2026 SAFF U-23 Championship

Category:Use dmy dates from July 2025

2026 SAFF U-23 Championship
Tournament details
Host countryBangladesh
CityDhaka
DatesMay 2026
Teams7 (from 1 sub-confederation)
Venue1
2027 →

The 2026 SAFF U-23 Championship is the inaugural edition of the SAFF U-23 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-23 national teams from South Asia region, organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The tournament scheduled to be played in Dhaka, Bangladesh from May 2026.[1][2][3]

Host selection

At the SAFF Executive Committee virtual meeting, held on 8 January 2025 in the Dhaka, Bangladesh. The SAFF tournament committee announced the name of Bangladesh host country of the tournament.[4]

Participating teams

The following seven teams will participate in the competition.

Team Appearancesin the
SAFF U-23 Championship		 Previous
best performance
 Bangladesh (Host)
Debut
N/a
 Bhutan
Debut
N/a
 India
Debut
N/a
 Maldives
Debut
N/a
   Nepal
Debut
N/a
 Pakistan
Debut
N/a
 Sri Lanka
Debut
N/a

Players eligibility

Each team had to register a squad of minimum 16 and maximum 23 players. Players born on or after 1 January 2004 were eligible to compete in the tournament (as per FIFA eligibility rules of underage competitions[5]).

Squads

Venue

All matches will held at the National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Dhaka
National Stadium
23°43′40.2″N 90°24′48.4″E / 23.727833°N 90.413444°E / 23.727833; 90.413444 (Dhaka)Category:Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
Capacity: 36,000 seats

Draw

The draw ceremony of the tournament yet to be held.

Draw result

Draw Ceremony has not been held yet.

Match officials

Referees

Not yet selected. List Will be selected soon.

Assistant referees

Not yet selected. List Will be selected soon.

Group stage

  • All matches were played at Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  • Times listed are UTC+6

The groups have not been determined yet. They will be determined soon.

Knockout stage

Not yet determined. Will be determined soon.

Winner

Not yet determined. Will be determined soon.

Awards

Not yet determined. Will be determined soon.

Statistics

Not yet determined. Will be determined soon.

Goalscorers

Not yet determined. Will be determined soon.

Hat-tricks

Not yet determined. Will be determined soon.

Broadcasting rights

CountryBroadcasterRef.
India FanCode fancode.com

See also

References

  1. ↑ "সাফ নিয়ে বিশাল পরিকল্পনা কাজী সালাউদ্দিনের". www.footballbangladesh.com (in Bengali). 16 September 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2025.Category:CS1 Bengali-language sources (bn)
  2. ↑ "SAFF Youth Competition Calendar revised". www.saffederation.org. 24 December 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "SAFF to announced 2024 tournament calendar". South Asian Football Federation. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "ক্লাব টুর্নামেন্ট আয়োজনসহ নতুন উদ্যোগ সাফের". www.dhakapost.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 12 July 2025.Category:CS1 Bengali-language sources (bn)
  5. ↑ "Regulations for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025 (Article 24: Eligibility)" (PDF). The Hub (FIFA). Retrieved 11 May 2025.
Category:SAFF competitions Category:Under-23 association football competitions
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