The draw for the 2023 SAFF Championship hosted by India took place in New Delhi on Wednesday. It will be the 14th edition of the competition being held in Bengaluru from 21 June 2023 to 4 July 2023. India are also the defending champions having lifted the title a record eight times, most recently in 2021 defeating Nepal in the final.
Alongside the five nations from the South Asian Federation namely India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan, Kuwait and Lebanon will be participating in the tournament this time as invited nations. Pakistan's participation in India might come into question due to political reasons but there is no confirmation on it while Sri Lanka is disqualified after receiving a ban from FIFA.
Eight teams were divided into two groups of four with the top two sides from each group qualifying for the semifinals of the competition. The group stage games will be played in a single round-robin format. All the matches are to be played at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.
Group A
India (101)
Kuwait (143)
Nepal (174)
Pakistan (195)
Group A consists of hosts and holders India, automatically drawn to the group, who will take on Kuwait as one of the guest sides of the tournament along with Nepal and Pakistan. The Blue Tigers are the highest-ranked nation in the group in terms of FIFA rankings. Pakistan are the lowest-ranked country in this edition of the competition.
Fixtures
21 June 2023
Kuwait vs Nepal - 15:30
India vs Pakistan - 19:30
24 June 2023
Pakistan vs Kuwait - 15:30
Nepal vs India - 19:30
27 June 2023
Nepal vs Pakistan - 15:30
India vs Kuwait - 19:30
Group B
Lebanon (99)
Maldives (154)
Bhutan (185)
Bangladesh (192)
The other invitee, Lebanon is paired with Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh in Group B. The WAFF nation are the highest-ranked side in the tournament. Maldives and Bangladesh have a combination of three SAFF Championship titles between them with the former winning it twice.
Fixtures
22 June 2023
Lebanon vs Bangladesh - 15:30
Maldives vs Bhutan - 19:30
25 June 2023
Bangladesh vs Maldives - 15:30
Bhutan vs Lebanon - 19:30
28 June 2023
Lebanon vs Maldives - 15:30
Bhutan vs Bangladesh - 19:30
Knockouts
Semifinals
1 July 2023
SF1: Group A Champion vs Group B Runners-up
SF2: Group B Champions vs Group A Runners-up
Final
4 July 2023
SF1 winner vs SF 2 winner
Note: All timings are in Indian Standard time (IST)
