2019 SAFF Women's Championship

The 2019 SAFF Women's Championship was the 5th edition of the SAFF Women's Championship, the biennial international women's football championship contested by the national teams of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). Initially, scheduled from 17 to 26 December 2018 in Sri Lanka, the competition was rescheduled, as Sri Lanka withdrew as hosts.^[1][2][3] Afterwards, it was scheduled to be held in 2019 from 12 to 22 March^[4] and to be hosted by Nepal.^[5][6]

2019 SAFF Women's Championship

२०१९ साफ महिला च्याम्पियनसिप
Tournament details
Host country	Nepal
Dates	12–22 March
Teams	6
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	India (5th title)
Runners-up	Nepal
Tournament statistics
Matches played	9
Goals scored	33 (3.67 per match)
Attendance	30,200 (3,356 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Indumathi Kathiresan Sabitra Bhandari (4 goals each)
Best player(s)	Grace Dangmei
Fair play award	Bangladesh
← 2016 2022 →

India is the current champions having defeated Nepal by 3–1 goals on 22 March 2019 in the final.^[7]

Participating teams

Defending champions India and Bangladesh were pitted in Group B and Group A respectively. In Group A, Nepal who finished second in the first three editions of the tournament were drawn with 2016 runners-up Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan and in Group B, along with India, Maldives and Sri Lanka are placed.^[1][4] Afghanistan did not participate in this edition, though they played in the 2016 edition despite changing their sub-confederation from SAFF to CAFF in 2014. Later, Pakistan withdrew from the tournament.^[8]

Country	Appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA ranking Dec 2018
India	5th	Champions (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019)	62
Nepal (Host)	5th	Runners-up (2010, 2012, 2014, 2019)	108
Bangladesh	5th	Runners-up (2016)	125
Maldives	5th	Semi-finals (2016)	132
Sri Lanka	5th	Semi-finals (2012, 2014)	n/a
Bhutan	5th	Group stage (2010,2012,2014,2016)	n/a

Venue

The Sahid Rangsala in Biratnagar, Province No. 1, Nepal serves as the host venue for the SAFF Women's Championship.^[6][9]

Biratnagar	Biratnagar
Sahid Rangsala
Capacity: 10,000

Group stage

The group stage draw for the tournament was held on 13 November 2018 at the South Asian Football Federation head office in Dhaka.^[4]

• All matches were played at Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar, Nepal.
• Times listed are UTC+05:45.

Key to colours in group tables
	Group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Status
1	Nepal (H)	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	6	Qualified for Knockout stage
2	Bangladesh	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	3
3	Bhutan	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	0

Updated to match(es) played on 16 March 2019. Source: SAFF
(H) Hosts

12 March 2019

15:00

Nepal	3–0	Bhutan
Manjali 13' Sabitra 16' Niru 54'	SAFF ANFA

Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar

Attendance: 2,798

Referee: Mizanur Rahman (Bangladesh)

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14 March 2019

15:00

Bhutan	0–2	Bangladesh
	SAFF BFF	Mishrat 47' Sabina 85'

Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar

Attendance: 2,379

Referee: Ashish Chowdhury (India)

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16 March 2019

15:00

Bangladesh	0–3	Nepal
	Report	Parvin 6' (o.g.) Sabitra 23' Manjali 28'

Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar

Attendance: 4,687

Referee: Sanjay Chakrabarty (India)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Status
1	India	2	2	0	0	11	0	+11	6	Qualified for Knockout stage
2	Sri Lanka	2	1	0	1	2	5	−3	3
3	Maldives	2	0	0	2	0	8	−8	0

Updated to match(es) played on 17 March 2019. Source: SAFF

13 March 2019

15:00

India	6–0	Maldives
Sanju 27', 89' Grace 8' Sandhiya 13' Indumathi 23' Ratanbala 45+4'	SAFF AIFF

Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar

Attendance: 1,813

Referee: Ashmita Manandhar (Nepal)

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15 March 2019

15:00

Maldives	0–2	Sri Lanka
	SAFF ANFA	Chalini 40', 50'

Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar

Attendance: 1,464

Referee: Dulal Mridha (Bangladesh)

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17 March 2019

15:00

Sri Lanka	0–5	India
	SAFF AIFF	Grace 4' Sandhiya 7' Indumathi 36' Sangita 45' Ratanbala 47'

Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar

Attendance: 1,684

Referee: Mizanur Rahman (Bangladesh)

Knockout stage

• Times listed are UTC+05:45.

	Semi-finals				Final
	20 March – Biratnagar
	Nepal	4
					22 March – Biratnagar
	Sri Lanka	0
					Nepal	1
	20 March – Biratnagar
					India	3
	India	4
	Bangladesh	0

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Semi-finals

20 March 2019

11:00

Nepal	4–0	Sri Lanka
Magar 42' Anita 73' Bhandari 82' Rekha 86'	Report

Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar

Attendance: 4,112

Referee: Pratap Singh (India)

20 March 2019

15:00

India	4–0	Bangladesh
Dalima 18' Indumathi 22', 37' Manisha 90+3'	Report

Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar

Attendance: 1,263

Referee: Mohommed Nizam (Sri Lanka)

Final

22 March 2019

15:00

Nepal	1–3	India
Bhandari 33'	Report	Chhibber 26' Grace 63' Tamang 78'

Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Mohammed Manir Dhali (Bangladesh)

Goalscorers

There were 33 goals scored in 9 matches, for an average of 3.67 goals per match.

4 goals

• Indumathi Kathiresan
• Sabitra Bhandari

3 goals

• Grace Dangmei

2 goals

• Dalima Chhibber
• Sandhiya Ranganathan
• Sanju Yadav
• Nongmaithem Ratanbala Devi
• Manjali Kumari Yonjan
• Chalani Kumari Ekanayake

1 goal

• Mishrat Jahan Moushumi
• Sabina Khatun
• Sangita Basfore
• Manisha
• Anju Tamang
• Niru Thapa
• Anita Basnet
• Rekha Poudel
• Punam Jargha Magar

1 own goal

• Masura Parvin (against Nepal)