West African Football Union

"WAFU" redirects here. For other uses, see Wafu (disambiguation).

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

Logo used between 2017 and 2020
Zone A   Zone B
Formation	1975; 50 years ago (1975)
Type	Sports governing body Football administration
Region served	West Africa
Membership	Zone A – 9 members Cape Verde Gambia Guinea Guinea-Bissau Liberia Mali Mauritania Senegal Sierra Leone Zone B – 7 members Benin Burkina Faso Ghana Ivory Coast Niger Nigeria Togo
Official language	English, French and Portuguese
Affiliations	CAF, FIFA
Website	WAFU Zone A WAFU Zone B

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

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

See also: List of association football competitions and FIFA International Match Calendar

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

Current title holders

See also: Portal:Current events/Sports, 2025 in association football, 2025 in sports, and FIFA International Match Calendar

For events postponed or cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, see Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football.

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		2025	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	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
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 A U17 Women's Cup							TBD	TBD
WAFU Zone B U20 Women's Cup		2023	Ghana	1st	Nigeria		TBD	TBD
WAFU Zone B U17 Women's Cup		2024	Ghana		Nigeria		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
Clubs (women)
CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone A)		2024	Aigles de la Médina		Mogbwemo Queens		2025	TBD
CAF Women's Champions League Qualifiers (Zone B)		2024	Edo Queens		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
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

See also

• Football in Africa portal

• UNAF
• CECAFA
• COSAFA
• UNIFFAC
• Confederation of African Football (CAF)

References

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.

External links

• Official website for WAFU Zone A
• Official website for WAFU Zone B