The 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship was the fifth edition of the SAFF U-15 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-15 national teams organized by SAFF. The tournament was hosted by Nepal from October 25 to November 3, 2018, at ANFA Complex in Lalitpur, Nepal. Six out of seven teams from the region took part, as Sri Lanka later withdrew their team, and the teams were divided into two groups.[1][2] On 3 November 2018, Bangladesh edged out Pakistan in a close match decided in a penalty shootout to claim their second SAFF title.[3]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Nepal |
| Dates | 25 October – 3 November |
| Teams | 6 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in Lalitpur host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Bangladesh (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Pakistan |
| Third place |  India |
| Fourth place |  Nepal |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 10 |
| Goals scored | 47 (4.7 per match) |
| Attendance | 15,144 (1,514 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Nihat Jaman Ucchash (4 Goals) |
| Best player(s) | Haseeb Khan |
| Fair play award | Bangladesh |
Host selection edit
A draw for tournament ceremony was held on 13 September 2018 at conference room of Bangladesh Football Federation. BFF general secretary Abu Naeem Shohag, chairman of the BFF Media Committee Amirul Islam Babu and Mindu Dorji, the deputy general secretary of Bhutan Football Federation was among those present.
Initially all of seven countries team participated for the draw, two groups A and B were made, A consisted of Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan and group B consisted of India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka
But later Sri Lanka withdrew its team from the tournament and the groups were redefined.[2]
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
- † Sri Lanka withdrew before tournament
- ‡ Pakistan drawn to Group B, thus both the groups redefined
Squads edit
Players born on or after 1 January 2003 were eligible to compete in the tournament. Each team had to register a squad of minimum 18 players and maximum 23 players, minimum three of whom had to be goalkeepers.
Participating teams edit
| Team | Appearances in the SAFF U-16 Championship |
Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh
|
5th | Champions (2015), (2018) |
 Bhutan
|
3rd | Fourth Place |
| India
|
5th | Champions (2013, 2017) |
 Maldives
|
4th | Group Stage |
| Nepal (Host)
|
5th | Runners-up (2013, 2017) |
| Pakistan
|
3rd | Champions (2011) |
Venues edit
| Lalitpur |
|---|
| ANFA Complex |
| Capacity: 4,000 |
Match officials edit
Group stage edit
- All matches were played at Lalitpur, Nepal.
- Times listed are UTC+05:45.
| Key to colours in group tables | |
|---|---|
| Group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals | |
Group A edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangladesh
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 6 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 2 | Nepal (H)
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 3 | |
| 3 | Maldives
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | −13 | 0 |
| Nepal | 4–0 | Maldives |
|---|---|---|
|
SAFF |
| Bangladesh | 9–0 | Maldives |
|---|---|---|
Nihat Jaman Ucchash  11', 19', 23', 46'Mehedi Hassan 44'Rasel Ahmed 47', 66'Ashikur Rahman 80', 90+5' |
SAFF |
| Bangladesh | 2–1 | Nepal |
|---|---|---|
|
SAFF |
|
Group B edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pakistan
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 6 | Qualified for Knockout stage |
| 2 | India
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 3 | |
| 3 | Bhutan
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0 |
| India | 1–2 | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|
| Vanlalruatfela Thlacheu 53' |
SAFF AIFF | Adnan Justin 36' Wasif 85' |
| Bhutan | 0–4 | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|
| SAFF | Mudassar Nazar 20' Iftikar Ahmed 23'Moin Ahmed 29', 42' |
| Bhutan | 0–4 | India |
|---|---|---|
| SAFF AIFF | Shubho Paul 4' (pen.) Kushang Subba 66'Aman Xalxo 89' |
Bracket edit
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 1 November – ANFA Complex | ||||||
| Bangladesh | 1 (4) | |||||
| 3 November – ANFA Complex | ||||||
| India | 1 (2) | |||||
| Bangladesh | 1 (3) | |||||
| 1 November – ANFA Complex | ||||||
| Pakistan | 1 (2) | |||||
| Pakistan | 4 | |||||
| Nepal | 0 | |||||
| Third Place | ||||||
| 3 November – ANFA Complex | ||||||
| India | 1 | |||||
| Nepal | 0 | |||||
Knockout stage edit
- All matches will be played at Lalitpur, Nepal.
- Times listed are UTC+05:45
Semi-finals edit
| Bangladesh | 1–1 | India |
|---|---|---|
|
SAFF AIFF |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 4–2 | ||
| Pakistan | 4–0 | Nepal |
|---|---|---|
| Jaan Limbu 54' (o.g.) Mohib Ullah 59' (pen.), 68' (pen.) Moin Ahmed 77' |
SAFF |
Third place edit
Final edit
| Bangladesh | 1–1 | Pakistan |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
| Penalties | ||
| 3–2 | ||
Winner edit
| 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship champions |
|---|
 Bangladesh Second title |
Awards edit
The following awards were given for the 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship.
| Fair Play Award | Most Valuable Player | Golden Boot Award | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh
|
Haseeb Khan
|
Nihat Jaman Ucchash
|
Goalscorers edit
There were 47 goals scored in 10 matches, for an average of 4.7 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
References edit
- ^ "SAFF U15 draw held". South Asian Football Federation.
- ^ a b "SAFF Revises SAFF U15 Match Fixtures After Sri Lanka Pulls Out". Goal Nepal. 4 October 2018.
- ^ "SAFF Under-15 Championship: Bangladesh beat Pakistan on penalties to claim second title". saffederation.org. SAFF. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "FIFA Referees News: 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship - Final". 3 November 2018.