The AFC Solidarity Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries who were out of the continental qualifiers at early stage. The tournament was created following the termination of the AFC Challenge Cup.
Format The competition featured 10 national teams, where each team was guaranteed a minimum of 4 matches. The first edition took place in November 2016. The second edition, scheduled for November and December 2020, was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and later abolished.
The tournament was abolished by the AFC on 27 November 2023, because the revamped qualification format for the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup dovetailed with the initial objectives of the AFC Solidarity Cup, as there was now more exposure for lower-ranked teams to compete over a longer period of time.
Results YearHostFinalThird place matchNumber of teamsChampionsScoreRunners-upThird placeScoreFourth place20161–03–272020Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic </onlyinclude>
Successful national teams Team Champion Runners-up Third place Fourth place 1 (2016) 1 (2016) 1 (2016) 1 (2016)
Champions by region Federation (Region)Champion(s)NumberEAFF (East Asia)WAFF (West Asia)CAFA (Central Asia)AFF (Southeast Asia)SAFF (South Asia)Nepal 1 title
Participating nations Legend
The number of teams in each of the final tournaments is shown. Teams 2016(7) 2020 × × 0 ‡ × 0 4th × 1 3rd × 1 2nd × 1 GS × 1 1st × 1 × × 0 GS × 1 GS × 1
Summary RankTeamPartMWDLGFGAGDPoints115311119+21021422062+4831522185+38414112770451310235-2361301225-3171201104-41
The Northern Mariana Islands made their AFC Solidarity Cup debut after having been approved by the AFC to participate (the Northern Mariana Islands is an associate member of the AFC).
Awards TournamentMost Valuable PlayerTop scorer(s)GoalsFair play award2016 Leong Ka Hang Shahrazen Said Xaysongkham Champathong Niki Torrão 4
Winning coaches Year Team Coaches2016 Koji Gyotoku
See also FIFA Series FIFA ASEAN Cup
References