Soccer South Asian Cup 2015
| Soccer South Asian Championship SAFF Championship 2015 |
|
|---|---|
| Number of nations | 7th |
| South Asian Champion |
 India (7th title)
|
| venue |
India
|
| Opening game | 23rd December 2015 |
| Endgame | January 3, 2016 |
| Games | 12 |
| Gates | 44 (⌀: 3.67 per game) |
| Top scorer |
 Khaibar Amani (4 goals)
|
| Best player |
Sunil Chhetri
|
 yellow cards
|
34 (⌀: 2.83 per game) |
 Yellow-red cards
|
0 |
 Red cards
|
1 (⌀: 0.08 per game) |
The 2015 South Asian Football Championship (officially SAFF Championship 2015 , also called SAFF Suzuki Cup 2015 for sponsorship reasons ) is the eleventh edition of the tournament and took place in India from December 23, 2015 to January 3, 2016 . India hosted the competition for the third time after 1999 and 2011 .
Seven teams from the South Asian region competed for the title of South Asian champion. The tournament was originally scheduled for July 25, 2015, but was postponed due to the monsoon season. For the defending champions Afghanistan it was the last participation in the competition, as the association has been a member of the Central Asian Football Federation since 2014 . Pakistan withdrew from the competition in November 2015.
The hosts won the tournament for the seventh time by beating Afghanistan 2-1 after extra time in the final.
Venue and mode
As early as the 2013 South Asian Cup , it was reported that India was interested in hosting the next tournament. On September 10, 2013 it was decided during a meeting in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu that India would be the next host of the tournament. All games were played at the Trivandrum International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram .
The eight participating teams were divided into two groups of four teams each. In the group stage, the teams played against each other once. The group winner and the runner-up reached the semi-finals, the winners of the semi-finals played the final. A game for third place did not take place.
draw
The draw took place in New Delhi on September 16, 2015 . The following groups were drawn:
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
|
India ( squad )
|
Afghanistan ( squad )
|
 Nepal ( squad )
|
 Maldives ( squad )
|
 Sri Lanka ( squad )
|
 Bhutan ( squad )
|
 Pakistan ( squad )
|
 Bangladesh ( squad )
|
Group stage
Group A
The Pakistani national soccer team , which was actually drawn from Group A , withdrew from the competition in November 2015.
| Pl. | country | Sp. | S. | U | N | Gates | Diff. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
India
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6: 1 | +5 | 6th |
| 2. |
Sri Lanka
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1: 2 | −1 | 3 |
| 3. |
Nepal
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1: 5 | −4 | 0 |
| Wed., December 23, 2015 | |||
| Nepal | - | Sri Lanka | 0: 1 (0: 0) |
| Friday, December 25, 2015 | |||
| Sri Lanka | - | India | 0: 2 (0: 0) |
| Sun, December 27, 2015 | |||
| India | - | Nepal | 4: 1 (1: 1) |
Group B
| Pl. | country | Sp. | S. | U | N | Gates | Diff. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Afghanistan
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11: 1 | +10 | 9 |
| 2. |
Maldives
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7: 6 | +1 | 6th |
| 3. |
Bangladesh
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4: 7 | −3 | 3 |
| 4th |
Bhutan
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1: 9 | −8 | 0 |
| Wed., December 24, 2015 | |||
| Maldives | - | Bhutan | 3: 1 (2: 1) |
| Wed., December 24, 2015 | |||
| Afghanistan | - | Bangladesh | 4: 0 (3: 0) |
| Friday, December 26, 2015 | |||
| Bangladesh | - | Maldives | 1: 3 (0: 1) |
| Friday, December 26, 2015 | |||
| Bhutan | - | Afghanistan | 0: 3 (0: 2) |
| Sun, December 28, 2015 | |||
| Bhutan | - | Bangladesh | 0: 3 (0: 2) |
| Sun, December 28, 2015 | |||
| Afghanistan | - | Maldives | 4: 1 (2: 1) |
Final round
Semifinals
| Thursday, December 31, 2015 | |||
| India |
- |
Maldives
|
3: 2 (2: 1) |
| Thursday, December 31, 2015 | |||
| Afghanistan |
- |
Sri Lanka
|
5: 0 (1: 0) |
final
| Sun, January 3, 2016 | |||
| India |
- |
Afghanistan
|
2: 1 n.V. (1: 1; 0: 0) |