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West African Football Union

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  • 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

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  • 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

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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

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WAFU runs main and qualifying competitions covering men, women and youth.

Current title holders

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Competition Year Champions Rank/Score Runners-up Next edition Dates
National teams (men)
WAFU Nations Cup 2019  Senegal 1st  Ghana TBA
WAFU Zone A Nations Cup 2024 5–17 July
Zone A U-20 Championship 2023  Senegal 2st  Gambia 2024 15–30 September
Zone B U-20 Championship 2023  Ivory Coast 1st  Burkina Faso 2024 17–31 October
Zone A U-17 Championship 2023  Mali  Senegal 2024 WAFU Zone A U-17 Championship 20 Oct – 3 Nov
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
Zone A Schools Championship 2022 Guinea CS Ben Sekou Sylla 1st The Gambia New Yundum TBD
Zone B Schools Championship 2022 Benin CEG Sainte Rita 1st Ivory Coast CS Venus Saioua TBD
WAFU Zone A Beach Soccer 2024 3–7 July
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
WAFU Zone B U20 Women's Cup 2023  Ghana 1st  Nigeria TBD TBD
Zone A Girls Schools Championship 2022 The Gambia Scan Aid 1st Guinea-Bissau Ecole Congresso De Cassaca TBD
Zone B Girls Schools Championship 2022 Benin CEG Colby 1st Burkina Faso Ecole Chanvigny B TBD
Clubs (women)
CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone A) 2023 Mali AS Mandé 1st Senegal AS Dakar 2024 TBD
CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone B) 2023 Ghana Ampem Darkoa Ladies 1st Nigeria Delta Queens 2024 TBD

Defunct competitions

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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

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Men's national teams

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "Wafu Cup to make a comeback". BBC Sport. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2010. Amos Adamu, president of Wafu,...
  2. ^ "Nyantakyi resigns from FIFA, CAF, and WAFU positions". Graphic Online. 11 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  3. ^ "West African Football Union (Wafu) disbanded by Caf". BBC Sport. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  4. ^ "Tapsoba double fires Burkina Faso to WAFU B U-17 AFCON qualifying title". CAFOnline.com. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Senegal win WAFU A U15 boys tournament". CAFOnline.com. 21 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  6. ^ https://matinlibre.com/2021/10/27/coupe-ufoa-des-nations-u-20-feminine-necessite-de-vite-remettre-au-travail-ouzerou-et-ses-filles/
  7. ^ "UFOA : Un nouveau tournoi pour les sélections nationales féminines U20 – Le Kpakpato Sportif". 23 October 2021.
  8. ^ "UFOA : La 1ère édition du tournoi U20 féminin et prévue au Ghana 2022". 27 October 2021.
  9. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men)". FIFA. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
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