West African Football Union

(Redirected from WAFU-UFOA)

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).

  • 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

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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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   CS Ben Sekou Sylla 1st   New Yundum TBD
Zone B Schools Championship 2022   CEG Sainte Rita 1st   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   Scan Aid 1st   Ecole Congresso De Cassaca TBD
Zone B Girls Schools Championship 2022   CEG Colby 1st   Ecole Chanvigny B TBD
Clubs (women)
CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone A) 2023   AS Mandé 1st   AS Dakar 2024 TBD
CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone B) 2023   Ampem Darkoa Ladies 1st   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  
2 B 30   Nigeria 1520.27  
3 A 38   Ivory Coast 1498.8   1
4 B 44   Mali 1477.9   1
5 B 62   Burkina Faso 1390.38  
6 B 65   Cape Verde 1425.64   1
6 B 68   Ghana 1358.77   1
7 A 76   Guinea 1324.65   1
8 A 97   Benin 1225.68  
9 B 105   Mauritania 1195.5  
10 A 113   Togo 1170.34   6
11 B 113   Guinea-Bissau 1163.44   1
12 A 126   Sierra Leone 1137.36   2
13 B 129   Niger 1125.5   1
14 A 130   Gambia 1114.8   1
16 A 152   Liberia 1029.58  

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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