Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

West African Football Union

  • West African Football Union
  • Union des Fédérations Ouest-Africaines de Football
  • União das Federações Oeste Africanas
Formation1975; 49 years ago (1975)
Type
Region served
West Africa
Membership
Official language
English, French and Portuguese
AffiliationsCAF, FIFA
Website

The West African Football Union (French: Union des Fédérations Ouest-Africaines de Football; Portuguese: União das Federações Oeste Africanas), 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

  • Ghana K. Tandoh (1975–1977)
  • Togo Seyi Memene (1977–1984)
  • Senegal Abdoulaye Fofana (1984–1988)
  • Nigeria Jonathan Boytie Ogufere (1988–1994)
  • Ivory Coast Dieng Ousseynou (1994–1999)
  • Nigeria Abdulmumini Aminu (1999–2002)
  • Senegal El Hadji Malick Sy (2002–2004)
  • Ivory Coast Jacques Anouma (2004–2008)[1]
  • Nigeria Amos Adamu (2008–2010)
  • Ghana Kwesi Nyantakyi (2011–2018)[2]
  • Ghana Kurt Okraku (2019–present)

Member associations

WAFU consists of all football associations of West Africa, but got split into two zones by CAF, who cited "organisational issues facing WAFU."[3]

  • Zone A (Niger)
  • Zone B (Volta Niger)

Mauritania is the only WAFU member to also be a member of the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).

Country Zone Governing body
 Cape Verde Zone A Cape Verdean Football Federation
 Gambia Gambia Football Association
 Guinea Guinean Football Federation
 Guinea-Bissau Football Federation of Guinea-Bissau
 Liberia Liberia Football Association
 Mali Malian Football Federation
 Mauritania Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
 Senegal Senegalese Football Federation
 Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Football Association
 Benin Zone B Benin Football Federation
 Burkina Faso Burkinabé Football Federation
 Ghana Ghana Football Association
 Ivory Coast Ivorian Football Federation
 Niger Nigerien Football Federation
 Nigeria Nigeria Football Federation
 Togo Togolese Football Federation

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)
WAFU Nations Cup 2019  Senegal 1st  Ghana TBD TBD
WAFU Zone A Nations Cup TBD TBD
Zone A U-20 Championship 2024  Senegal 3st  Sierra Leone TBD TBD
Zone B U-20 Championship 2024  Nigeria 1st  Ghana
Zone A U-17 Championship 2025  Senegal  Mali TBD TBD
Zone B U-17 Championship 2024  Burkina Faso 3–1[4]  Ivory Coast
Zone A U-15 Championship 2022  Senegal 3–0[5]  Liberia TBD TBD
Zone A Schools Championship 2022 Guinea CS Ben Sekou Sylla 1st The Gambia New Yundum TBD TBD
Zone B Schools Championship 2022 Benin CEG Sainte Rita 1st Ivory Coast CS Venus Saioua TBD TBD
WAFU Zone A Beach Soccer TBD TBD
National teams (women)
Zone A Women's Cup 2023  Senegal 2nd  Cape Verde TBD TBD
Zone B Women's Cup 2019  Nigeria 1st  Ivory Coast TBD TBD
WAFU Zone A U20 Women's Cup 2024  Senegal  Guinea-Bissau TBD TBD
WAFU Zone B U20 Women's Cup 2023  Ghana 1st  Nigeria TBD TBD
WAFU Zone B U17 Women's Cup 2024 12 - 26 Dec
Zone A Girls Schools Championship 2022 The Gambia Scan Aid 1st Guinea-Bissau Ecole Congresso De Cassaca TBD TBD
Zone B Girls Schools Championship 2022 Benin CEG Colby 1st Burkina Faso Ecole Chanvigny B TBD TBD
Clubs (women)
CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone A) 2024 Senegal Aigles de la Médina Sierra Leone Mogbwemo Queens 2025 TBD
CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone B) 2024 Nigeria Edo Queens Benin Ainonvi FC 2025 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 [6][7][8]

FIFA World Rankings

Men's national teams

Rankings are calculated by FIFA.[9]

WAFU Zone FIFA Country Points +/−
1 A 17  Senegal 1624.73 Steady
2 B 30  Nigeria 1520.27 Steady
3 A 38  Ivory Coast 1498.8 Increase 1
4 B 44  Mali 1477.9 Decrease 1
5 B 62  Burkina Faso 1390.38 Steady
6 B 65  Cape Verde 1425.64 Increase 1
6 B 68  Ghana 1358.77 Decrease 1
7 A 76  Guinea 1324.65 Decrease 1
8 A 97  Benin 1225.68 Steady
9 B 105  Mauritania 1195.5 Steady
10 A 113  Togo 1170.34 Increase 6
11 B 113  Guinea-Bissau 1163.44 Increase 1
12 A 126  Sierra Leone 1137.36 Decrease 2
13 B 129  Niger 1125.5 Decrease 1
14 A 130  Gambia 1114.8 Decrease 1
16 A 152  Liberia 1029.58 Steady

Last updated 4 April 2024

Top-ranked men's national football teams

Senegal national football teamIvory coast national football teamGhana national football teamIvory coast national football teamCape verde national football teamIvory coast national football teamGhana national football teamNigeria national football teamIvory coast national football teamNigeria national football team

See also

References