India in Group A of SAFF Women's Championship

The tournament returns after a gap of three years.

The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) is all set to unveil the 2022 SAFF Women’s Championship come September. It will be its sixth edition and the games will be played in Kathmandu, Nepal. The body today announced the groups for the upcoming competition with seven participating teams. All teams have been drawn into two groups. Group A has four teams while Group B has three participants. Defending champions India have been clubbed alongside Bangladesh, Maldives and arch rivals Pakistan in Group A. On the other hand, hosts Nepal will form Group B along with Sri Lanka and neighbours Bhutan.

The tournament will be played from 6th September to 19th September, 2022. The matches will be played in a round robin format. Each team will play against other only once. The winner and runner-up from either group will then advance to the knockouts.

The champion of Group A will play against the runner-up of Group B. On the other hand, the winner of Group B will play against the runner-up of Group A. The winners of the semi-finals will set up the big final in Kathmandu on September 20.

A brief history of the tournament 

The SAFF Women’s championship is an international women’s championship that is contested by the members of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The 2022 SAFF Women’s Championship will be the fifth edition of the tournament.

Surprisingly, the tournament has had only one winner for more than a decade now. It’s none other than India’s Blue Tigresses. India are the reigning and the only champions of the tournament having lifted the trophy for a record five times.

They have beaten current hosts Nepal four times, including the last edition and Bangladesh once in 2016. Hosts Nepal have four runners-up mentions, but have never been able to secure a gold.

In the last edition of the tournament, India displayed a rampant performance. They only conceded one goal which came in the final against Nepal and scored 18 on the other end of the pitch.

With the 2022 edition not far away, India will be keen to defend their crown and add a sixth title to their cabinet. 

Will anyone stop India this time around or will the Blue Tigresses continue their fine run of form? Only time will tell.