West Asian Football Federation

West Asian Football Federation
	WAFF logo
	WAFF members
Formation	15 May 2001; 20 years ago
Type	Sports organization
Headquarters	Amman, Jordan
Membership	12 member associations
Official languages	English; Arabic
President	Prince Ali bin Al Hussein
Website	The-WAFFF.com

The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), founded in 2001, is an association of the football playing nations in Western Asia. Its founding members 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 Western 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.

They organize the West Asian Football Federation Championship. Some nations were invited to participate in the competition from outside the region. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which are not members, were invited to participate in the first edition of the tournament in 2000. The Secretary General is the Jordanian Khalil Al Salem.

History[]

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".^[3]

Organization[]

Presidents[]

Prince Ali has in fact founded the WAFF.^[4]

President	Years
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein	2001–present

Vice-presidents[]

Vice-president	Years
Hassan Ghaffari	2001–2011
Ali Kafashian	2011–2014
Jibril Al Rajoub	2014–present

General secretary[]

President	Years
Khalil Al Salem	2017–present

Member associations[]

WAFF has 12 member associations. All of them are members of the Asian Football Confederation and the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA)..

Association	Joining year	National Teams
Bahrain	2010	(M, W)
Iraq	2001 (Founding Member)	(M, W)
Jordan	2001 (Founding Member)	(M, W)
Kuwait	2010	(M, W)
Lebanon	2001 (Founding Member)	(M, W)
Oman	2010	(M)
Palestine	2001 (Founding Member)	(M, W)
Qatar	2009	(M, W)
Saudi Arabia	2010	(M)
Syria	2001 (Founding Member)	(M, W)
United Arab Emirates	2009	(M, W)
Yemen	2009	(M)

Former members[]

Iran (Founding Member) 2001–2014; created the Central Asian Football Association.^[5]

Competitions[]

WAFF competitions[]

WAFF runs several competitions which cover men's, women's, youth and futsal.

Current title holders[]

Competition	Year	Champions	Title	Runners-up	Next edition
National teams (Men's)
WAFF Championship	2019	Bahrain	1st	Iraq	2023
U-23 Championship	2021	Jordan	1st	Saudi Arabia	TBD
U-18 Championship	2021	Iraq	2nd	Lebanon	TBD
U-15 Championship		Yemen	1st	Saudi Arabia	TBD
Futsal Championship	2012	Iran	2nd	Jordan	TBD
Beach Soccer Championship	2013	Iran	1st	Oman
National teams (Women's)
WAFF Women's Championship	2019	Jordan	4th	Bahrain
U-18 Girls' Championship	2019	Lebanon	1st
U-15 Girls' Championship		Lebanon	1st
U-14 Girls' Championship					TBD
Futsal Women's Championship	2012	Iran	2nd		TBD
Club teams (Women's)
Women's Clubs Championship	2019	Shabab Al-Ordon	1st	SAS	2021

Major tournaments[]

FIFA World Cup[]

Legend

1st – Champion
2nd – Runner-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
QF – Quarterfinals
R16 – Round of 16 (since 1986)
GS – Group Stage (1930 and since 1950)
1R – First Round (1934 and 1938)

q — Qualified for upcoming tournament
• — Did not qualify
— Did not enter
— Withdrew
— Banned
— Hosts

Team	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	2022	Years	inclusive WC Qual.
Saudi Arabia											•	•	•	•	R16	GS	GS	GS	•	•	GS		5	10
UAE													•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1	8
Iraq										•		•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1	9
Kuwait										•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•			1	10
Qatar											•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	q	1	10
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	8	37

AFC Asian Cup[]

Legend

1st – Champion
2nd – Runner-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
SF – Semifinals
QF – Quarterfinals
R16 – Round of 16
GS – Group Stage

F — Ongoing tournament (Finalist)
— Did not enter/qualify
— Withdrew
— Banned
— Hosts

Team	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2007	2011	2015	2019	2023	Years
Qatar							GS	GS	GS	GS		QF	GS	GS	QF	GS	1st	q	11
Kuwait					GS	2nd	1st	3rd	GS		4th	QF	GS		GS	GS			10
Saudi Arabia								1st	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	GS	2nd	GS	GS	R16		10
UAE							GS	GS	GS	4th	2nd		GS	GS	GS	3rd	SF		10
Iraq					GS	4th					QF	QF	QF	1st	QF	4th	R16	q	9
Syria							GS	GS	GS		GS				GS		GS	q	7
Bahrain									GS				4th	GS	GS	GS	R16		6
Oman													GS	GS		GS	R16		4
Jordan													QF		QF	GS	R16		4
Palestine																GS	GS		2
Lebanon												GS					GS		2
Yemen																	GS		1
Total	0	0	0	0	2	2	4	5	6	3	5	5	8	6	8	9	11	TBD	63

Olympic Games[]

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
QF – Quarter-finals
GS – Group stage
Q — Qualified for upcoming tournament
•• — Qualified but withdrew
• — Did not qualify / enter
— Hosts

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Team	1900 to 1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	Years
Iraq	•	QF	GS	GS	•	•	•	4th	•	•	GS	•	5
Saudi Arabia	•	•	GS	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	GS	3
Kuwait	•	QF	•	•	GS	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	3
Qatar	•	•	GS	•	QF	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	2
United Arab Emirates	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	1
Syria	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Total	0	3	3	1	2	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	14

Former competition[]

FIFA Confederations Cup[]

Team	1992	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	2009	2013	2017	Years
Saudi Arabia	2nd	GS	GS	4th	•	•	•	•	•	•	4
Iraq	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	1
United Arab Emirates	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Total	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	6

FIFA world rankings[]

Men's national teams[]

Rankings are calculated by FIFA.^[6]

AFC	FIFA	Country	Points	+/−
5	55	Qatar	1398	2
6	67	Saudi Arabia	1351	2
7	70	Iraq	1340	4
8	71	United Arab Emirates	1338	4
10	79	Syria	1314	4
11	81	Oman	1304	3
13	89	Lebanon	1269	2
16	97	Jordan	1238	1
17	100	Bahrain	1219	1
18	106	Palestine	1199	6
28	144	Yemen	1072	3
29	147	Kuwait	1059	9

Last updated 5 December 2019.

Leading Men's team:

Women's national teams[]

Rankings are calculated by FIFA.^[7]

AFC	FIFA	Country	Points	+/−
12	59	Jordan	1419	1
17	83	Bahrain	1274	1
20	96	United Arab Emirates	1201	3
22	114	Palestine	1131	2
26	-^[8]	Syria	921	-7
28	-^[8]	Iraq	873	-8
36	—^[8]	Lebanon	949	-7
38	—^[8]	Kuwait	870	-7
39	—^[8]	Qatar	864	-7

Last updated December 13, 2018

Leading Women's team:

References[]

^ "Chapter 1". Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
^ "WAFF Articles and Definitions". The-waff.com. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
^ "Angry Gulf nations leading charge to kick Australia out of Asian Football Confederation". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
^ "FIFA elections: Factbox for presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein |". dna. 21 February 2016.
^ "'Central Zone' gets thumbs up from Tajikistan". The AFC. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men)". FIFA. 25 July 2019. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011.
^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Women)". FIFA. 2011-07-22. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Inactive for more than 18 months and therefore not ranked

External links[]

Official website

[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] "Angry Gulf nations leading charge to kick Australia out of Asian Football Confederation". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2016-02-26.

[4] "FIFA elections: Factbox for presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein |". dna. 21 February 2016.

[5] "'Central Zone' gets thumbs up from Tajikistan". The AFC. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.

[6] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men)". FIFA. 25 July 2019. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011.

[7] "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Women)". FIFA. 2011-07-22. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-11.

[inactive-8] Inactive for more than 18 months and therefore not ranked

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

v t National men's football teams of Asia (AFC)
AFC Asian Cup
West Asia (WAFF)	Bahrain Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria United Arab Emirates Yemen
Central Asia (CAFA)	Afghanistan IR Iran Kyrgyz Republic Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
South Asia (SAFF)	Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
East Asia (EAFF)	China PR Chinese Taipei Guam Hong Kong Japan Korea DPR Korea Republic Macau Mongolia Northern Mariana Islands¹
Southeast Asia (AFF)	Australia Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Timor-Leste Vietnam
Defunct	Malaya North Vietnam South Vietnam South Yemen
Former	Israel (moved to UEFA in 1994) Kazakhstan (moved to UEFA in 2002) New Zealand (formed the OFC in 1966)
¹ Not a member of FIFA