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2016 AFC Solidarity Cup
Piala Solidariti AFC 2016
Tournament details
Host country	Malaysia
City	Kuching
Dates	2–15 November 2016
Teams	7 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	; Nepal (1st title);
Runners-up	Macau
Third place	Laos
Fourth place	Brunei
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	37 (2.85 per match)
Attendance	2,384 (183 per match)
Top scorer(s)	; Shahrazen Said; Xaisongkham Champathong; Niki Torrão; (4 goals each)
Best player(s)	; Leong Ka Hang;
Fair play award	Laos
	; 2020 →

The 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup was the first edition of the AFC Solidarity Cup, an international football tournament. It took place between 2–15 November 2016 in Malaysia.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The tournament was created by the Asian Football Confederation as a replacement for the AFC Challenge Cup which was played for the last time in 2014.

A total of nine teams were eligible to compete in this edition of the tournament. Six teams were eligible to compete after losing in the first round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition, while three teams were eligible to compete after losing in the play-off round 2 of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition. After Pakistan and Bangladesh withdrew, only seven teams competed in the tournament.^[4]

Qualified teams

The following six teams qualified after losing in the first round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition:

Brunei

Macau

Mongolia

Nepal

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

The following three teams qualified after losing in the play-off round 2 of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition:

Loser Play-off 2.1: Laos

Loser Play-off 2.2: Bangladesh

Loser Play-off 2.3: Timor-Leste

Venues

The tournament was held in Kuching at the Sarawak Stadium and Sarawak State Stadium.^[4]

Draw

The draw took place on 8 September 2016, 15:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[5]^[6]

The seedings were based on the FIFA Ranking of August 2016. As the draw was held before the play-off round 2 of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification competition was played, the identities of the Round 2 losers, as well as the number of teams which would enter the competition, were not known at the time of the draw.^[7]

Qualified as	Pot	Team	FIFA Ranking
Asian Cup qualifying first round losers	Pot 1	Nepal	188
	Pot 1	Sri Lanka	193
	Pot 2	Pakistan^{[nb 1]}	194
	Pot 2	Macau	195
	Pot 3	Brunei	198
	Pot 3	Mongolia	202
Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 2 losers	Pot 4	Laos	177
		Bangladesh^{[nb 2]}	183
		Timor-Leste	186

Notes

^ Pakistan withdrew after the draw.^[8]

^ Because Bhutan did not express an interest in participating in the tournament prior to the draw, to ensure that both groups have a minimum of four teams, the loser of Play-off 2.2 was assigned to position 5 in Group A.^[7]Bangladesh withdrew after losing in the play-off round.^[4]

Squads

Each national association must submit a list of 18–23 players, three of those players must be goalkeepers.^[9]

Group stage

The tournament's format would change depending upon the number of teams that agree to partake in the competition. Should nine teams enter, the two group winners advance to the final. Should only eight teams enter, the two group winners and two group runners-up advance to the semi-finals.^[9] Since at the end only seven teams entered, the top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:^[9]

Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;

Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;

Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;

If, after applying criteria 1 to 3, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 3 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5 to 9 apply;

Goal difference in all the group matches;

Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;

Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;

Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);

Drawing of lots.

All times were local, MYT (UTC+8).^[10]

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nepal	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3	4	Knockout stage
2	Brunei	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	3	Knockout stage
3	Timor-Leste	2	0	1	1	0	4	−4	1
4	Bangladesh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew
5	Pakistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

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2 November 2016 (2016-11-02)

19:30

Brunei	4–0	Timor-Leste
Azwan A. 63', 69' Shahrazen 71' (pen.) Adi 80'	Report

Sarawak Stadium, Kuching

Attendance: 100

Referee: Payam Heidari (Iran)

5 November 2016 (2016-11-05)

19:30

Timor-Leste	0–0	Nepal
	Report

Sarawak State Stadium, Kuching

Attendance: 315

Referee: Saoud Al-Athbah (Qatar)

8 November 2016 (2016-11-08)

19:30

Nepal	3–0	Brunei
Nawayug 45+2' Bharat 72' Bimal 80' (pen.)	Report

Sarawak Stadium, Kuching

Attendance: 210

Referee: Mohammed Al-Hoish (Saudi Arabia)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Macau	3	2	1	0	7	3	+4	7	Knockout stage
2	Laos	3	2	0	1	6	5	+1	6	Knockout stage
3	Mongolia	3	1	0	2	3	5	−2	3
4	Sri Lanka	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

3 November 2016 (2016-11-03)