2016 AFC Solidarity Cup

The 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup was the inaugural and only edition of the AFC Solidarity Cup, an international football tournament. It took place between 2–15 November 2016 in Malaysia.[1][2][3]

2016 AFC Solidarity Cup
Piala Solidariti AFC 2016
Tournament details
Host countryMalaysia
CityKuching
Dates2–15 November
Teams9 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions   Nepal (1st title)
Runners-up Macau
Third place Laos
Fourth place Brunei
Tournament statistics
Matches played13
Goals scored37 (2.85 per match)
Attendance2,384 (183 per match)
Top scorer(s)Brunei Shahrazen Said
Laos Xaisongkham Champathong
Macau Niki Torrão
(4 goals each)
Best player(s)Macau Leong Ka Hang
Fair play award Laos
2014
(AFC Challenge Cup)
2020

The tournament was created by the Asian Football Confederation as a replacement for the AFC Challenge Cup which was played for the last time in 2014.

A total of nine teams were eligible to compete in this edition of the tournament. Six teams were eligible to compete after losing in the first round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition, while three teams were eligible to compete after losing in the play-off round 2 of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition. After Pakistan and Bangladesh withdrew, only seven teams competed in the tournament.[4]

Qualified teams

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The following six teams qualified after losing in the first round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition:

The following three teams qualified after losing in the play-off round 2 of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition:

Venues

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The tournament was held in Kuching at the Sarawak Stadium and Sarawak State Stadium.[4]

Draw

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The draw took place on 8 September 2016, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[5][6]

The seedings were based on the FIFA Ranking of August 2016. As the draw was held before the play-off round 2 of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition was played, the identities of the Round 2 losers, as well as the number of teams which would enter the competition, were not known at the time of the draw.[7]

Qualified as Pot Team FIFA Ranking
Asian Cup qualifying
first round
losers
Pot 1     Nepal 188
  Sri Lanka 193
Pot 2   Pakistan[nb 1] 194
  Macau 195
Pot 3   Brunei 198
  Mongolia 202
Asian Cup qualifying
play-off round 2
losers
Pot 4   Laos 177
  Bangladesh[nb 2] 183
  East Timor 186
Notes
  1. ^ Pakistan withdrew after the draw.[8]
  2. ^ Because Bhutan did not express an interest in participating in the tournament prior to the draw, to ensure that both groups have a minimum of four teams, the loser of play-off 2.2 was assigned to position 5 in Group A.[7] Bangladesh withdrew after losing in the play-off round.[4]

Squads

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Each national association must submit a list of 18–23 players, three of those players must be goalkeepers.[9]

Group stage

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The tournament's format would change depending upon the number of teams that agree to partake in the competition. Should nine teams enter, the two group winners advance to the final. Should only eight teams enter, the two group winners and two group runners-up advance to the semi-finals.[9] Since at the end only seven teams entered, the top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:[9]

  1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
  3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  4. If, after applying criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply;
  5. Goal difference in all the group matches;
  6. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
  7. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
  8. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
  9. Drawing of lots.

All times were local, MYT (UTC+8).[10]

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1     Nepal 2 1 1 0 3 0 +3 4 Knockout stage
2   Brunei 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 3
3   East Timor 2 0 1 1 0 4 −4 1
4   Bangladesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Withdrew
5   Pakistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Brunei  4–0  East Timor
Azwan A.   63', 69'
Shahrazen   71' (pen.)
Adi   80'
Report
Attendance: 100
Referee: Payam Heidari (Iran)

East Timor  0–0    Nepal
Report

Nepal    3–0  Brunei
Nawayug   45+2'
Bharat   72'
Bimal   80' (pen.)
Report

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Macau 3 2 1 0 7 3 +4 7 Knockout stage
2   Laos 3 2 0 1 6 5 +1 6
3   Mongolia 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
4   Sri Lanka 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Sri Lanka  1–2  Laos
Asikur   90+3' Report Moukda   58'
Khamphanh   83'
Macau  2–1  Mongolia
N. Torrão   14', 75' Report Tögöldör   29'
Attendance: 90

Laos  1–4  Macau
Khamphanh   3' Report Lao Pak Kin   21'
Leong Ka Hang   67'
N. Torrão   79', 87'
Mongolia  2–0  Sri Lanka
Nyam-Osor   50' (pen.), 66' (pen.) Report

Sri Lanka  1–1  Macau
Kavindu   5' Report Choi Weng Hou   86'
Mongolia  0–3  Laos
Report Sitthideth   7' (pen.)
Khouanta   21'
Xaisongkham   83'
Attendance: 321

Knockout stage

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In the knockout stage, extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.[9]

Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
12 November – Sarawak St. Stadium
 
 
    Nepal (p)2 (3)
 
15 November – Sarawak Stadium
 
  Laos2 (0)
 
    Nepal1
 
12 November – Sarawak Stadium
 
  Macau0
 
  Macau (p)1 (4)
 
 
  Brunei1 (3)
 
Third place
 
 
14 November – Sarawak Stadium
 
 
  Laos3
 
 
  Brunei2

Semi-finals

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Nepal    2–2 (a.e.t.)  Laos
Bimal   47'
Ananta   104'
Report Xaisongkham   18', 117'
Penalties
Heman  
Bikram  
Sujal  
3–0   Bounlien
  Sitthideth
  Chanthaphone

Macau  1–1 (a.e.t.)  Brunei
Leong Ka Hang   59' Report Shahrazen   27'
Penalties
N. Torrão  
Leong Ka Hang  
Chan Man  
Sio Ka Un  
4–3   Faiq
  Shahrazen
  Rosmin
  Azwan S.
  Maududi

Third place match

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Laos  3–2  Brunei
Keoviengphet   5'
Sitthideth   53'
Xaisongkham   82'
Report Shahrazen   24', 55'

Final

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Nepal    1–0  Macau
Sujal   29' Report
Attendance: 157
Referee: Payam Heidari (Iran)

Due to the withdrawal of Guam and the suspension of Kuwait, the AFC decided to invite both Nepal and Macau, the top two teams of the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup, to re-enter 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification as replacements in order to maintain 24 teams in the third round of the competition.[11]

Winners

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2016 AFC Solidarity Cup
 
Nepal
First title

Awards

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The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:[12]

Top Scorer Most Valuable Player Fair Play Award
  Shah Razen Said   Leong Ka Hang   Laos

Goalscorers

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4 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Source: the-afc.com

Final standings

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Pos. Team G Pld W D L Pts GF GA GD
1     Nepal A 4 2 2 0 8 6 2 +4
2   Macau B 5 2 2 1 8 8 5 +3
3   Laos B 5 3 1 1 10 11 9 +2
4   Brunei A 4 1 1 2 4 7 7 0
Eliminated in the group stage
5   Mongolia B 3 1 0 2 3 3 5 −2
6   East Timor A 2 0 1 1 1 0 4 −4
7   Sri Lanka B 3 0 1 2 1 3 5 −2

References

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  1. ^ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2017.
  2. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". AFC. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  3. ^ "New national team competition AFC Solidarity Cup launched". AFC. 8 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "AFC Solidarity Cup 2016 line-up finalised". AFC. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  5. ^ "AFC Solidarity Cup – Official Draw". AFC (via YouTube). 8 September 2016.
  6. ^ "AFC Solidarity Cup Malaysia 2016 draw details announced". The-AFC.com. 8 September 2016.
  7. ^ a b "AFC Solidarity Cup 2016 - Draw Mechanism" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Pakistan Officially Withdraws from AFC Solidarity Cup; New Fixtures Revealed". Goal Nepal. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d "2016 AFC Solidarity Cup Regulations" (PDF). AFC. 2 September 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2017.
  10. ^ "AFC Solidarity Cup 2016 - Match Schedule" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Teams for final round of AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 qualifiers confirmed". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  12. ^ "Leong and Shahrazen win MVP and Top Scorer awards". the-afc.com. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
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