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West African Football Union
Sub-regional football governing body in West Africa
Sub-regional football governing body in West Africa
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | |
| image | WAFU West African Football Union Logo.png |
| caption | Logo used between 2017 and 2020 |
| map | WAFU.svg |
| mcaption | |
| formation | |
| type | |
| region_served | West Africa |
| membership | {{Collapsible list |
| title | Zone A – 8 members |
| title | Zone B – 7 members |
| language | English, French and Portuguese |
| leader_title | President |
| affiliations | CAF, FIFA |
| website |
|CPV Cape Verde |GMB Gambia |GIN Guinea |GNB Guinea-Bissau |LBR Liberia |MLI Mali |SEN Senegal |SLE Sierra Leone}} |BEN Benin |BFA Burkina Faso |GHA Ghana |CIV Ivory Coast |NER Niger |NGA Nigeria |TGO Togo}}
The West African Football Union (; ), officially abbreviated as WAFU-UFOA and WAFU, is a sports governing body representing the football associations in West Africa that was founded in 1975 and is a subregional body of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
It mainly organizes qualifying tournaments/championships for the CAF Women's Champions League and CAF's national team competitions except the Africa Cup of Nations, but also organizes its own competitions, like the currently-inactive WAFU Nations Cup.
Presidents
- GHA K. Tandoh (1975–1977)
- TGO Seyi Memene (1977–1984)
- SEN Abdoulaye Fofana (1984–1988)
- NGA Jonathan Boytie Ogufere (1988–1994)
- CIV Dieng Ousseynou (1994–1999)
- NGA Abdulmumini Aminu (1999–2002)
- SEN El Hadji Malick Sy (2002–2004)
- CIV Jacques Anouma (2004–2008)
- NGA Amos Adamu (2008–2010)
- GHA Kwesi Nyantakyi (2011–2018)
- GHA Kurt Okraku (2019–present)
Member associations
WAFU consists of all football associations of West Africa, but is split into two zones by CAF, who cited "organisational issues facing WAFU."
- Zone A (Niger)
- Zone B (Volta Niger)
| Country | Zone | Governing body |
|---|---|---|
| Zone A | Cape Verdean Football Federation | |
| Gambia Football Association | ||
| Guinean Football Federation | ||
| Football Federation of Guinea-Bissau | ||
| Liberia Football Association | ||
| Malian Football Federation | ||
| Senegalese Football Federation | ||
| Sierra Leone Football Association | ||
| Zone B | Benin Football Federation | |
| Burkinabé Football Federation | ||
| Ghana Football Association | ||
| Ivorian Football Federation | ||
| Nigerien Football Federation | ||
| Nigeria Football Federation | ||
| Togolese Football Federation |
On December 2025, Mauritania left the West African Football Union to join the UNAF.
Competitions
WAFU runs main and qualifying competitions covering men, women and youth.
Current title holders
| Competition | Year | Champions | Rank/Score | Runners-up | Next edition | Dates | National teams (men) | National teams (women) | Clubs (women) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAFU Nations Cup | 2019 | 1st | TBD | TBD | |||||||||
| WAFU Zone A Nations Cup | TBD | TBD | |||||||||||
| Zone A U-20 Championship | 2024 | 3st | TBD | TBD | |||||||||
| Zone B U-20 Championship | 2025 | ||||||||||||
| Zone A U-17 Championship | 2024 | 2025 | 18 October - 1 November | ||||||||||
| Zone B U-17 Championship | 2025 | 0–0 (4-3 P) | |||||||||||
| Zone A U-15 Championship | 2022 | date=21 August 2022 | title=Senegal win WAFU A U15 boys tournament | url=https://www.cafonline.com/news/senegal-win-wafu-a-u15-boys-tournament/ | website=CAFOnline.com | access-date=21 August 2022}} | TBD | TBD | |||||
| Zone A Schools Championship | 2022 | CS Ben Sekou Sylla | 1st | New Yundum | TBD | TBD | |||||||
| Zone B Schools Championship | 2022 | CEG Sainte Rita | 1st | CS Venus Saioua | TBD | TBD | |||||||
| WAFU Zone A Beach Soccer | TBD | TBD | |||||||||||
| Zone A Women's Cup | 2025 | 1st | TBD | TBD | |||||||||
| Zone B Women's Cup | 2019 | 1st | 2025 | 3–16 Nov 2025 | |||||||||
| WAFU Zone A U20 Women's Cup | 2024 | TBD | TBD | ||||||||||
| WAFU Zone A U-17 Girls Tournament | 2025 | 1st | TBD | TBD | |||||||||
| WAFU Zone B U20 Women's Cup | 2023 | 1st | 2025 | November 3-10. | |||||||||
| WAFU Zone B U17 Women's Cup | 2024 | TBD | TBD | ||||||||||
| Zone A Girls Schools Championship | 2022 | Scan Aid | 1st | Ecole Congresso De Cassaca | TBD | TBD | |||||||
| Zone B Girls Schools Championship | 2022 | CEG Colby | 1st | Ecole Chanvigny B | TBD | TBD | |||||||
| CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone A) | 2025 | MLI USFAS Bamako | SEN Aigles de la Médina | 2026 | TBD | ||||||||
| CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone B) | 2025 | ASEC Mimosas | Bayelsa Queens | 2026 | TBD |
Defunct competitions
| Competition | Duration |
|---|---|
| CEDEAO Cup | 1977–1991 |
| West African Club Championship | 1977–2011 |
| Amílcar Cabral Cup | 1979–2007 |
| West African Nations Cup | 1982–1987 |
| UEMOA Tournament | 2007–2016 |
| WAFU U20 Women's Cup | Proposed for 2022 but never happened |
FIFA World Rankings
Men's national teams
Rankings are calculated by FIFA.
| WAFU | Zone | FIFA | Country | Points | +/− |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 17 | 1624.73 | ||
| 2 | B | 30 | 1520.27 | ||
| 3 | B | 38 | 1498.8 | 1 | |
| 4 | A | 44 | 1477.9 | 1 | |
| 5 | B | 62 | 1390.38 | ||
| 6 | A | 65 | 1425.64 | 1 | |
| 7 | B | 68 | 1358.77 | 1 | |
| 8 | A | 76 | 1324.65 | 1 | |
| 9 | B | 97 | 1225.68 | ||
| 10 | B | 113 | 1170.34 | 6 | |
| 11 | A | 113 | 1163.44 | 1 | |
| 12 | A | 126 | 1137.36 | 2 | |
| 13 | B | 129 | 1125.5 | 1 | |
| 14 | A | 130 | 1114.8 | 1 | |
| 15 | A | 152 | 1029.58 |
Top-ranked men's national football teams ImageSize = width:150 height:700 PlotArea = left:40 right:0 bottom:5 top:10 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2009 till:24/10/2019 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2009 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical format:yyyy
Colors = id:NGA value:blue id:CIV value:yellow id:GHA value:magenta id:CPV value:green id:SEN value:red
PlotData = bar:Leaders width:25 mark:(line,black) align:left fontsize:S
from:01/01/2009 till:01/07/2009 shift:(20,-3) text:"Nigeria" color:NGA from:01/07/2009 till:03/02/2010 shift:(20,-12) text:"Ivory Coast" color:CIV from:03/02/2010 till:14/07/2010 shift:(20,-4) text:"Nigeria" color:NGA from:14/07/2010 till:29/06/2011 shift:(20,-4) text:"Ghana" color:GHA from:29/06/2011 till:03/03/2016 shift:(20,-4) text:"Ivory Coast" color:CIV from:03/03/2016 till:07/04/2016 shift:(20,-11) text:"Cape Verde" color:CPV from:07/04/2016 till:11/08/2016 shift:(20,-11) text:"Ivory Coast" color:CIV from:11/08/2016 till:15/09/2016 shift:(20,-4) text:"Ghana" color:GHA from:15/09/2016 till:24/11/2016 shift:(20,-4) text:"Ivory Coast" color:CIV from:24/11/2016 till: end shift:(20,-4) text:"Senegal" color:SEN
References
References
- (29 September 2008). "Wafu Cup to make a comeback".
- (11 June 2018). "Nyantakyi resigns from FIFA, CAF, and WAFU positions".
- (17 May 2011). "West African Football Union (Wafu) disbanded by Caf".
- SPORTS, BSN. "Mauritania Reassigned To North Africa, Exits West Africa Zone A".
- (21 August 2022). "Senegal win WAFU A U15 boys tournament".
- "Coupe Ufoa des nations U-20 féminine: Nécessité de vite remettre au travail Ouzérou et ses filles !". Matin Libre.
- (23 October 2021). "UFOA : Un nouveau tournoi pour les sélections nationales féminines U20 – Le Kpakpato Sportif".
- (27 October 2021). "UFOA : La 1ère édition du tournoi U20 féminin et prévue au Ghana 2022".
- "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men)". [[FIFA]].
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