WAFF Championship

WAFF Championship
Organising body	WAFF
Founded	2000; 24 years ago
Region	West 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 West 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 edit

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 edit

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 II Stadium, Amman	Syria	Iraq	4–1 King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman	Jordan	8
2	2002	Syria	Iraq	3–2 (a.e.t.) Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus	Jordan	Iran	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 pen.) Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus	Syria	6
3	2004	Iran	Iran	4–1 Azadi Stadium, Tehran	Syria	Jordan	3–1 Azadi Stadium, Tehran	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 II 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 Ali Al-Salem Al-Sabah Stadium, Al Farwaniyah	Bahrain	11
8	2013	Qatar	Qatar	2–0 Al Sadd Stadium, Doha	Jordan	Bahrain	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–2 pen.) Al Sadd Stadium, Doha	Kuwait	9
9	2019	Iraq	Bahrain	1–0 Karbala International Stadium, Karbala	Iraq	^{[note 2]}			9
10	2023	TBD	Tournament postponed			Tournament postponed			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 edit

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, 2007^2*)	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 edit

Top goalscorers by tournament edit

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

Summary edit

Rank	Team	Part	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Iran	7	28	19	7	2	56	16	+40	64
2	Iraq	8	31	16	8	7	40	22	+18	56
3	Jordan	9	31	12	9	10	37	28	+9	45
4	Syria	8	29	9	9	11	32	40	−8	36
5	Bahrain	4	15	6	6	3	8	6	+2	24
6	Kuwait	4	14	6	4	4	17	17	0	22
7	Qatar	2	7	5	0	2	12	10	+2	15
8	Palestine	9	22	3	4	15	16	35	−19	13
9	Oman	4	11	3	3	5	9	13	−4	12
10	Lebanon	7	18	3	3	12	9	25	−16	12
11	Yemen	3	10	2	2	6	10	13	−3	8
12	Saudi Arabia	3	8	1	3	4	3	10	−7	6
13	Kazakhstan	1	3	1	0	2	3	9	−6	3
14	Kyrgyzstan	1	3	0	0	3	0	8	−8	0