SAFF U-23 Championship
Football tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The SAFF U-23 Championship is a biennial football championship for male footballers under the age of 23 and is organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The championship will be held for the first time in August 2026 in Bangladesh.[1][2][3] The tournaments are held just before AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification matches, keeping in mind about proper preparation for that.
| Founded | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Region | South Asia (SAFF) |
| Teams | 7 |
| Website | saffederation |
 2026 SAFF U-23 Championship | |
History
On 9 January 2025, the SAFF virtual meeting was held in Dhaka. At that meeting, the SAFF tournament committee decided that, the SAFF Under-23 Championship will be held around May 2026. It is hoped that through this competition, teams from the region will be able to prepare for the Youth Olympics and the U-23 Asian Cup.[4]
Results
| Ed. | Year | Hosts | Final | Third place playoff | No. of teams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 1 | 2026 |  Bangladesh |
7 | ||||||
Participating nations
- Legend
- 1st – Champions
- 2nd – Runners-up
- 3rd – Third place
- 4th – Fourth place
- GS – Group stage
- q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
- — Hosts
- × – Did not enter
- • – Did not qualify
- × – Withdrew before qualification
- — Withdrew after qualification
- — Disqualified after qualification
Statistics
Performance by nation
Awards
| Tournament | Most Valuable Player | Top scorer(s) | Goals | Best Goalkeeper | Fair play award |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Winning coaches
| Year | Team | Coach |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | TBD | TBD |