2017 SAFF U-18 Championship

2017 SAFF U-18 Championship
Tournament details
Host country	Bhutan
Dates	18–27 September
Teams	5 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	Changlimithang Stadium (in Thimphu host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Nepal (2nd title)
Runners-up	Bangladesh
Third place	India
Tournament statistics
Matches played	10
Goals scored	26 (2.6 per match)
Attendance	38,737 (3,874 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Jafar Iqbal; (5 goals)
Best player(s)	Orgyen Tshering
Fair play award	Bhutan
	← 2015 2019 →

The 2017 SAFF U-18 Championship was the 2nd edition of the SAFF U-18 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-18 national teams organized by SAFF. But since most teams use to send their U-18 team keeping in mind 2018 AFC U-19 Championship qualification it has been officially changed to U-18 tournament. The tournament was hosted by Bhutan 18–27 September 2017.^[1]

It was the first time that Bhutan was hosting SAFF event.

Host selection

A draw for tournament ceremony was held on 10 July 2017 at conference room of Bangladesh Football Federation.

SAFF general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal and BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag, were among others present on the occasion.^[1]

Player eligibility

Players born on or after 1 January 1999 are eligible to compete in the tournament.

Participating teams

On 6 September 2017 it was announced that Sri Lanka withdrew from the tournament whereas Pakistan didn't take part due to internal turmoil.^[2]

Team	Appearances in the SAFF U-18 Championship	Previous best performance
Bangladesh	2nd	Semi finals (2015)
Bhutan (Host)	2nd	Group Stage
India	2nd	Runners-Up (2015)
Maldives	2nd	Group Stage
Nepal	2nd	Champion (2015)

Venue

Thimphu
Changlimithang Stadium
Capacity: 25,000

Thimphu

Match officials

Referees

Abdur Rahman Dhali
Ugyen Dorji
Pratik Mondal
Hussain Sinan
Laba Khatri
Farook M. Irshad

Assistant Referees

Mohammad Shah Alam
Phurpa Wangchuk
Mohan Ravi
Karma Yeshi
Padam Bahadur Bhujel
Sampath Liyanagunawardena

Referee Supervisor

Tayeb Hasan Shamsuzzaman

Format

After Sri Lanka U18 opted out from the event. Now the championship will be played on round robin basis. Each team will face every other team once respectively and the team with the most points will win the title.^[3]

Standings

All matches are played in Thimphu, Bhutan.^[4]
Times listed are UTC+06:00.

Key to colours in group tables
	Champion

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Status
1	Nepal (C)	4	3	1	6	2	+4	9^[a]	Champion
2	Bangladesh	4	3	1	9	5	+4	9^[a]
3	India	4	2	2	8	7	+1	6
4	Bhutan (H)	4	2	2	2	5	−3	6
5	Maldives	4	0	4	1	7	−6	0

Source: Futbol24
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored;
(C) Champions; (H) Hosts
Notes:

18 September 2017

16:00 UTC+06:00