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6 stats of the SAFF Championship that you must know

India will face Kuwait in the Final of the SAFF Championship 2023 on July 4th but before that, let's look at the six stats we must know.

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Abishek Goswami
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SAFF Championship | 6 stats of the SAFF Championship that you must know | Sportz Point

SAFF Championship is the prime international football competition of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The teams which are governed by the SAFF, can only participate in this prestigious competition. The prestigious competition kicked off in Lahore in 1993. It is held every two years. The 2021 edition of the tournament was postponed twice to October 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. India are the team with the most number of titles (8) in the history of this competition. The blue tigers are once again in the final in the 2023 edition to defend their 2021 title. Kuwait and Lebanon are the newcomers in this edition. Surprisingly, Kuwait are in the final which will be played on July 4th at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru. Before that, we'll have a look at the six interesting stats we must know about.

Read Also: Indian Football News: Chhangte and Manisha Kalyan win the AIFF Player Of the Year award

Most Goals in the history of the SAFF Championship:

Ali Ashfaq (Maldives) was the player with the most number of goals in this competition. Sunil Chhetri equaled his tally after scoring 5 goals in the 2023 edition. He can get past him if he scores a goal in the final against Kuwait.

Rank Nation Player Goals scored
1 Maldives Ali Ashfaq 23
India Sunil Chhetri
3 India Bhaichung Bhutia 12
4 Maldives Ibrahim Fazeel 10
Maldives Ahmed Thariq

Top Goal scorers in every single edition:

The Blue tigers' skipper Sunil Chhetri is the only player to win the SAFF Championship Golden Boot more than 2 times. Everyone has the confirmation of Chhetri's Golden Boot win in the 2023 edition as well.

Years Player(s) Goals
1993  I. M. Vijayan 3
1995  Mohamed Amanulla 3
1997  I. M. Vijayan 6
1999  Naresh Joshi 3
 Bhaichung Bhutia
 Mizanur Rahman Dawn
 Mohamed Wildhan
2003  Sarfraz Rasool 4
2005  Ibrahim Fazeel 3
 Ali Ashfaq
 Ahmed Thariq
2008  Harez Habib 4
2009  Enamul Haque 4
 Ahmed Thariq
 Channa Ediri Bandanage
2011  Sunil Chhetri 7
2013  Ali Ashfaq 10
2015  Khaibar Amani 4
2018  Manvir Singh 3
2021  Sunil Chhetri 5
2023 Sunil Chhetri 5

Read Also: India vs Kuwait: SAFF Championship 2023 Final Preview, Head to Head and Predicted Line-ups

Performance by the nations in every single edition:

India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Pakistan were the four teams that participated in the first edition of the SAFF Championship held in Lahore, Pakistan in 1993. At first, The competition was named the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation Gold Cup. In 2008, the name changed to the current one. India became the first-ever South Asian football champions after clinching the inaugural SAFF Championship in 1993.

Nation Champions Runners-up Semi-finalists
India 8 (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021) 4 (1995, 2008, 2013, 2018)
Maldives 2 (2008, 2018) 3 (1997, 2003, 2009) 4 (2005, 2011, 2013, 2015)
Bangladesh 1 (2003) 2 (1999, 2005) 3 (1995, 2009, 2023)
Afghanistan 1 (2013) 2 (2011, 2015)
Sri Lanka 1 (1995) 1 (1993) 3 (2008, 2009, 2015)
Nepal 1 (2021) 3 (2011, 2013, 2018)
Pakistan 2 (2005, 2018)
Bhutan 1 (2008)
Lebanon 1 (2023)
Kuwait

The Winning Coaches of the Nations (1993-2021):

Syed Nayeemuddin and Sukhwinder Singh are the only coaches to win the title more than one time. The present Indian national team coach, Igor Stimac has the opportunity to equal the tally with both of them.

Year Team Coach
1993 India  Jiri Pesek
1995 Sri Lanka  Jorge Perreira
1997 India  Syed Nayeemuddin
1999 India  Sukhwinder Singh
2003 Bangladesh  George Kottan
2005 India  Syed Nayeemuddin
2008 Maldives  Jozef Jankech
2009 India  Sukhwinder Singh
2011 India  Savio Medeira
2013 Afghanistan  Mohammad Yousef Kargar
2015 India  Stephen Constantine
2018 Maldives  Petar Segrt
2021 India  Igor Štimac

All-time points table:

The countries that played in the 2023 edition are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Kuwait. Lebanon and Bangladesh kicked out by Kuwait and India in the Semi-Finals. Both teams will play against each other for the prestigious trophy. The Blue Tigers have a chance to extend the number if they defeat strong Kuwait in the Final.

Rank Team Part Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 India 14 61 40 13 8 104 39 +72 133
2 Maldives 12 50 25 11 14 98 52 +46 86
3 Bangladesh 13 46 18 12 16 52 47 +5 66
4 Nepal 14 46 14 7 25 51 68 −17 49
5 Sri Lanka 13 41 13 7 21 48 65 −17 46
6 Pakistan 12 39 12 8 19 32 51 −19 44
7 Afghanistan 7 27 12 4 11 48 42 +6 40
8 Bhutan 9 27 1 1 25 15 102 −87 4

SAFF Championship winners list (1993-2021):

Maldives are the most successful national team after India with 2 titles. Bangladesh, Afghanistan (not a member of SAFF anymore), and Sri Lanka are the teams with 1 title each. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka received a suspension from the governing body of world football, FIFA. The ban makes Sri Lanka unable to neither host nor participate in the 2023 SAFF Championship.

Year Host Winner Runner-up
1993 Pakistan India  Sri Lanka
1995 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka India
1997 Nepal India Maldives
1999 India India Bangladesh
2003 Bangladesh Bangladesh Maldives
2005 Pakistan India Bangladesh
2008 Maldives and Sri Lanka Maldives India
2009 Bangladesh India Maldives
2011 India India Afghanistan
2013 Nepal Afghanistan India
2015 India India Afghanistan
2018 Bangladesh Maldives India
2021 Maldives India Nepal
Football Indian Football Indian Footballers Saff Championship Sunil Chhetri Igor Stimac Bhaichung Bhutia
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