The 2026 SAFF U-20 Championship was the 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 took place in Malé, Maldives, from 23 March to 3 April 2026.
On 3 April 2026, Bangladesh clinched their second title by defeating India 4–3 on penalties in the final after a 0–0 draw at the end of normal time.
Venue The National Football Stadium of Malé, Maldives hosted all the matches. Malé National Football Stadium Capacity: 11,850
Participant teams The following seven national teams participated in the tournament. Team Appearances Previous best performance 8th ) 7th 8th (Host) 8th 8th 5th Group stage (2019, 2022) 2nd
Draw The draw ceremony of the tournament was held on 25 January 2026.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3 (Host)
Draw result +Group ATeamA1A2A3A4+Group BTeamB1B2B3
Players eligibility Players born on or after 1 January 2007 were eligible to take part in the tournament.
Squads
All the teams announced their squads before the tournament began.
Match officials Referees
SM Jashim Akhter Jatinder Singh Raeef Rauf (†) Umesh Bidari (†) Mohamed Rideewita Withana Chirantha Virendha Rai (†) Anjum Adnan (†)
Assistant Referees & Fourth Officials
Bikash Sarker Wangchuk Phurpa Churchil Rana Shaheem Hussain Madhav Khatri Chhettri Don Lakshan Sampath Dilawar Khan
Match Commissioners
Abdul Ghafoor Abdul Hameed Mohamed Fairoze Muhiseen
Referee Accessors
Hettiarachchige Chathuranga Dilan Perera
(†): Also performed as assistant referee in some matches.
Group stage
Key to colours in group tablesGroup winners and runners-up advanced to the Semi-finals
Group A
Nepal qualified for the Semi-finals as a result of this match.
Bhutan qualified for the Semi-finals as a result of this match.
Group B
India and Bangladesh qualified for the Semi-finals as a result of this match.
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-finals
Final
Champion
Statistics Goalscorers
Awards The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament: Fair Play Award Best goalkeeper Top scorer(s) Most valuable player Md Ismail Hossain Mahin Ilan Imran Omang Dodum Omang Dodum
Broadcasting SAFF officially released the list of broadcast channels for the tournament. Broadcaster(s)Territory Sportzworkz(YouTube channel) No restricted territory
See also 2026 SAFF U-17 Championship 2026 SAFF U-23 Championship 2026 SAFF Futsal Championship 2026 SAFF Club Championship 2026 SAFF U-19 Women's Championship
References
External links Official website