West Asian Football Federation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
 Member countries | |
 | |
| Formation | 15 May 2001[1] |
|---|---|
| Type | Sports organization |
| Headquarters | Amman, Jordan |
| Members | 12 member associations |
President | Prince Ali bin Al Hussein |
Parent organization | AFC |
| Website | the-waff.com (in English) |
The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF; Arabic: اتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم) is a regional sub-confederation of association football, governed under the Asian Football Confederation. Founded in 2001, it governs football, futsal and beach football for nations in West Asia. The WAFF consists of 12 member associations.
The founding members of the West Asian Football Federation are Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. In 2009, three more associations, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, joined the federation. Four other West Asian nations, 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]
Members
| Code | Association | National teams | Founded | FIFA affiliation | WAFF affiliation | IOC member |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BHR |  Bahrain | 1957 | 1968 | 2010 | Yes | |
| IRQ |  Iraq | 1948 | 1950 | 2001 | Yes | |
| JOR |  Jordan | 1949 | 1956 | 2001 | Yes | |
| KUW |  Kuwait | 1952 | 1964 | 2010 | Yes | |
| LBN |  Lebanon | 1933 | 1936 | 2001 | Yes | |
| OMA |  Oman | 1978 | 1978 | 2010 | Yes | |
| PLE |  Palestine | 1998 | 1998 | 2001 | Yes | |
| QAT |  Qatar | 1960 | 1963 | 2009 | Yes | |
| KSA |  Saudi Arabia | 1956 | 1956 | 2010 | Yes | |
| SYR |  Syria | 1936 | 1937 | 2001 | Yes | |
| UAE |  United Arab Emirates | 1971 | 1974 | 2009 | Yes | |
| YEM |  Yemen | 1962 | 1980 | 2009 | Yes |
Former members
| Association | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|
 Iran |
2001–2014 | [a] |
Competitions
Current title holders
| Tournament | Year | Champions | Title | Runners-up | Next edition[4] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's national teams | |||||||
| WAFF Championship | 2019 (Final) | Bahrain |
1st | Iraq |
2026 | ||
| WAFF U-23 Championship | 2025 | Oman |
1st | Jordan |
TBD | ||
| WAFF U-19 Championship | 2024 | Saudi Arabia |
1st | United Arab Emirates |
2026 | ||
| WAFF U-17 Championship | 2025 | Saudi Arabia |
2nd | Lebanon |
TBD | ||
| WAFF Futsal Championship | 2022 | Kuwait |
1st | Saudi Arabia |
TBD | ||
| WAFF Beach Soccer Championship | 2022 | United Arab Emirates |
1st | Oman |
TBD | ||
| Women's national teams | |||||||
| WAFF Women's Championship | 2025 | Jordan |
7th | Palestine |
TBD | ||
| WAFF U-20 Girls Championship | 2025 | Palestine |
1st | Jordan |
TBD | ||
| WAFF U-17 Girls Championship | 2025 | Lebanon |
3rd | Syria |
TBD | ||
| WAFF U-14 Girls Championship | 2025 | Jordan |
Lebanon |
TBD | |||
| WAFF Futsal Women's Championship | 2022 | Iraq |
1st | Saudi Arabia |
TBD | ||
| Women's club teams | |||||||
| WAFF Women's Clubs Championship | 2022 | Safa |
1st | Orthodox Club |
TBD | ||
Titles by nation
- As of 2024 WAFF U-23 Championship
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 
Jordan (JOR)12 12 11 35 2 
Iran (IRI)12 6 1 19 3 
Iraq (IRQ)8 3 9 20 4 
Lebanon (LBN)5 8 4 17 5 
United Arab Emirates (UAE)3 2 3 8 6 
Syria (SYR)2 6 11 19 7 
Saudi Arabia (KSA)2 5 1 8 8 
Kuwait (KUW)2 0 1 3 9 
Bahrain (BHR)1 2 8 11 10 
Qatar (QAT)1 1 2 4 11 
Yemen (YEM)1 0 1 2 12 
Japan (JPN)1 0 0 1 
South Korea (KOR)1 0 0 1 14 
Oman (OMA)0 2 3 5 15 
Palestine (PLE)0 1 7 8 16 
Australia (AUS)0 1 0 1 
India (IND)0 1 0 1 
Nepal (NEP)0 1 0 1 Totals (18 entries) 51 51 62 164
FIFA World Rankings
Men's national football team
- As of 1 April 2026
|
Leading Men's team: 
|
Women's national football team
- As of 21 April 2026
|
Leading Women's team: 
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Men's national futsal team
| WAFF* | FIFA | ± | National Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 37 |  4 |
Iraq | 1113.58 |
| 2 | 40 | 3 |
Kuwait | 1084.28 |
| 3 | 45 | 3 |
Saudi Arabia | 1068.91 |
| 4 | 54 |  |
Lebanon | 1031.17 |
| 5 | 74 |  5 |
Bahrain | 977.65 |
| 6 | 81 | 1 |
Jordan | 968.31 |
| 7 | 89 | |
Qatar | 945.32 |
| 8 | 91 | 1 |
Oman | 940.88 |
| 9 | 101 | 2 |
United Arab Emirates | 906.64 |
| 10 | 124 | 5 |
Palestine | 838.37 |
| *Local rankings based on FIFA ranking points | ||||
Women's national futsal team
| WAFF* | FIFA | ± | National Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | 2 |
Palestine | 959.82 |
| 2 | 35 | 1 |
Bahrain | 937.24 |
| 3 | 40 | |
Lebanon | 925.89 |
| 4 | 46 | 1 |
Saudi Arabia | 915.23 |
| 5 | 49 | 3 |
Iraq | 894.16 |
| 6 | 54 | |
United Arab Emirates | 885.35 |
| 7 | 64 | 2 |
Oman | 848.46 |
| 8 | 78 | |
Kuwait | 775.6 |
| *Local rankings based on FIFA ranking points | ||||
Men's national beach soccer team
AFF Men's National Beach Soccer Team Ranking by BSWW
Update: 19 January 2026
| WAFF | World | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | United Arab Emirates |
1371.75 |
| 2 | 11 | Oman |
1308.5 |
| 3 | 21 | Saudi Arabia |
689.25 |
| 4 | 43 | Bahrain |
254.25 |
| 5 | 45 | Lebanon |
247.25 |
| 6 | 48 | Kuwait |
216.25 |
| 7 | 71 | Palestine |
89.75 |
| 8 | 74 | Iraq |
87 |
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".[8]
Logo
Logo of WAFF (before 2023)
Logo of WAFF (since 2023)
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See also
- FIFA
- Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
- ASEAN Football Federation (AFF)
- Central Asian Football Association (CAFA)
- East Asian Football Federation (EAFF)
- South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)
- Asian Football Confederation (AFC)