2026 SAFF U-20 Championship

2026 SAFF U-20 Championship
Vector X SAFF U-20 Championship
Maldives 2026
Tournament details
Host countryMaldives
Dates23 March–3 April 2026
Teams7 (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Bangladesh (2nd title)
Runners-up India
Third place   Nepal
 Bhutan
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored25 (2.08 per match)
Attendance23,864 (1,989 per match)
Top scorer(s) Ilan Imran
Omang Dodum
(3 goals each)
Best player Omang Dodum
Best goalkeeper Md Ismail Hossain Mahin
Fair play award Maldives
← 2025
2027 →

The 2026 SAFF U-20 Championship was the 8th edition of the SAFF U-20 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-20 national teams from South Asia region, organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The tournament took place in Malé, Maldives, from 23 March to 3 April 2026.[1]

On 3 April 2026, Bangladesh clinched their second title by defeating India 4–3 on penalties in the final after a 0–0 draw at the end of normal time.[2][3]

Venue

The National Football Stadium of Malé, Maldives hosted all the matches.

Malé
National Football Stadium
Capacity: 11,850[4]

Participant teams

The following seven national teams participated in the tournament.

Team Appearances Previous best performance
 Bangladesh 8th Champions (2024)
 Bhutan 7th Fourth place (2017, 2019)
 India 8th Champions (2019, 2022, 2023, 2025)
 Maldives (Host) 8th Third place (2019)
   Nepal 8th Champions (2015, 2017)
 Sri Lanka 5th Group stage (2019, 2022)
 Pakistan 2nd Runners-up (2023)

Draw

The draw ceremony of the tournament was held on 25 January 2026.[5][6]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3
 Bangladesh
 Maldives (Host) 		   Nepal
 India 		 Bhutan
 Sri Lanka
 Pakistan

Draw result

Group A
Pos Team
A1  Maldives
A2    Nepal
A3  Bhutan
A4  Sri Lanka
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Bangladesh
B2  India
B3  Pakistan

Players eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 2007 were eligible to take part in the tournament.

Squads

Main article: 2026 SAFF U-20 Championship squads

All the teams announced their squads before the tournament began.

Match officials

Referees
  • SM Jashim Akhter
  • Jatinder Singh
  • Raeef Rauf (†)
  • Umesh Bidari (†)
  • Mohamed Rideewita Withana Chirantha
  • Virendha Rai (†)
  • Anjum Adnan (†)
Assistant Referees & Fourth Officials
  • Bikash Sarker
  • Wangchuk Phurpa
  • Churchil Rana
  • Shaheem Hussain
  • Madhav Khatri Chhettri
  • Don Lakshan Sampath
  • Dilawar Khan
Match Commissioners
  • Abdul Ghafoor Abdul Hameed
  • Mohamed Fairoze Muhiseen
Referee Accessors
  • Hettiarachchige Chathuranga Dilan Perera

(†): Also performed as assistant referee in some matches.

Group stage

All times listed below were local, MVT (UTC+05:00).
Key to colours in group tables
Group winners and runners-up advanced to the Semi-finals

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1    Nepal 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7 Advanced to the
Semi-finals
2  Bhutan 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
3  Sri Lanka 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1 3
4  Maldives (H) 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2
Source: Sofascore
(H) Hosts
Bhutan 1–2   Nepal
  • Dhendup 84'
 Report
Attendance: 150
Referee: SM Jasim Akther (Bangladesh)
Man of the Match: Subash Bam (Nepal)
Maldives 2–3 Sri Lanka
 Report
  • Mohamed 46'
  • Hijaazy 63'
  • Hussain 88' (pen.)
Attendance: 1,664
Referee: Jatinder Singh (India)
Man of the Match: Hussain Abdullah (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka 0–1   Nepal
Report
Attendance: 451
Referee: Raeef Rauf (Maldives)
Man of the Match: Subash Bam (Nepal)
Bhutan 0–0 Maldives
Report
Attendance: 1,470
Referee: Umesh Bidari (Nepal)
Man of the Match: Tandin Penjor (Bhutan)
Maldives 1–1   Nepal
 Report
  • Lawat 86'
Attendance: 3,863
Referee: Adnan Anjum (Pakistan)
Man of the Match: Mohamed Ilan Imran (Maldives)
Bhutan 1–0 Sri Lanka
  • Dhendup 90+2'
 Report
Attendance: 714
Referee: Jatinder Singh (India)
Man of the Match: Dhendup Gyeltshen (Bhutan)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  India 2 1 1 0 4 1 +3 4 Advanced to the
Semi-finals
2  Bangladesh 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2 4
3  Pakistan 2 0 0 2 0 5 −5 0
Source: Sofascore
Bangladesh 2–0 Pakistan
  • R. Sullivan 54', 67'
 Report
Attendance: 2,550
Referee: Mohamed Rideewita Withana Chirantha (Sri Lanka)
Man of the Match: Ronan Sullivan (Bangladesh)
India 3–0 Pakistan
  • V. Yadav 3'
  • Dodum 64', 88' (pen.)
 Report
Attendance: 334
Referee: Virendha Rai (Bhutan)
Man of the Match: Omang Dodum (India)
Bangladesh 1–1 India
  • Riyad 45+10'
 Report
  • V. Yadav 17'
Attendance: 3,932
Referee: Raeef Rauf (Maldives)
Man of the Match: Suraj Singh (India)

Knockout stage

  • In the knockout stage, if a match finished goalless at the end of normal playing time, extra time would have been played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
1 April – Malé
 
 
   Nepal0
 
3 April – Malé
 
 Bangladesh1
 
 Bangladesh (p)0 (4)
 
1 April – Malé
 
 India0 (3)
 
 India5
 
 
 Bhutan0
 

Semi-finals

Nepal   0–1 Bangladesh
Report
  • Manik 10'
Attendance: 3,910
Referee: Jatinder Singh (India)
Man of the Match: Md Manik (Bangladesh)
India 5–0 Bhutan
  • Dodum 4'
  • Arbash 44'
  • Chaphamayum 56', 57'
  • Thokchom 90+2'
 Report
Attendance: 726
Referee: Mohamed Rideewita Withana Chirantha (Sri Lanka)
Man of the Match: Rohen Chaphamayum (India)

Final

Bangladesh 0–0 India
Report
Penalties
  • Murshed
  • Chandon
  • Fahim
  • Raksam
  • R. Sullivan
4–3
  • Rishi
  • Arbash
  • Samson
  • Vishal
  • Dodum
Attendance: 4,100
Referee: Umesh Bidari (Nepal)
Man of the Match: Omang Dodum (India)

Champion

 8th SAFF U-20 Championship 2026 Champions 

Bangladesh
Second title

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 25 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.08 goals per match.

3 goals

2 goals

  • Ronan Sullivan
  • Subash Bam
  • Dhendup Gyeltshen
  • Vishal Yadav
  • Rohen Singh Chaphamayum

1 goal

  • Mohammed Manik
  • Sujan Dangol
  • K. Mohamed Katheem
  • М. М. Ahamed Hijaazy
  • M. Hussain Abdullah
  • Nishan Raj Lawat
  • Mohammed Abdul Riyad
  • Mohammed Arbash
  • Malemngamba Singh Thokchom

Source: Soccerway

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

Fair Play Award Best goalkeeper Top scorer(s) Most valuable player
 Maldives[10] Md Ismail Hossain Mahin[10] Ilan Imran
Omang Dodum[10] 		Omang Dodum[10]

Broadcasting

SAFF officially released the list of broadcast channels for the tournament.

Broadcaster(s) Territory
Sportzworkz
(YouTube channel) 		No restricted territory

See also

References

  1. ^ "Maldives Secures Hosting Rights for U20 SAFF 2026". Adhadhu. 11 December 2025. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  2. ^ "Bangladesh beat India to clinch U-20 SAFF Championship title". Dhaka Tribune. 3 April 2026. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  3. ^ "PM greets Bangladesh team for winning U-20 SAFF title". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  4. ^ "National Stadium Maldives". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  5. ^ "SAFF U20 CHAMPIONSHIP MALDIVES 2026 DRAW CEREMONY". South Asian Football Federation. Retrieved 25 January 2026 – via Facebook.
  6. ^ "Championship as Draw Is Held". Football Association of Maldives. 31 January 2026. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  7. ^ "साफ यु २० – नेपाल समूह विजेता बन्दै सेमिफाइनलमा". Hamro Khelkud. 27 March 2026. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  8. ^ "India blank Pakistan in SAFF U20 C'ship opener to secure semi-final spot". All India Football Federation. 26 March 2026. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  9. ^ "Bangladesh through to semis in SAFF U20 Championship". The Daily Star. 27 March 2026. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  10. ^ a b c d "টুর্নামেন্টসেরা বাংলাদেশের গোলরক্ষক, দেশবাসীকে শিরোপা উৎসর্গ". www.dhakapost.com (in Bengali). 3 April 2026. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
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