The SAFF Championship (erstwhile SAARC Gold Cup and SAFF Gold Cup), is the primary

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the

South Asian Football Federation South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) is an association of the football playing nations in South Asia. Incorporated in 1997, it is a regional subsidiary of Asian Football Confederation. The members of the association are Bangladesh, Bhutan, A ...

(SAFF), determining the sub-continental champion of

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

History

India is most successful team of this region. They won the title 9 times which is 7 times more than second most successful team Maldives (having won 2 times). Total countries that currently compete in the tournaments are

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It is held every two years.

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

joined SAFF in 2005 and left the association in 2015 to become a founding member of

Central Asian Football Association Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) is one of five regional bodies that govern association football in Asia. It governs association football, futsal, and beach football in Central Asia. Headquartered in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, CAFA consists ...

(CAFA). The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship kicked off in Lahore in 1993, evolving out of its forerunner, the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (SAARC) Gold Cup. Since its inception, the biennial competition has developed into South Asia's premier football tournament, promoting the regional development of the game. The SAFF Championship 2001 was first postponed from Oct/Nov 2001 to Jan/Feb 2002 due to the suspension of the

Bangladesh Football Federation Bangladesh Football Federation (, ''Bānglādesh fūṭbôl fēḍārēshôn'') is the governing body that administers the sport of association football in Bangladesh. It is in charge of running the country's men's and women's national teams, ...

from FIFA; the tournament finally took place in 2003. The 2018 edition was hosted by Bangladesh. The 2021 edition of the tournament was postponed twice to October 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Organisation

Sports marketing, media, and event management firm,

Sportfive Sportfive (stylized as ''SPORTFIVE'') is a German based international sports marketing agency with offices around the world. The agency operates in sports consulting, partnership sales, marketing and sponsorship activation. Its headquarters are ...

(formerly Lagardère Sports) has been involved in the tournament since 2025.

Title sponsorship

Results

Statistics

Performance by nation

:Bold = ''Hosts'' :* = ''No longer SAFF member'' :³ = ''Invited as guest teams from WAFF''

Participating nations

;Legend * – Champions * – Runners-up * – Third place * – Fourth place * – Semifinals¹ *GS – Group stage *DQ – Disqualified/Suspended by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

/ AFC/

SAFF South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) is an association of the Association football, football playing nations in South Asia. Incorporated in 1997, it is a regional subsidiary of Asian Football Confederation. The members of the association are ...

. *Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament * — Hosts * × – Did not enter * × – Withdrew before tournament begins * — Not part of SAFF ¹The third-place match was not played in 1995 and has not been played 2003 onwards.
²Including India U23 team.
³Left

and joined CAFA in 2015.
⁴Invited as a guest team from the WAFF.

All-time table

¹Including India U23 team.

Top goal scorers by edition

Overall top goal scorers

Winning coaches

Notes

References

External links

*
RSSSF page on the South Asian Federation Cup

South Asia Football–Complete SAFF website
{{SAFF Football SAFF competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1993 1993 establishments in Asia