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
The West African Football Union (french: Union des Fédérations Ouest-Africaines de Football; pt, União das Federações Oeste Africanas), officially abbreviated as WAFU-UFOA and WAFU, is an association of the football playing nations in West ...
.
History
A trophy was commissioned by President
Gnassingbé Eyadéma
Gnassingbé Eyadéma (; born Étienne Gnassingbé, 26 December 1935 – 5 February 2005) was the president of Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005, after which he was immediately succeeded by his son, Faure Gnassingbé.
Eyadéma participated i ...
of Togo in 1974 with a view to establishing a regional competition similar to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. The maiden event was hosted in
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...
and the hosts Ivory Coast won the tournament.
The
West African Nations Cup
The West African Nations Cup, also known as CSSA Nations Cup or "Zone 3" Championship, was a football championship held from 1982 to 1987 (not in 1985), but discontinued. Ghana won all editions, and indeed never lost a single match among the 25 the ...
(Zone 3) commenced in 1982 on an annual basis (not in 1985), and was played until 1987. Meanwhile, in 1983
ECOWAS (French:) 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. 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.
Tournament history
See also
*
UEMOA Tournament
The UEMOA Tournament is a football (soccer) tournament held between nations who are a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). The tournament was first played in 2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: ...
*
Amílcar Cabral Cup (a tournament played between 1979 and 2007)
*
West African Nations Cup
The West African Nations Cup, also known as CSSA Nations Cup or "Zone 3" Championship, was a football championship held from 1982 to 1987 (not in 1985), but discontinued. Ghana won all editions, and indeed never lost a single match among the 25 the ...
(a tournament played in the 1980s)
*
CEDEAO Cup (a tournament played in the 1980s and early 1990s)
*
West Africa Champions Cup
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
(a tournament played in the 2022s)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wafu Nations Cup
West African Football Union competitions