The South Asian Football Federation Football Championship has been Indian football’s happy hunting ground over the last three decades. India...
The South Asian Football Federation Football Championship has been Indian football’s happy hunting ground over the last three decades. India have won seven out of the 12 editions of the SAFF Championship and always enter the tournament as favourites.
The lack of competition in this tournament has often forced India to consider a move to another group like the Central Asian Football Association but that hasn’t quite materialised for different reasons.
India sent their U-23 team to this competition in 2018 and that was the original plan for the 2021 edition until the Covid-19 pandemic made the All India Football Federation alter their plans. The lack of opportunities to play other games for the Indian men’s football team during the pandemic has meant that India will send their full-strength senior team to this tournament for the first time since 2015, the last time India won this tournament.
Ahead of his 5️⃣th appearance in the SAFF Championship, @chetrisunil11 takes a walk down memory lane 🤩#SAFFChampionship2021 🏆 #BackTheBlue 💙 #BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/SN6cQ57ODn
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 30, 2021
India beat Afghanistan in the final in that edition. It was the third consecutive time the two teams had met in the showpiece game of the event making the title a straight battle between...
