West Asian Football Federation

The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF; Arabic: إتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم, romanizedIttiḥād 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.

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
Parent organization
AFC
Websitethe-waff.com (in English)

History edit

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 Association.[3]

Member associations edit

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

Competitions edit

Current title holders edit

Tournament Year Champions Title Runners-up Next edition[4] 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
WAFF U-18 Championship 2021   Iraq 2nd   Lebanon 2024 June 25 to July 4
WAFF 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   Safa 1st   Orthodox Club 2024 September or October

Titles by nation edit

After 2024 WAFF U-23 Championship.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Jordan (JOR)12121135
2  Iran (IRI)126119
3  Iraq (IRQ)83920
4  Lebanon (LBN)58417
5  United Arab Emirates (UAE)3238
6  Syria (SYR)261119
7  Saudi Arabia (KSA)2518
8  Kuwait (KUW)2013
9  Bahrain (BHR)12811
10  Qatar (QAT)1124
11  Yemen (YEM)1012
12  Japan (JPN)1001
  South Korea (KOR)1001
14  Oman (OMA)0235
15  Palestine (PLE)0178
16  Australia (AUS)0101
  India (IND)0101
    Nepal (NEP)0101
Totals (18 entries)515162164

FIFA World Rankings edit

Men's national football team edit

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

Women's national football team edit

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

Men's national futsal team edit

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*
  • Note: (*) Inactive

Women's national futsal team edit

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
  • Note: (*) Inactive

Men's national beach soccer team edit

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 edit

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".[6]

See also edit

References edit

  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. ^ "Central Asians meet Sheikh Salman to create CAFA". aff.org.af. 17 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Championships". www.the-waff.com. West Asian Football Federation (WAFF). Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  5. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking". FIFA. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  6. ^ "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 edit