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2026 SAFF Championship

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2026 SAFF Championship
Tournament details
Host countryBangladesh
Dates21 September – 6 October
Teams7 (from SAFF confederations) (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue1 (in 2 host cities)
← 2023
2028 →

The 2026 SAFF Championship will be the 15th edition of the SAFF Championship, the biennial international men's football championship of South Asia organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).[1][2]

India, the defending champions, won their record-extending ninth championship by defeating Kuwait in the final in the previous edition.[3] SAFF General Secretary Purushottam Kattel has said that VAR technology may be included in this 2026 Edition.[4][5]

Host selection

[edit]

This edition was expected to be held in a home-and-away format, before opting for the centralized one in Sri Lanka.[6] In April 2025, the competition was postponed to 2026 due to logistical issues with the venues, preparation periods for the competing nations, and the desire to coincide the tournament with the excitement from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[7]

However, Sri Lanka withdrew as hosts due to logistics and various limitations. Subsequently, during the SAFF Executive Committee meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand on 26 January 2026, it was decided that the 2026 SAFF Championship will be hosted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, from 21 September to 6 October 2026. Although Bangladesh was selected as the host, SAFF General Secretary Purushottam Kattel stated that the official announcement of the host country’s name has been pending due to the finalization of sponsors. He noted that sponsors are expected to be secured very soon, after which Bangladesh will be officially announced as the host and the full match schedule will be released.[8][9]

Participating nations

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All seven SAFF members are expected to compete.

Country Appearance Previous best performance FIFA ranking
(April 2026)
 Bangladesh (H) 14th Champions (2003) 181 Decrease 1 (1 April 2026)[10]
 Bhutan 10th Semi-finals (2008) 186 Increase 6 (1 April 2026)[10]
 India 15th Champions (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021, 2023) 136 Increase 5 (1 April 2026)[10]
 Maldives 13th Champions (2008, 2018) 172 Increase 1 (1 April 2026)[10]
   Nepal 15th Runners-up (2021) 176 Increase 6 (1 April 2026)[10]
 Pakistan 13th Third-place (1997) 202 Decrease 3 (1 April 2026)[10]
 Sri Lanka 15th Champions (1995) 191 Increase 3 (1 April 2026)[10]

Squads

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Main article: 2026 SAFF Championship squads

Venues

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All matches are expected to be hosted across two venues, which will be selected from a shortlist of three potential locations. The National Stadium in Dhaka and the Bashundhara Kings Arena are currently the primary candidates. Additionally, the Sylhet District Stadium has been included as a potential alternative venue. The SAFF will finalize any two of these three venues for this edition of the championship.[11][12]

Dhaka Sylhet
Location of venues in Bangladesh
National Stadium Bashundhara Kings Arena Sylhet District Stadium
23°44′7.8″N 90°24′40.7″E / 23.735500°N 90.411306°E / 23.735500; 90.411306 (National Stadium) 23°49′20″N 90°29′06″E / 23.82222°N 90.48500°E / 23.82222; 90.48500 (Kings Arena) 24°53′41.28″N 91°51′37.44″E / 24.8948000°N 91.8604000°E / 24.8948000; 91.8604000 (Sylhet Stadium)
Capacity: 22,400 Capacity: 6,000 Capacity: 15,000
National Stadium Kings Arena Sylhet Stadium

Draw

[edit]

The draw ceremony of this tournament has not been held yet. The schedule will be announced soon.

Draw pot

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Pot Will be published soon.

Draw result

[edit]

Draw Ceremony has not been held yet.

Match officials

[edit]
Referees

Not yet selected. List Will be selected soon.

Assistant referees

Not yet selected. List Will be selected soon.

Group stage

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  TBA (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2  TBA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  TBA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  TBA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: unknown. Source: [citation needed]
(H) Hosts
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA

Group B

[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  TBA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2  TBA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  TBA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  TBA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: unknown. Source: [citation needed]
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA

Knockout stage

[edit]

Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 To be determined
 
 
  TBA
 
 To be determined
 
  TBA
 
  TBA
 
 To be determined
 
  TBA
 
  TBA
 
 
  TBA
 

Semi-finals

[edit]
TBA v TBA
TBA v TBA

Final

[edit]
Main article: 2026 SAFF Championship final
TBA v TBA

Champion

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 SAFF Championship 2026 

TBA
th title

Prize money

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Prize money amounts were announced in 2026.

Position Amount (USD)
Champions TBD
Runner-up TBD
Total TBD

Statistics

[edit]

Goalscorers

[edit]

TBD

Awards

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Most Valuable Player Top Scorer Goalkeeper Fair Play
TBD TBD TBD TBD

Marketing

[edit]

The marketing rights for the tournament have been awarded to Sportfive until 2029.[1]

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster Ref.
 Bangladesh TBD
 India TBD
 Maldives TBD
   Nepal TBD
 Pakistan TBD
 Sri Lanka TBD
 Bhutan TBD

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b khelnow
  2. ^ "Format of SAFF Championship likely to change". unb.com.bd. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Gurpreet Singh Sandhu the penalty hero again as India beat Kuwait to become SAFF champions". ESPN.com. 4 July 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  4. ^ "বাংলাদেশে সাফ চ্যাম্পিয়নশিপ, থাকতে পারে ভিএআর". Channel 24 (in Bengali). 8 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  5. ^ "বাংলাদেশে বসছে সাফ চ্যাম্পিয়নশিপ, সেপ্টেম্বরেই সম্ভাব্য আয়োজন". Independent tv (in Bengali). 9 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  6. ^ "Sri Lanka to host the SAFF Championship 2025 after 17 years".
  7. ^ "SAFF Championship postponed to 2026; Sri Lanka to host invitational tournament instead". Khel Now. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
  8. ^ "বাংলাদেশে বসছে সাফ চ্যাম্পিয়নশিপ, সেপ্টেম্বরেই সম্ভাব্য আয়োজন". Independent tv (in Bengali). 9 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  9. ^ "සාෆ් පාපන්දු තරගාවලිය සැප්තැම්බර් 21 වැනිදා සිට". Kelimandala (in Sinhala). 26 January 2026. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". 1 April 2026. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  11. ^ "বাংলাদেশে সাফ চ্যাম্পিয়নশিপ, থাকতে পারে ভিএআর". Channel 24 (in Bengali). 8 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  12. ^ "বাংলাদেশে বসছে সাফ চ্যাম্পিয়নশিপ, সেপ্টেম্বরেই সম্ভাব্য আয়োজন". Independent TV (in Bengali). 9 April 2026. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
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