WAFF Championship
Organising body	WAFF
Founded	2000; 22 years ago (2000)
Region	Western Asia
Number of teams	9 (2019)
Current champions	Bahrain (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Iran (4 titles)
Website	the-waff.com
2023 WAFF Championship

The West Asian Football Federation Championship (Arabic: بطولة اتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم), or simply WAFF Championship, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the governing body of football in Western Asia. The championship has been held, on average, every two years.^[1]

The current champion is Bahrain, having defeated hosts Iraq in the 2019 final. The most successful team is Iran, with four titles; however, they do not compete in the competition anymore as they are no longer members of the WAFF.

History

The inaugural WAFF Championship was held in 2000 in Jordan, with Iran winning the first edition.^[2] It was hosted in memory of Hussein of Jordan, who had died a year prior.^[3] The Al Hussein Cup, assigned to the winner of each tournament, was designed and manufactured in Italy in 2000, and is made of silver and copper.^[2]

Results

Edition	Year	Hosts	Champions	Score and Venue	Runners-up	Third place	Score and Venue	Fourth place	No. of Teams
1	2000	Jordan	Iran	1–0 King Abdullah Stadium, Amman	Syria	Iraq	4–1	Jordan	8
2	2002	Syria	Iraq	3–2 (a.e.t.) Al Abbassiyyine Stadium, Damascus	Jordan	Iran	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 pen.)	Syria	6
3	2004	Iran	Iran	4–1 Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Syria	Jordan	3–1	Iraq	6
4	2007	Jordan	Iran	2–1 Amman International Stadium, Amman	Iraq	Jordan and Syria^{[note 1]}			6
5	2008	Iran	Iran	2–1 Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Jordan	Qatar and Syria^{[note 1]}			6
6	2010	Jordan	Kuwait	2–1 King Abdullah Stadium, Amman	Iran	Iraq and Yemen^{[note 1]}			9
7	2012	Kuwait	Syria	1–0 Al-Sadaqua Walsalam Stadium, Kuwait City	Iraq	Oman	1–0	Bahrain	11
8	2013	Qatar	Qatar	2–0 Al Sadd Stadium, Doha	Jordan	Bahrain	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–2 pen.)	Kuwait	9
9	2019	Iraq	Bahrain	1–0 Karbala International Stadium, Karbala	Iraq	^{[note 2]}			9
10	2023	UAE							12

a.e.t.: after extra time
pen.: after penalty shoot-out
TBD: to be determined

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c The two semi-finalists in 2007, 2008, and 2010 did not play a third-place match.
^ There were neither semi-finals nor a third-place match in 2019.

Teams reaching the top four

Teams reaching the top four
Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third place¹	Fourth place	Total
Iran	4 (2000, 2004^, 2007, 2008^)	1 (2010)	1 (2002)		6
Iraq	1 (2002)	3 (2007, 2012, 2019^*)	2 (2000, 2010²)	1 (2004)	7
Syria	1 (2012)	2 (2000, 2004)	2 (2007², 2008²)	1 (2002^*)	6
Bahrain	1 (2019)		1 (2013)	1 (2012)	3
Qatar	1 (2013^*)		1 (2008²)		2
Kuwait	1 (2010)			1 (2013)	2
Jordan		3 (2002, 2008, 2013)	2 (2004, 2007²^*)	1 (2000^*)	6
Yemen			1 (2010²)		1
Oman			1 (2012)		1

* = hosts

1 = includes semi-finals in case there was no third-place match

2 = semi-final

Records and statistics

Top goalscorers by tournament

Year	Player(s)	Goals
2000	Razzaq Farhan	4
2002	Alireza Nikbakht	2
	Razzaq Farhan
	Muayad Salim
	Anas Sari
2004	Ali Daei	5
2007	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	2
2007	Salih Sadir	2
2008	Kianoush Rahmati	3
2010	Ali Al-Nono	4
2012	Qasim Said	4
2012	Ahmad Al Douni	4
2013	Boualem Khoukhi	6
2019	Hussein Ali	3

All-time table

Rank	Team	Participations	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Avg Pts	Trophies
1	Iran	7	28	19	7	2	56	16	+40	64	2.29	4
2	Iraq	8	31	16	8	7	40	22	+18	56	1.80	1
3	Jordan	9	31	12	9	10	37	28	+9	45	1.45	0
4	Syria	8	29	9	9	11	32	40	−8	36	1.24	1
5	Bahrain	4	15	6	6	3	8	6	+2	24	1.60	1
6	Kuwait	4	14	6	4	4	17	17	0	22	1.57	1
7	Qatar	2	7	5	0	2	12	10	+2	15	2.14	1
8	Palestine	9	22	3	4	15	16	35	−19	13	0.59	0
9	Oman	4	11	3	3	5	9	13	−4	12	1.09	0
10	Lebanon	7	18	3	3	12	9	25	−16	12	0.67	0
11	Yemen	3	10	2	2	6	10	13	−3	8	0.80	0
12	Saudi Arabia	3	8	1	3	4	3	10	−7	6	0.75	0
13	Kazakhstan	1	3	1	0	2	3	9	−6	3	1.00	0
14	Kyrgyzstan	1	3	0	0	3	0	8	−8	0	0.00	0

Under-age tournaments

Under-23

Main article: WAFF U-23 Championship

WAFF U-23 Championship
Founded	2015; 7 years ago (2015)
Region	West Asia (WAFF)
Number of teams	11 (as of 2021)
Current champions	Saudi Arabia (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Iran Jordan Saudi Arabia (1 title each)
2022 WAFF U-23 Championship

The WAFF U-23 Championship is an international football competition contested by the West Asian men's under-23 national teams of the WAFF member associations. The competition began in 2015, with Iran winning the inaugural competition.

Edition	Year	Hosts	Champions	Score and Venue	Runners-up	Third place	Score and Venue	Fourth place	No. of Teams
1	2015	Qatar	Iran	2–0 Lekhwiya SC Stadium, Doha	Syria	Qatar	3–0	Yemen	10
2	2021	Saudi Arabia	Jordan	3–1 Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium, Khobar	Saudi Arabia	Iraq and Syria^{[note 1]}			11
3	2022	Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	3–1 King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah	Qatar	Syria	1–0	Oman	6
4		Iraq

Notes

^ The two semi-finalists in 2021 did not play a third-place match.

Teams reaching the top four
Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	Semi-finalists	Total
Saudi Arabia	1 (2022^*)	1 (2021^*)				2
Iran	1 (2015)					1
Jordan	1 (2021)					1
Syria		1 (2015)	1 (2022)		1 (2021)	3
Qatar		1 (2022)	1 (2015^*)			2
Yemen				1 (2015)		1
Oman				1 (2022)		1
Iraq					1 (2021)	1

* = hosts

Under-18

WAFF U-18 Championship
Founded	2019; 3 years ago (2019)
Region	West Asia (WAFF)
Number of teams	9 (as of 2021)
Current champions	Iraq (2nd title)
Most successful team(s)	Iraq (2 titles)
2021 WAFF U-18 Championship

The WAFF U-18 Championship is an international football competition contested by the West Asian men's under-18 national teams of the WAFF member associations. The competition began in 2018, with Iraq winning the inaugural competition.

Edition	Year	Hosts	Champions	Score and Venue	Runners-up	Third place	Score and Venue	Fourth place	No. of Teams
1	2019	Palestine	Iraq	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–2 pen.) Faisal al-Husseini Stadium, Ramallah	United Arab Emirates	Jordan	3–0	Palestine	6
2	2021	Iraq	Iraq	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–2 pen.) Al-Madina Stadium, Baghdad	Lebanon	^{[note 1]}			9

Notes

^ There were neither semi-finals nor a third-place match in 2021.

a.e.t.: after extra time
pen.: after penalty shoot-out
TBD: to be determined

Teams reaching the top four
Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	Total
Iraq	2 (2019, 2021)				2
United Arab Emirates		1 (2019)			1
Lebanon		1 (2021)			1
Jordan			1 (2019)		1
Palestine				1 (2019)	1

Under-16

WAFF U-16 Championship
Founded	2005; 17 years ago (2005)
Region	West Asia (WAFF)
Number of teams	9 (as of 2022)
Current champions	Jordan (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Iran Iraq (2 titles each)
2022 WAFF U-16 Championship

The WAFF U-16 Championship is an international football competition contested by the West Asian men's under-16 national teams of the WAFF member associations. The competition began in 2005, with Iran winning the inaugural competition.

Edition	Year	Host	Final			Third place match			No. of Teams
WAFF U-16 Championship
Edition	Year	Host	Champions	Score	Runners-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place	No. of Teams
1	2005	Iran	Iran	2–0 Tehran	Syria	Iraq	5–0 Tehran	Lebanon	6
2	2007	Syria	Syria	^{[note 1]}	Iran	Jordan	^{[note 1]}	Iraq	5
3	2009	Jordan	Iran	3–2 Amman	Syria	Iraq	3–1 Amman	Jordan	9
4	2013	Palestine	Iraq	^{[note 1]}	United Arab Emirates	Jordan	^{[note 1]}	Palestine	4
5	2015	Jordan	Iraq	^{[note 1]}	Saudi Arabia	United Arab Emirates	^{[note 1]}	Palestine	5
6	2018	Jordan	Japan	^{[note 1]}	India	Jordan	^{[note 1]}	Yemen	5
7	2019	Jordan	Saudi Arabia	^{[note 1]}	Jordan	Syria	^{[note 1]}	Iraq	9
8	2021	Saudi Arabia	Yemen	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 pen.)	Saudi Arabia	Syria and United Arab Emirates^{[note 2]}			9
9	2022	Jordan	Jordan	1–0	Lebanon	Iraq and Syria^{[note 2]}			8

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j The tournament was played in a round-robin league format.
^ ^a ^b The two semi-finalists did not play a third-place match.

Teams reaching the top four
Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	Semi-finalist	Total
Iran	2 (2005^*, 2009)	1 (2007)				3
Iraq	2 (2013, 2015)		2 (2005, 2009)	2 (2007, 2019)	1 (2022)	7
Syria	1 (2007^*)	2 (2005, 2009)	1 (2019)		2 (2021, 2022)	6
Saudi Arabia	1 (2019)	2 (2015, 2021^*)				3
Jordan	1 (2022^*)	1 (2019^*)	3 (2007, 2013, 2018^*)	1 (2009^*)		6
Yemen	1 (2021)			1 (2018)		2
Japan	1 (2018)					1
United Arab Emirates		1 (2013)	1 (2015)		1 (2021)	3
Lebanon		1 (2022)		1 (2005)		2
India		1 (2018)				1
Palestine				2 (2013^*, 2015)		2

* = hosts

References

External links

WAFF Championship

Senior

Tournaments	Jordan 2000 Syria 2002 Iran 2004 Jordan 2007 Iran 2008 Jordan 2010 Kuwait 2012 Qatar 2013 Iraq 2019 United Arab Emirates 2023
Squads	2000 2002 2004 2007 2008 2010 2012 2014 2019 2023

Under-23

Tournaments	Qatar 2015 Saudi Arabia 2021 Saudi Arabia 2022
Squads	2015 2021 2022

Under-18

Under-15

International association football

International association football
FIFA Federations Teams Competitions World Cup U-20 U-17 Olympics Youth Olympics Universiade World Rankings The Best FIFA Football Awards Timeline
Africa	CAF – Africa Cup of Nations U-23 U-20 U-17 African Nations Championship Regional (CECAFA, CEMAC, COSAFA, WAFU) Intercontinental (Arab)
Asia	AFC – Asian Cup U-23 U-20 U-17 Regional (Arab Gulf, ASEAN, Central, East, South, West) Interregional (AFF-EAFF) Intercontinental (Arab)
Europe	UEFA – Euro U-21 U-19 U-17 Nations League
North & Central America and the Caribbean	CONCACAF – Gold Cup U-20 U-17 U-15 Nations League
Oceania	OFC – Nations Cup U-19 U-16
South America	CONMEBOL – Copa América U-20 U-17 U-15
Non-FIFA	CONIFA – CONIFA World Football Cup CONIFA European Football Cup CONIFA South America Football Cup CONIFA Africa Football Cup IIGA – Island Games ODEBO – Bolivarian Games ODESUR – South American Games South American Board of New Federations (COSANFF) World Unity Football Alliance (WUFA)
Games	African Games Asian Games Central America Central America and Caribbean East Asian Games Francophonie Games Goodwill Games Indian Ocean Island Islamic Solidarity Games Lusofonia Games Mediterranean Games Pan American Games Pan Arab Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games West Asian Games
See also Geography Codes Player/Club of the Century Women's football

History

Results

Teams reaching the top four

Records and statistics

Top goalscorers by tournament

All-time table

Under-age tournaments

Under-23

Under-18

Under-16

See also

References

External links