Maldives Grouped with Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka

In the SAFF U-20 Championship scheduled to be held in the Maldives this year, the Maldives has been placed in the same group as Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.

While these four teams make up Group A, Group B of the seven-team tournament consists of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The draw for the tournament was conducted this evening in Bangkok, Thailand.

This first football tournament of the year organized by SAFF is set to take place in the Maldives from March 23 to April 3.

India is a team that has won the championship in this age group—held for U-18, U-19, and U-20—four times.

In last year's U-19 tournament, India secured the title by defeating Bangladesh. After competing in four finals, Bangladesh won the 2024 U-20 championship by defeating Nepal in the final.

Last year, the Maldives progressed to the semifinals after drawing both of its group stage matches, though they were ultimately defeated by India in the semis.

Additionally, Nepal secured the championship in the first two years of the tournament, in 2015 and 2017.

The Maldives achieved its best result in 2019 in Nepal; that year, the Maldivian U-18 team won the bronze medal after defeating Bhutan in the third-place playoff.