AFC Solidarity Cup

AFC Solidarity Cup

Organising body	AFC
Founded	2016;9 years ago (2016)
Abolished	2023;2 years ago (2023)
Region	Asia
Number of teams	10
Last champions	Nepal (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Nepal (1 title)
Website	the-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 and later abolished. ^[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 for lower-ranked teams to compete 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

1st — Champion 2nd — Runner-up 3rd — Third place 4th — Fourth place SF — Semifinals

QF — Quarterfinals GS — Group stage Q — Qualified for the upcoming tournament × — Did not enter; withdrew; banned ‡ — Tournament was unavailable for the nation that year

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

Teams	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
Yemen

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	Leong Ka Hang	Shahrazen Said Xaysongkham Champathong Niki Torrão	4	Laos

Winning coaches

Year	Team	Coaches
2016	Nepal	Koji Gyotoku

See also

• FIFA Series

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.
3. "AFC Competitions Committee takes key decisions in second meeting". the-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 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

• AFC Solidarity Cup