2018 SAFF U-15 Championship

2018 SAFF U-15 Championship
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
	← 2017 2019 → All statistics correct as of 30 April 2019.

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]

Host selection

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
Nepal Bangladesh Maldives Pakistan ‡	India Bhutan Sri Lanka † Pakistan

† Sri Lanka withdrew before tournament

‡ Pakistan drawn to Group B, thus both the groups redefined

Squads

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

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

Lalitpur
ANFA Complex
Capacity: 6,000

Match officials

Referees

Sudish Kumar Pandey (Nepal)
Bhubon Mohon Tarafder (Bangladesh)
Zaeem Ali (Maldives)
Pema Tshewang (Bhutan)
Muhammad Ahmad Rauf (Pakistan)
Harish Kundu (India)

Assistant Referees

Yunal Malla (Nepal)
Sk Ikball Alam (Bangladesh)
Jaufar Rasheed (Maldives)
Yonten Chophel (Bhutan)
Dilawar Khan (Pakistan)
Kishan Joshi (India)

Group stage

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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Status
1	Bangladesh	2	2	0	11	1	+10	6	Qualified for Knockout stage
2	Nepal (H)	2	1	1	5	2	+3	3	Qualified for Knockout stage
3	Maldives	2	0	2	0	13	−13	0

Source: SAFF
(H) Hosts

25 October 2018

14:30 UTC+5:45

Nepal	4–0	Maldives
Jaan Limbu 27' Namas Thapa Magar 35' Sasank Bohora 63' Dipesh Rai 68'	SAFF

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 2941

Referee: Muhammad Ahmad Rauf (Pakistan)

27 October 2018

14:30 UTC+5:45

Bangladesh	9–0	Maldives
Nihat Jaman Ucchash 11', 19', 23', 46' Mehedi Hassan 44' Rasel Ahmed 47', 66' Ashikur Rahman 80', 90+5'	SAFF

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 2000

Referee: Pema Tshewang (Bhutan)

29 October 2018

14:30 UTC+5:45

Bangladesh	2–1	Nepal
Ibne Ahad Sakil 2' Rajon Howladar 46'	SAFF	Jaan Limbu 36'

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 1968

Referee: Harish Kundu (India)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Status
1	Pakistan	2	2	0	6	1	+5	6	Qualified for Knockout stage
2	India	2	1	1	5	2	+3	3	Qualified for Knockout stage
3	Bhutan	2	0	2	0	8	−8	0

Source: SAFF

25 October 2018

11:30 UTC+5:45

India	1–2	Pakistan
Vanlalruatfela Thlacheu 53'	SAFF AIFF	Adnan Justin 36' Wasif 85'

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 2807

Referee: Bhubon Mohon Tarafder (Bangladesh)

27 October 2018

11:30 UTC+5:45

Bhutan	0–4	Pakistan
	SAFF	Mudassar Nazar 20' Iftikar Ahmed 23' Moin Ahmed 29', 42'

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 1506

Referee: Zaeem Ali (Maldives)

29 October 2018

10:30 UTC+5:45

Bhutan	0–4	India
	SAFF AIFF	Shubho Paul 4' (pen.) Kushang Subba 66' Aman Xalxo 89'

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 3019

Referee: Sudish Kumar Pandey (Nepal)

Bracket

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

All matches will be played at Lalitpur, Nepal.
Times listed are UTC+05:45

Semi-finals

1 November 2018

10:30 UTC+5:45

Bangladesh	1–1	India
Ashikur Rahman 90+3' (pen.)	SAFF AIFF	Harsh Patre 17'
Penalties
Tauhidul Riday Raja Ansari Kamran Raju Rostom Mia	4–2	Harsh Patre Lalrampana Pautu Kushang Subba Fredy Chawngthansanga

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 1944

Referee: Zaeem Ali (Maldives)

1 November 2018

14:30 UTC+5:45

Pakistan	4–0	Nepal
Jaan Limbu 54' (o.g.) Mohib Ullah 59' (pen.), 68' (pen.) Moin Ahmed 77'	SAFF

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 1632

Referee: Pema Tshewang (Bhutan)

Third place

3 November 2018

10:30 UTC+5:45

India	1–0	Nepal
Vanlalruatfela Thlacheu 18'	SAFF AIFF

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 914

Referee: Bhubon Mohon Tarafder (Bangladesh)

Final

3 November 2018

14:30 UTC+5:45

Bangladesh	1–1	Pakistan
Haseeb Khan 25' (o.g.)	Report	Mohib Ullah 54' (pen.)
Penalties
Rajon Howladar Tauhidul Islam Riday Raja Ansari Rostom Mia Md. Rabi Ul Islam	3–2	Junaid Shah Adnan Justin Mohib Ullah Wasif Mudassar Nazar

ANFA Complex, Lalitpur, Nepal

Attendance: 6413

Referee: Sudish Kumar Pandey (Nepal) ^[4]

Winner

2018 SAFF U-15 Championship champions
Bangladesh Second title

Awards

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

There were 47 goals scored in 10 matches, for an average of 4.7 goals per match.

4 goals

Nihat Jaman Ucchash

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

References

^ "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.

[1] "SAFF U15 draw held". South Asian Football Federation.

[srilanka_withdrew-2] "SAFF Revises SAFF U15 Match Fixtures After Sri Lanka Pulls Out". Goal Nepal. 4 October 2018.

[3] "SAFF Under-15 Championship: Bangladesh beat Pakistan on penalties to claim second title". saffederation.org. SAFF. Retrieved 3 November 2018.

[4] "FIFA Referees News: 2018 SAFF U-15 Championship - Final". 3 November 2018.

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