2026 SAFF U-20 Championship

2026 SAFF U-20 Championship
Tournament details
Host countryMaldives
Dates23 March–4 April 2026
Teams7 (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue1 (in 1 host city)
← 2024
2027 →

The 2026 SAFF U-20 Championship will be 8th edition of the SAFF U-20 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-20 national teams from South Asia region, organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The tournament is scheduled to be played in Maldives from 23 March–4 April 2026.

Bangladesh are the defending champions, having won their first title in the 2024 edition by beating Nepal.

Venue

The National Football Stadium in capital Malé will host all the matches.

Malé
National Football Stadium
Capacity: 11,850[1]

Participant teams

The following seven national teams will participate in the tournament.

Team Appearances Previous best performance
 Bangladesh 8th Champions (2024)
 Bhutan 7th Fourth place (2017, 2019)
 India 8th Champions (2019, 2022, 2023)
 Maldives (Host) 8th Third place (2019)
   Nepal 8th Champions (2015, 2017)
 Sri Lanka 5th Group stage (2019, 2022)
 Pakistan 2nd Runners-up (2023)

Players eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 2007 are eligible to compete in the tournament.

Squads

The following squads were announced for the tournament.

 Bangladesh[2]  Pakistan  Maldives

1. Md Ismail Hossain Mahin (GK)
2. S. P. Rafiz (GK)
3. Md Nahidul Islam (GK)
4. Raj Chowdury (GK)
5. Md Tasin Saheb (GK)
6. Md Yousuf Ali (CB)
7. Md Abdul Riyad Fahim (CB)
8. Ashikur Rahman (CB)
9. Md Ikramul Islam (CB)
10. Md Mithu Chowdhury (CB)
11. Md Sharif Uddin Nirob (CB)
12. Sheikh Sangram (CB)
13. Md Sifat Sahariar (CB)
14. Md Siam Omit (R/LFB)
15. Salah Uddin Sahed (R/LFB)
16. Sani Das (AFB)
17. Ihsan Habib Riduan (LB)
18. Md Sabbir Islam (RB)
19. Chandon Roy (CM)
20. Samuel Raksam (CM)
21. Md Ratul Hassan (CM)
22. Md Kamal Merdha (CM)
23. Nazmul Huda Faysal (AM)
24. Mohammad Shofiqur Rahman (CM)
25. Shawon Ritchil (R/LW)
26. Md Mursed Ali (LW)
27. Sree Sumon Soren (LW)
28. Md Manik (FW)
29. Md Rifat Kazi (FW)
30. Md Opu Rahman (FW)
31. Ashik (FW)
32. Md Joy Ahamed (RW)
33. Abdul Kadir (LW)
34. Bitoshoke Chakma (FW)
35. Sushrata Mondal (CB/RB)
36. Ibrahim Nawaz (CM)
37. Amir Sami (FW)
38. Farzad Syed Aftab (LW/RW)

 TBD TBD
   Nepal[3]  Sri Lanka  Bhutan

1. Akash Raya
2. Alik Shrestha
3. Anubhab Puri
4. Bhakta Bahadur Pariyar
5. Bigyan Khadka
6. Bijav Uraw
7. Binayak Tharu
8. Bishesh Baniya
9. Darshan Adhikari
10. Dharmendra Kunwar
11. Dip Shrestha
12. Ekraj B.K.
13. Ganesh Pulami Magar
14. Greman Shrestha
15. John Bista
16. Joshwa Budhathoki
17. Karan Tamang
18. Krish Magar
19. Krishna Ale Magar
20. Lachhu Thapa
21. Nishan Rai Lawat
22. Pawan Pakhrin
23. Pemba Norbhu Bhote
24. Prashant Moktan
25. Prasun Tamang
26. Ram Thapa
27. Ranjeet Lama
28. Rohan Moktan
29. Rohit Shrestha
30. Ronesh Burja Magar
31. Rosan Tamang
32. Sabin Lungeli Magar
33. Sabin Rai
34. Samir Thapa
35. Siddhant Khadka
36. Subash Bam
37. Sujan Dangol
38. Sujal Malla
39. Sujan Basnet
40. Upendra Lwagun

TBD TBD
 India
TBD

Draw

The draw ceremony of the tournament was held on 25 January 2026.[4]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3
 Bangladesh
 Maldives (Host) 		   Nepal
 India 		 Bhutan
 Sri Lanka
 Pakistan

Draw result

Group A
Pos Team
A1  Maldives
A2    Nepal
A3  Bhutan
A4  Sri Lanka
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Bangladesh
B2  India
B3  Pakistan

Match officials

Referees

Not determined yet

Assistant Referees

Not determined yet

Group stage

All times listed below are local, MVT (UTC+05:00).
Key to colours in group tables
Group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Maldives (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to
knockout stage
2    Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Bhutan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Sri Lanka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 23 March 2026. Source: SAFF
(H) Hosts
Bhutan v   Nepal
Maldives v Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka v   Nepal
Bhutan v Maldives
Maldives v   Nepal
Bhutan v Sri Lanka

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Bangladesh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to
knockout stage
2  India 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Pakistan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 24 March 2026. Source: SAFF
Bangladesh v Pakistan
India v Pakistan
Bangladesh v India

Knockout stage

  • In the knockout stage, if a match finished goalless at the end of normal playing time, extra time would have been played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
1 April–National Football Stadium
 
 
Champion Group A
 
3 April–National Football Stadium
 
Runner-up Group
 
Winner SF1
 
1 April–National Football Stadium
 
Winner SF2
 
Champion Group B
 
 
Runner-up Group A
 

Semi-finals

Champion Group AvRunner-up Group B
Champion Group BvRunner-up Group A

Final

Winner SF1vWinner SF2

Statistics

Goalscorers

There have been 0 goals scored in 0 matches, for an average of -nan goals per match (as of 23 March 2026).


Broadcasting

Broadcaster(s) Territory Reference
Sportzworkz
(YouTube channel) 		No restricted territory 2026 SAFF U20 matches playlist on YouTube

See also

2026 in SAFF
Men's Championships
TBD Under-17 Under-20 Under-23 Senior Futsal Club
Women's Championships
TBD Under-17 Under-19 N/a Senior Futsal TBD Club

References

  1. ^ "National Stadium Maldives". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Bangladesh U-20 National Football Team announced the preliminary squad ahead of the SAFF U-20 Championship in Maldives". Facebook. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  3. ^ "The initial national U-20 men's team squad for the SAFF U-20 Championship has been reduced to 40". Facebook. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  4. ^ "SAFF U20 CHAMPIONSHIP MALDIVES 2026 DRAW CEREMONY". South Asian Football Federation. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
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