West Asian Football Federation
Formation15 May 2001; 22 years ago (2001-05-15)[1]
TypeSports organization
HeadquartersAmman, Jordan
Membership
12 member associations
President
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein
Websitethe-waff.com (in English)

The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF; Arabic: إتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم, romanized: Ittiḥād Gharb Āsiyā li-Kurat al-Qadam), founded in 2001, is a regional sub-confederation of football, governed under the Asian Football Confederation, for nations in West Asia. The WAFF consists of 12 member associations.

WAFF organizes the WAFF Championship. Some nations from outside the region are occasionally invited to participate in the competition, such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in 2000 and Thailand in 2023. The Secretary General is the Khalil Al Salem from Jordan.

History

The founding members of the West Asian Football Federation are Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. In 2009, three more associations joined the federation: Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Four other nations of West Asia: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia joined in 2010.[2] Iran left the federation on 10 June 2014, with the creation of the Central Asian Football Federation.[citation needed]

Member associations

Association Joining year National team Top Tiers League (Men's)
Bahrain Bahrain 2010
Bahraini Premier League
Iraq Iraq 2001 (Founding member)
Iraq Premier League
Jordan Jordan 2001 (Founding member)
Jordanian Pro League
Kuwait Kuwait 2010
Kuwait Premier League
Lebanon Lebanon 2001 (Founding member)
Lebanese Premier League
Oman Oman 2010
Oman Professional League
State of Palestine Palestine 2001 (Founding member)
Palestine Premier League
Qatar Qatar 2007
Qatar Stars League
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 2010
Saudi Pro League
Syria Syria 2001 (Founding member)
Syrian Premier League
United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 2009
UAE Pro League
Yemen Yemen 2009
Yemeni League
Former member
Iran Iran 2001–2016 (Founding member)
Persian Gulf Pro League

Competitions

Current title holders

See also: Portal:Current events/Sports, 2024 in association football, 2024 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 sports.
Tournament Year Champions Title Runners-up Next edition[3] Dates
National teams
WAFF Championship 2019 (Final)  Bahrain 1st  Iraq 2023 (Final) TBD
WAFF U-23 Championship 2023  Iraq 1st  Iran 2024 18-26 March
U-18 Championship 2021  Iraq 2nd  Lebanon 2024 June 25 to July 4
U-16 Championship 2023  Yemen 2nd  Saudi Arabia 2024 August
Futsal Championship 2022  Kuwait 1st  Saudi Arabia TBD
Beach Soccer Championship 2022  United Arab Emirates 1st  Oman 2024 September
National teams (women)
WAFF Women's Championship 2022  Jordan 5th  Lebanon 2024 18-28 February
U-18 Girls' Championship 2022  Lebanon 2nd  Syria 2024 TBD
U-17 Girls' Championship 2023  Syria 1st  Jordan 2024 December
U-14 Girls' Championship 2023  Syria 1st  Lebanon TBD
Futsal Women's Championship 2022  Iraq 1st  Saudi Arabia TBD
Club teams (women)
Women's Clubs Championship 2022 Lebanon Safa 1st Jordan Orthodox Club 2024 September or October

Titles by nation

After 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Iran (IRI)126119
2 Jordan (JOR)11121134
3 Iraq (IRQ)83920
4 Lebanon (LBN)58316
5 United Arab Emirates (UAE)3238
6 Syria (SYR)261119
7 Saudi Arabia (KSA)2507
8 Kuwait (KUW)2013
9 Bahrain (BHR)12811
10 Qatar (QAT)1124
11 Yemen (YEM)1012
12 Japan (JPN)1001
13 Oman (OMA)0235
14 Palestine (PLE)0167
15 India (IND)0101
Totals (15 entries)494959157

FIFA World Rankings

Men's national football team

WAFF Men's National Football Team Ranking by FIFA
Update: 23 June 2022

Women's national football team

WAFF Women's National Football Team Ranking by FIFA
Update: 24 March 2023

Men's national futsal team

WAFF Men's National Futsal Team Ranking by Futsal World Ranking
Update: June 2022

WAFF AFC FIFA Country Points
1 8 41  Kuwait 1073
2 10 45  Iraq 1033
3 11 46  Lebanon 1032
4 14 67  Bahrain 897
5 17 77  Saudi Arabia 855
6 20 88  Qatar 807
7 22 90  Oman 783
8 24 98  United Arab Emirates 697
9 25 102  Palestine 680
* * *  Jordan 877*
* * *  Syria 651*
* * *  Yemen 578*

Women's national futsal team

WAFF Women's National Futsal Team Ranking by The Roon Ba
Update: December 2022

WAFF AFC World Country Points
1 5 26  Jordan 5280
2 11 43  Syria 5036
3 15 49  Lebanon 4913
4 16 51  Bahrain 4854
5 19 57  Iraq 4716
6 20 63  Palestine 4505
7 23 69  Saudi Arabia 4311
8 24 71  United Arab Emirates 4264
9 25 72  Kuwait 4191
10 31 80  Oman 3443
11 33 81  Qatar 3384

Men's national beach soccer team

AFF Men's National Beach Soccer Team Ranking by BSWW
Update: December 2021

WAFF Country Points
1  United Arab Emirates 776
2  Oman 500
3  Palestine 118
4  Lebanon 100
5  Bahrain 60
6  Kuwait 49
7  Iraq 41
8  Syria 37
9  Qatar 31
10  Saudi Arabia 30

Controversy

On 29 January 2015, after the defeat of Iraq and the United Arab Emirates during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, West Asian Football Federation members reportedly sought to remove Australia from the AFC primarily due to "Australia benefiting hugely from Asian involvement without giving much in return".[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Chapter 1". Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  2. ^ "WAFF Articles and Definitions". The-waff.com. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  3. ^ "Championships". www.the-waff.com. West Asian Football Federation (WAFF). Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  4. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Angry Gulf nations leading charge to kick Australia out of Asian Football Confederation". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-26.

External links

National men's football teams of Asia (AFC)
Categories