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“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).

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 is split into two zones by CAF, who cited “organisational issues facing WAFU.”[3]

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, 2026 in association football, 2026 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 2025  Ivory Coast  Nigeria
Zone A U-17 Championship 2025  Senegal 2–0  Mali
Zone B U-17 Championship 2025  Ivory Coast 0–0 (4-3 P)  Ghana
Zone A U-15 Championship 2022  Senegal 3–0[4]  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 2025  Sierra Leone 1st  Senegal TBD TBD
Zone B Women’s Cup 2019  Nigeria 1st  Ivory Coast 2025 3–16 Nov 2025
WAFU Zone A U20 Women’s Cup 2024  Senegal  Guinea-Bissau TBD TBD
WAFU Zone A U-17 Girls Tournament 2025  Sierra Leone 1st  Senegal TBD TBD
WAFU Zone B U20 Women’s Cup 2025  Nigeria 1st  Ghana
WAFU Zone B U17 Women’s Cup 2024  Ghana  Nigeria TBD TBD
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) 2025 Mali USFAS Bamako Senegal Aigles de la Médina 2026 TBD
CAF Women’s Champions League Qualifiers (Zone B) 2025 Ivory Coast ASEC Mimosas Nigeria 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 [5][6][7]

FIFA World Rankings

Men’s national teams

Women’s national teams

FIFA Rankings (as of 21 April 2026)[9]
WAFU* FIFA +/− National Team Points
1 36 Increase 1  Nigeria 1602.04
2 59 Increase 3  Ghana 1429.23
3 72 Steady  Ivory Coast 1338.92
4 80 Increase 1  Senegal 1285.85
5 85 Steady  Mali 1260.36
6 118 Steady  Burkina Faso 1139.92
7 119 Steady  Cape Verde 1131.67
8 134 Steady  Togo 1092.99
9 135 Increase 1  Gambia 1082.47
10 138 Increase 1  Benin 1066.23
11 142 Increase 2  Guinea 1048.64
12 151 Steady  Sierra Leone 1021.39
13 171 Decrease 1  Liberia 882.37
14 174 Steady  Niger 863.94
15 178 Steady  Guinea-Bissau 838.58

Futsal

See also

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”. Daily Graphic. Accra, Ghana. 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. ^ “Senegal win WAFU A U15 boys tournament”. CAFOnline.com. 21 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  5. ^ “Coupe Ufoa des nations U-20 féminine: Nécessité de vite remettre au travail Ouzérou et ses filles !”. Matin Libre.
  6. ^ “UFOA : Un nouveau tournoi pour les sélections nationales féminines U20 – Le Kpakpato Sportif”. 23 October 2021.
  7. ^ “UFOA : La 1ère édition du tournoi U20 féminin et prévue au Ghana 2022”. 27 October 2021.
  8. ^ “The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking”. 11 June 2026. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  9. ^ “The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking”. 21 April 2026. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  10. ^ “The FIFA Futsal Men’s World Ranking”. 8 May 2026. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  11. ^ “The FIFA Futsal Women’s World Ranking”. FIFA. 8 May 2026. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  12. ^ “BSWW world ranking”. beachsoccer.com. 6 May 2026. Retrieved 6 May 2026.