WAFU Nations Cup
Organising bodyWAFU
Founded2002 (2002)
RegionWest Africa
Number of teams16
Current champions Senegal
Most successful team(s) Ghana (2 titles)
Television broadcastersESPN Africa
Websitewafucup.com
2021 WAFU Cup of Nations

The WAFU Nations Cup (also known as the WAFU Cup of Nations or simply the WAFU Cup) is an association football competition that is contested by representative teams of the West African Football Union.

History

A trophy was commissioned by President Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo in 1974 with a view to establishing a regional competition similar to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.[1] The maiden event was hosted in Abidjan and the hosts Ivory Coast won the tournament.

The West African Nations Cup (Zone 3) commenced in 1982 on an annual basis (not in 1985), and was played until 1987. Meanwhile, in 1983 ECOWAS (French:CEDEAO) create another tournament, the CEDEAO Cup (Zone 3) and it was played on a bi-annual basis until 1991.

Zone 2 also had their own tournament created, the Amílcar Cabral Cup, named after the liberator of Guinea-Bissau, Amílcar Cabral.

The West African Nations Cup returned in 2002 as the WAFU Nations Cup, however, officially it was not considered simply as a continuation of the old tournament, and therefore it is a new tournament. The 2002 edition was short-lived after violence broke out in Ivory Coast.[2] Two games of the tournament had been played when it was cancelled. Finally, after an eight-year wait, the tournament returned in April 2010 which Nigeria's Ogun State hosted and the host nation won.

The 2019 edition was held in Senegal, and the 2021 tournament was supposed to be hosted by Nigeria but the tournament didn't come to fruition.[3]

Tournament history

Year Host Final Third place match
Winner Score Runner-up Third place Score Fourth place
2002
Details		  Ivory Coast Abandoned one day into tournament due to the First Ivorian Civil War.
2010
Details		  Nigeria
Nigeria		 2–0
Senegal
Ghana		 1–0
Burkina Faso
2011
Details		  Nigeria
Togo		 3–2
Nigeria
Liberia		 3–1
Ghana
2013
Details		  Ghana
Ghana		 3–1
Senegal
Togo		 2–1
Benin
2015
Details		  Senegal
2017
Details		  Ghana
Ghana		 4–1
Nigeria
Niger		 2–1
Benin
2019
Details		  Senegal
Senegal		 1–1 (3–1 P)
Ghana		 No third place match played
2021
Details		  Nigeria

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ibagere, Eniwoke (18 September 2002). "Wafu's bumpy ride". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  2. ↑ "Wafu Cup". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 September 2002. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "WAFU Cup of Nations: Senegal to host 2019 tournament; Nigeria gets nod for 2021". GhanaSoccernet. 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
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