The 2017 WAFU Cup of Nations (also referred to as Ghana 2017) was an association football tournament that took place in September 2017 in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Sixteen teams from West Africa participated. The tournament was the first featuring national teams to be arranged by

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

as part of a twelve year partnership between the broadcaster and the West Africa national football associations union. Originally, one of the two host cities was set to be

Sekondi-Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indus ...

however the local organising committee changed it to

Elmina Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante people, Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem Municipal District, Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, Ghana, Centra ...

due to "structural defects at the

Sekondi-Takoradi Stadium The Sekondi Sports Stadium (also known as Essipong Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana. It is used mostly for football matches and serves as the home stadium of Sekondi Hasaacas FC. Sekondi-Takoradi Stadium hosted some ...

and the danger it could pose to fans during the tournament".

Participants

;WAFU Zone A: * * * * * * * * ;WAFU Zone B: * * * * * * * *

Squads

Draw

The draw was held on 27 July at Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra. Teams were ranked using the June 2017 FIFA Rankings. Ghana were given the highest ranking due to being competition hosts. The four highest ranked national teams from WAFU Zones A and B were seeded meaning they could not be drawn against each other.

Matches

* ''All times listed are

GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

.''

First round

Zone A

---- ---- ----

Zone B

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Second round

Group 1

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Group 2

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Knockout stage

Semi-finals

----

Third-place playoff

Final

Goalscorers

;3 goals *

Stephen Sarfo Stephen Kwadwo Sarfo (born 25 May 1992) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career In February 2020, Sarfo joined Iraqi club Al-Mina'a. In July 2022, he returned to Lebanese club Tadamon Sour, before promptly mov ...

Victorien Adebayor Adebayor Zakari Adje (born 12 November 1996) is a Nigerien professional footballer who plays for Moroccan club RS Berkane and the Niger national team. Club career In 2016, Adebayor had trials with Ligue 1 sides FC Lorient and AS Monaco but wa ...

;2 goals * Vincent Antigah *

Winful Cobbinah Winful Essau Cobbinah (born 6 September 1991) is a Ghanaian professional association football, footballer who plays for Egyptian club Petrojet SC, Petrojet, as an Midfielder (association football), attacking midfielder. Club career Cobbinah began ...

* Kwame Kizito *

Abdoulaye Camara Abdoulaye Camara (born 2 January 1980) is a Malian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He made 9 appearances for the Mali national football team, Mali national team fro ...

* Moussa Kone * Idrissa Halidou * Rabiu Ali * Moses Peter ;1 goal * Jules Elegbede * Rodrigue Fassinou * Charbel Gomez * Ibrahim Ogoulola * Agnide Osseni * Nabil Yarou * Hassamy Sansan Dah *

Samuel Sarfo Samuel Sarfo (born 12 August 1990) is a Ghanaian footballer who plays for Kuwaiti club Al-Tadamon and the Ghana national team as a defender. Club career Born in Nsuta, Sarfo played at Cantonments as a youth. He later played for Liberty Prof ...

* Sekou Keita * Gilson Correia * Mandala Konte *

Samba Cheikh Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havi ...

* Hinsa Issoufou *

Boubacar Hainikoye Soumana Boubacar is both a surname and a given name. Surname: *Sarr Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese footballer *Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar (born 1957), Mauritanian politician and Prime Minister of Mauritania Given name: * Boubacar Barry (born 1979), Ivor ...

Anthony Okpotu Anthony Okpotu (born 3 March 1994) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Qatar and the Nigerian national team. Club career Born in Makurdi, Okpotu spent his early club football with Lobi Stars and Al-Ittihad Tripol ...

* Moses Okoro * Ablaye Diene * Moussa Djitte * Mohammed Kane * Assane Mbodj * Amadu Dia Ndiaye

Awards

Player of the tournament

* Isaac Twum

Golden boot

Golden Glove

* Ikechukwu Ezenwa

Best XI

The team of the tournament was announced on 27 September 2017.

Prize money

The prize was awarded in form of US dollars:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:WAFU Nations Cup 2017 WAFU Nations Cup 2017 in African football

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Wafu

WAFU Cup of Nations 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. History A trophy was commissioned by President ...