan in the 2023 SAFF Championship went past Mokhtar Dahari’s tally of 89 goals as he made it 90 international goals.

He is only behind five-time Ballon D’or winner Cristiano Ronaldo(123), Ali Daei(109) and seven-time Ballon D’or winner Lionel Messi(103). His goal in the game against Nepal in the second group stage game had tied him with the SAFF Championship’s greatest goalscorer Ali Ashfaq. Now with his goal against Kuwait, he has surpassed Ashfaq!