Football
SAFF Championship 2023: Preview, Indian squad, Schedule, Where to watch
Here's everything you need to know about the 2023 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship!
Indian Football team won 2021 edition of SAFF (Image via AIFF)
The 14th edition of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship is scheduled to take place from 21st June 2023 to 4th July 2023. All fifteen matches of the tournament will be hosted at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore. A total of eight teams will participate, with Kuwait and Lebanon invited as guest participants.
India enters the tournament as the defending champions, having won the previous edition in 2021. The Indian national team has a remarkable history in the SAFF Championship, clinching the title a record eight times.
Their victories came in the years 1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, and most recently, 2021, when they emerged as the inaugural champions of the competition.
Here's a rundown of CH and everything you need to know.
SAFF Participating Nations
The participating teams have been divided into two groups of four. The teams in each group will compete against each other in a round-robin format, meaning that every team will play against all of its group opponents. Following the conclusion of the group stage matches, the top team and the runner-up from each group will qualify for the knockout stages.
In the knockout stages, the winner of Group A will face the runner-up from Group B, and vice versa. This format sets the stage for exciting and competitive matches as the teams strive to secure a spot in the final.
| GROUP A | GROUP B |
| INDIA | LEBANON |
| KUWAIT | MALDIVES |
| NEPAL | BHUTAN |
| PAKISTAN | BANGLADESH |
Tournament Favourites
Coming off a triumphant Hero Intercontinental Cup campaign, momentum is in favour of the Blue Tigers. When we look at the statistics, Maldives is the second-most successful team in the competition, with two SAFF Championships in its artillery.
The defending champions, India are undoubtedly the favourites to clinch their 9th SAFF Championship. But 99th-ranked Lebanon (who has been invited as a guest nation, along with Kuwait) is a major obstacle for the Blue Tigers. Furthermore, Lebanon might be out for vengeance, looking to redeem their pride and glory after suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of India in the Hero Intercontinental Final.
India's Fixtures
In their opening match of the group stages, India will face their arch-rivals, Pakistan. This highly anticipated encounter is bound to generate immense excitement and fervor among football fans. As the group stages near their conclusion, India's last match will be against Kuwait, where they will aim to secure a positive result before progressing to the knockout stages.
| | | |
| 21st June | 07:30 PM | INDIA VS PAKISTAN |
| 24th June | 07:30 PM | INDIA VS NEPAL |
| 27th June | 07:30 PM | INDIA VS KUWAIT |
Knockout Fixtures
Group A toppers will meet the runners-up of Group B in semi-final 1 whereas, Group B toppers will meet the runners-up of Group A in semi-final 2 to earn a spot in the final of the 2023 SAFF Championship.
| SEMI-FINAL 1 | 1st July | 3:30 PM | A1 vs B2 |
| SEMI-FINAL 2 | 1st July | 7:30 PM | B1 vs A2 |
| FINAL | 4th July | 7:30 PM | SF1 Winner vs SF2 Winner |
India’s Squad
India’s 27-member squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh
Defenders: Subhasish Bose, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Akash Mishra, Mehtab Singh, and Rahul Bheke.
Midfielders: Liston Colaco, Ashique Kuruniyan, Rohit Kumar, Udanta Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Jeakson Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad, Lalengmawia Ralte, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rowllin Borges and Nandha Kumar.
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Rahim Ali
Head Coach: Igor Stimac
Where to watch
The SAFF Championship 2023 will be exclusively live-streamed on FanCode and DD sports.
