2024 AFC Solidarity Cup

AFC Solidarity Cup
Organising bodyAFC
Founded2016; 8 years ago (2016)
Abolished2023; 1 year ago (2023)
RegionAsia
Number of teams10
Last champions   Nepal (1st title)
Most successful team(s)   Nepal (1 title)
Websitethe-afc.com/olidarity-cup

The AFC Solidarity Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries who were out of the continental qualifiers at early stage. The tournament was created following the termination of the AFC Challenge Cup.[1]

Format

The competition featured 10 national teams, where each team was guaranteed a minimum of 4 matches.[2] The first edition took place in November 2016. The second edition, scheduled for November and December 2020, was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.[3]

The tournament was abolished by the AFC on 27 November 2023, because the revamped qualification format for the FIFA World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup dovetailed with the initial objectives of the AFC Solidarity Cup as there was now more exposure and opportunities for lower-ranked teams to compete in top-level matches over a longer period of time.[3]

Results

Year Host Final Third place match Number of teams
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
2016  Malaysia
Nepal 		1–0
Macau
Laos 		3–2
Brunei 		7[A]
2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
  1. ^ The 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup was supposed to feature nine teams in the competition. However, Pakistan withdrew after the draw and Bangladesh withdrew after losing in the play-off round.[4][5]

Successful national teams

Team Champion Runners-up Third place Fourth place
   Nepal 1 (2016)
 Macau 1 (2016)
 Laos 1 (2016)
 Brunei 1 (2016)

Champions by region

Federation (Region) Champion(s) Number
EAFF (East Asia)
WAFF (West Asia)
CAFA (Central Asia)
AFF (Southeast Asia)
SAFF (South Asia) Nepal 1 title

Participating nations

Legend

The number of teams in each of the final tournaments is shown.

Teams Malaysia
2016
(7) 		2020
(Cancelled) 		Years
 Bangladesh × × 0
 Bhutan ‡ × 0
 Brunei 4th × 1
 Laos 3rd × 1
 Macau 2nd × 1
 Mongolia GS × 1
   Nepal 1st × 1
 Pakistan × × 0
 Sri Lanka GS × 1
 Timor-Leste GS × 1

Summary

Rank Team Part M W D L GF GA GD Points
1  Laos 1 5 3 1 1 11 9 +2 10
2    Nepal 1 4 2 2 0 6 2 +4 8
3  Macau 1 5 2 2 1 8 5 +3 8
4  Brunei 1 4 1 1 2 7 7 0 4
5  Mongolia 1 3 1 0 2 3 5 -2 3
6  Sri Lanka 1 3 0 1 2 2 5 -3 1
7  Timor-Leste 1 2 0 1 1 0 4 -4 1
  • The Northern Mariana Islands made their AFC Solidarity Cup debut after having been approved by the AFC to participate (the Northern Mariana Islands is an associate member of the AFC).

Awards

Tournament Most Valuable Player Top scorer(s) Goals Fair play award
2016 Macau Leong Ka Hang Brunei Shahrazen Said
Laos Xaysongkham Champathong
Macau Niki Torrão 		4  Laos

Winning coaches

Year Team Coaches
2016    Nepal Japan Koji Gyotoku

References

  1. ^ "AFC Confirms The Name Of The Championship – AFC Solidarity Cup For Six Nations". Goal Nepal. 27 May 2016. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  2. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". the-afc.com. 12 April 2016. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2016.{cite web}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ a b "AFC Competitions Committee takes key decisions in second meeting". the-afc.com. 27 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Pakistan Officially Withdraws from AFC Solidarity Cup; New Fixtures Revealed". Goal Nepal. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  5. ^ "AFC Solidarity Cup 2016 line-up finalised". The AFC. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2021.

External links