The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administrative and controlling body for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

and

beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. Whilst football has been played informally on beaches, the introduction of ''beach soccer'' was an a ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

by the national football associations of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

, following formal discussions between the aforementioned associations at the

FIFA Congress The FIFA Congress is the supreme legislative body of the International Association Football Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Football Association), commonly known by the acronym FIFA . FIFA is the international governing body of ...

held on 7 June 1956 at Avenida Hotel in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. One of the six continental confederations of world football governing body,

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, CAF represents the national football associations of

, runs national team and club continental competitions and controls the prize money, regulations and broadcast rights to such competitions. CAF will be allocated 9 spots in the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

starting from 2026 and could have an opportunity of 10 spots with the addition of an intercontinental play-off tournament involving six teams to decide the last two FIFA World Cup places (46+2). The headquarters of CAF was situated in Khartoum for within the first months of formation until a fire outbreak in the offices of the Sudanese Football Association when the organization was moved near

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt. Youssef Mohamad was the first general secretary and Abdel Aziz Abdallah Salem,

the first president ''The First President'' () is a 2011 Chinese biographical film directed by Wang Caitao, produced by Han Sanping, and starring Qiu Xinzhi, Nie Mei, Liu Jing, Han Geng, Tian Liang, Johnny Zhang, Xiong Naijin and He Jie. The film is about the lif ...

. Since 2002, the administrative center is situated in

6th of October City 6th of October ( ar, السادس من أكتوبر, Al Sādis Min Uktōber; arz, ستة اكتوبر, Setta Oktōbar) is a city in Giza Governorate, a satellite town and part of the urban area of Cairo, Egypt, 32 km (20 miles) outside the c ...

in Cairo, Egypt. CAF currently has 54 member associations which are full members, while

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

and

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

are associate members (see the CAF Members and Zones section below). The current president is

Patrice Motsepe Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe (born 28 January 1962) is a South African mining billionaire businessman. Since 12 March 2021, he has been serving as the President of the Confederation of African Football. He is the founder and executive chairman of ...

from South Africa, who was elected on 12 March 2021 in an unopposed elections held in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

History

The CAF Anthem

On 18 September 2017, CAF launched a competition for all African composers to create its

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

without lyrics to reflect the cultural patrimony and the

music of Africa Given the vastness of the African continent, its music is diverse, with regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres amapiano, Jùjú, Fuji, Afrobeat, Highlife, Makossa, Kizomba, and others. The ...

. The chosen anthem, whose composer are to this day unknown and is 74 seconds in length, was first published to the site on 16 January 2008 and it is the entry song for every official CAF competition match. It is also used for every official competition match of the sub-confederations of CAF including WAFU, COSAFA and CECAFA.

Current Leadership

Sources: * Frederick Acheampong, General Coordinator

CAF members and zones

Members

Competitions

CAF competitions

National teams: ;Men *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

African Nations Championship The African Nations Championship (french: Championnat d'Afrique des Nations; abbreviated as CHAN), known as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship for sponsorship purposes, is a biennial African national association football tourname ...

Africa U-23 Cup of Nations The Total Africa U-23 Cup of Nations (known as the CAF U-23 Championship until 2015) is the main international football competition for CAF nations, played by under 23 years old players. It is held every four years with the top three teams qualif ...

Africa U-20 Cup of Nations The U-20 Africa Cup of Nations also called TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsoring reason (previously known as the African Youth Championship or the African U-20 Championship) is the main international youth football competition ...

Africa U-17 Cup of Nations The U-17 Africa Cup of Nations also called TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsoring reason (previously known as the African U-17 Championship) is a bi-annual football competition organised by the sport's African governing body, CA ...

* African Schools Championship *

Africa Futsal Cup of Nations The Total Africa Futsal Cup of Nations (previously known as the African Futsal Championship) is the main national futsal competition of the Confederation of African Football nations. It was first held in 1996 and has been played every four years. ...

* African Youth Olympic Futsal Qualifying Tournament *

Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations The Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations (BSAFCON) is the main championship for beach soccer in Africa, contested between senior men's national teams who are members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It is the sport's version of the bet ...

;Women *

Women's Africa Cup of Nations The Women's Africa Cup of Nations, also called the TotalEnergies Women's Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons and abbreviated to WAFCON, is an international women's football competition held every two years and sanctioned by the Confe ...

African U-20 Women's World Cup qualification The African U-20 Women's World Cup qualification is an association football tournament for the under 20 teams, that is held every two years, and serves as a qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. In the first two editions in 2 ...

African U-17 Cup of Nations for Women The African U-17 Cup of Nations for Women is association football tournament for the under 17 teams, that is held every two years, and serves as a qualifying competition for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. The next edition is planned for 2022. ...

* African Schools Championship for Girls Clubs: *

Africa Super League The Africa Super League will be an annual continental club football competition run by the CAF that is set to kickoff in August 2023. It was announced on 28 November 2019 by Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA. It was launched on 10 August 2022 ...

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organi ...

CAF Super Cup The CAF Super Cup (also known as African Super Cup or for sponsorship reasons TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup) is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation ...

CAF Women's Champions League The CAF Women's Champions League (french: Ligue des Champions Féminine de la CAF; ar, دوري أبطال إفريقيا للسيدات), sometimes abbreviated as ''CAF WCL'', is an annual international women's association football club compet ...

;''Defunct'' *''

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

'' *''

CAF Cup The CAF Cup was an annual competition organised by the CAF for domestic leagues runners-up of member associations who have not qualified to the pre-existing CAF international club competition the African Cup of Champions Clubs. History The tou ...

'' Inter Continental: ;''Defunct'' *''

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations The Afro-Asian Cup of Nations, also called the AFC Asia/Africa Challenge Cup, was an intercontinental football competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), contested between re ...

'' *''

Afro-Asian Club Championship The Afro-Asian Club Championship, sometimes referred to as the Afro-Asian Cup, was a football competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC), contested between the winners of the Africa ...

'' *''

UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup The UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup was a football tournament that featured national teams from Europe and Africa among players under 18, and was part of the co-operation programme between UEFA and the CAF. Meridian Project The UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup ...

'' Regional: *

CECAFA Cup The CECAFA Cup, is the oldest football tournament in Africa. It is organized by the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations ( CECAFA). A FIFA competition, it includes participants of football playing national teams from the East ...

* WAFU Nations Cup *

Amilcar Cabral Cup The Amilcar was a French automobile manufactured from 1921 to 1940. History Foundation and location Amilcar was founded in July 1921 by Joseph Lamy and Emile Akar. The name "Amilcar" was an imperfect anagram of the partners' names. The b ...

COSAFA Cup The COSAFA Cup or COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup is an annual tournament for teams from Southern Africa organized by Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), inaugurated after the ban against the Republic of South Africa had been ...

* CEMAC Cup *

UNIFFAC Cup The U-17 UNIFFAC Cup is an association football competition contested by the under-17 national teams of Football Associations, associated with the Central African Football Federations' Union The Central African Football Federations' Union (french ...

(U-17) *

UNAF U-23 Tournament The UNAF U-23 Tournament ( ar, دورة اتحاد شمال أفريقيا تحت 23 سنة) is a football (soccer) tournament held between nations who are members of the UNAF association; however, some other teams which are not members are invi ...

International

For men's national teams, the main competition is the

, which began in 1957. In 2009, the CAF began organizing another competition for men's national teams, the

, this time featuring players playing in their respective national leagues. CAF also runs national competitions at Under-20 and Under-17 levels, which also serve as qualification tournaments for the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

and the

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

respectively. For women's national teams, CAF operates competitions serving as qualification tournaments for the related FIFA-organized tournaments which launched at the exact same year they began formation. As of 2022, the

, launched in 1991 for senior national teams, qualifies 4 teams to the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

and crowns a champion. Both the

tournament, launched in 2002 and the

, launched in 2008, each crowns no champion but instead qualifies 2 teams to compete at the

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

and the

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. It is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The tournament is held in even-numbered ye ...

respectively.

Club

CAF also runs the two main club competitions in Africa: the

, first held in 1964 as the ''African Cup of Champions Clubs'' (or just African Cup) and rebranded in 1997 for the champions of African leagues and the runners-up league-finished teams of the top 12 ranked national associations; and the

, launched in 2004 as a merger of the

, which begun in 1975, and a third competition, the

, which started in 1992, for national cup winners and the 3rd-placed league-finished teams of the top 12 ranked national associations. The

, which pits the winners of the CAF Champions League against the winners of the CAF Confederation Cup (previously the winners of the African Cup Winners' Cup), was launched in 1993. The

was jointly organized with AFC between the winners of the

and the winners of the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

. The last

took place in 1998. The

was founded on 12 September 2020, involving the champions of CAF's sub-confederation qualification tournaments for women's club teams.

Current title holders

Competition Winners

Sponsorship

In October 2004, South African telecommunications giant, MTN, contracted a 4-year deal to sponsor CAF competitions worth US$12.5 million, which was the biggest sponsorship deal in African sporting history at that time. CAF opened new sponsorship callouts when MTN's contract expired and French telecommunications giant,

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

scooped it up in July 2009, signing an 8-year comprehensive long-term undisclosed deal to sponsor CAF competitions with a value of €100 million. On 21 July 2016, French energy and petroleum giant, Total S.A., replaced Orange as the main sponsor with an 8-year sponsorship package from CAF for a value of €950 million to support its competitions. Total rebranded as

TotalEnergies TotalEnergies SE is a French Multinational corporation, multinational integrated energy and List of oil exploration and production companies, petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven Big Oil, supermajor oil companies. Its businesses ...

in 2021, although its sponsorship with CAF continued under the new name. The current main CAF sponsors are: * 1xBet *

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

FIFA World Rankings

Overview

Historical leaders

;Men's ImageSize = width:160 height:1800 PlotArea = left:40 right:0 bottom:10 top:10 #Just short of the date the next version of the FIFA World Ranking will be released (dd/mm/yyyy) Define $enddate = 24/05/2022 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:08/08/1993 till:$enddate TimeAxis = orientation:vertical format:yyyy ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1994 #Colors for teams (typically derived from jersey's first colors) Colors = id:Algeria value:rgb(0.32, 0.66, 0.22) id:Cameroon value:rgb(0, 0.39, 0.20) id:CapeVerde value:rgb(0, 0.22, 0.58) id:Egypt value:rgb(0.87, 0, 0) id:IvoryCoast value:rgb(0.97, 0.47, 0) id:Ghana value:rgb(1, 1, 1) id:Morocco value:rgb(0.73, 0.07, 0.10) id:Nigeria value:rgb(0, 0.53, 0.32) id:Senegal value:rgb(0, 0.52, 0.22) id:SouthAfrica value:rgb(0.99, 0.71, 0.08) id:Tunisia value:rgb(1, 1, 1) id:Zambia value:rgb(0, 0.5, 0) #A line at the right side of the graph LineData = from:08/08/1993 till:end atpos:65 color:black width:0.5 #Setup text and color to use in the labeled bars Define $labelAlgeria = text:"Algeria" color:Algeria Define $labelCameroon = text:"Cameroon" color:Cameroon Define $labelCapeVerde = text:"Cape Verde" color:CapeVerde Define $labelEgypt = text:"Egypt" color:Egypt Define $labelIvoryCoast = text:"Ivory Coast" color:IvoryCoast Define $labelGhana = text:"Ghana" color:Ghana Define $labelMorocco = text:"Morocco" color:Morocco Define $labelNigeria = text:"Nigeria" color:Nigeria Define $labelSenegal = text:"Senegal" color:Senegal Define $labelSouthAfrica = text:"South Africa" color:SouthAfrica Define $labelTunisia = text:"Tunisia" color:Tunisia Define $labelZambia = text:"Zambia" color:Zambia PlotData = bar:Leaders width:25 mark:(line,black) from:08/08/1993 till:25/07/1995 shift:(20,-5) $labelNigeria from:25/07/1995 till:22/08/1995 shift:(20,-10) $labelTunisia from:22/08/1995 till:19/09/1995 shift:(20,-5) $labelEgypt from:19/09/1995 till:17/10/1995 shift:(20,-5) $labelNigeria from:17/10/1995 till:21/11/1995 shift:(20,-5) $labelEgypt from:21/11/1995 till:19/12/1995 shift:(20,-5) $labelTunisia from:19/12/1995 till:24/01/1996 shift:(20,-5) $labelIvoryCoast from:24/01/1996 till:21/02/1996 shift:(20,-5) $labelGhana from:21/02/1996 till:22/05/1996 shift:(20,-5) $labelZambia from:24/04/1996 till:22/05/1996 shift:(20,-5) color:Ghana width:11 text:"Ghana / Zambia" from:22/05/1996 till:18/12/1996 shift:(20,-5) $labelZambia from:18/12/1996 till:27/02/1997 shift:(20,-5) $labelSouthAfrica from:27/02/1997 till:14/05/1997 shift:(20,-5) $labelZambia from:14/05/1997 till:16/02/2000 shift:(20,-5) $labelMorocco from:16/02/2000 till:18/07/2001 shift:(20,-5) $labelSouthAfrica from:18/07/2001 till:13/02/2002 shift:(20,-5) $labelTunisia from:13/02/2002 till:06/10/2004 shift:(20,-5) $labelCameroon from:06/10/2004 till:15/06/2005 shift:(20,-5) $labelNigeria from:15/06/2005 till:20/07/2005 shift:(20,-5) $labelCameroon from:20/07/2005 till:12/09/2005 shift:(20,-5) $labelEgypt from:12/09/2005 till:21/11/2005 shift:(20,-5) $labelCameroon from:17/10/2005 till:21/11/2005 shift:(20,-5) color:Nigeria width:11 text:"Cameroon / Nigeria" from:21/11/2005 till:15/02/2006 shift:(20,-5) $labelCameroon from:15/02/2006 till:14/02/2007 shift:(20,-5) $labelNigeria from:14/02/2007 till:19/09/2007 shift:(20,-5) $labelCameroon from:19/09/2007 till:13/02/2008 shift:(20,-5) $labelNigeria from:13/02/2008 till:04/06/2008 shift:(20,-5) $labelGhana from:04/06/2008 till:01/07/2009 shift:(20,-5) $labelCameroon from:01/07/2009 till:16/10/2009 shift:(20,-5) $labelIvoryCoast from:16/10/2009 till:03/02/2010 shift:(20,-5) $labelCameroon from:03/02/2010 till:02/02/2011 shift:(20,-5) $labelEgypt from:02/02/2011 till:29/06/2011 shift:(20,-5) $labelGhana from:29/06/2011 till:05/06/2014 shift:(20,-5) $labelIvoryCoast from:05/06/2014 till:05/11/2015 shift:(20,-5) $labelAlgeria from:05/11/2015 till:03/03/2016 shift:(20,-5) $labelIvoryCoast from:03/03/2016 till:07/04/2016 shift:(20,-5) $labelCapeVerde from:07/04/2016 till:15/09/2016 shift:(20,-5) $labelAlgeria from:15/09/2016 till:24/11/2016 shift:(20,-5) $labelIvoryCoast from:24/11/2016 till:09/02/2017 shift:(20,-5) $labelSenegal from:09/02/2017 till:16/10/2017 shift:(20,-5) $labelEgypt from:16/10/2017 till:23/11/2017 shift:(20,-5) $labelTunisia from:23/11/2017 till:18/01/2018 shift:(20,-5) $labelSenegal from:18/01/2018 till:20/09/2018 shift:(20,-5) $labelTunisia from:16/08/2018 till:20/09/2018 shift:(20,-5) color:Senegal width:11 text:"Senegal / Tunisia" from:20/09/2018 till:29/11/2018 shift:(20,-5) $labelTunisia from:29/11/2018 till:end shift:(20,-5) $labelSenegal ;Women's ImageSize = width:160 height:300 PlotArea = left:40 right:0 bottom:10 top:10 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2003 till:29/09/2019 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2003 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical format:yyyy Colors = id:NGA value:green PlotData= bar:Leaders width:25 mark:(line,black) align:left fontsize:S from:01/01/2003 till:27/09/2019 shift:(20,-3) text:"Nigeria" color:NGA

Team of the Year

Other rankings

CAF overall ranking of African clubs by titles

The following clubs are the top 10 clubs in CAF competitions. ''Update as of 3 August 2022 in chronological order.''

By country

The following table lists all the countries whose clubs have won at least one CAF competition. Egyptian clubs are the most successful, with a total of 41 titles. Egyptian clubs hold a record number of wins in the African Cup of Champions Clubs/CAF Champions League (16), the now-defunct

(8), the

(12) and the now-defunct

(3), followed by Tunisian clubs with 24 titles and they have the most victories in the now-defunct

(4). In third place overall, Moroccan clubs have secured 23 titles and they have the most victories in the

(7). ;Key:

CAF overall ranking of African clubs

Rankings are calculated by the CAF based on points gathered by African teams throughout their participation in international club tournaments organized by either

or CAF since the establishment of the first

African Cup of Champions Clubs The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and cont ...

in 1964.

Men's Futsal

Per 5 April 2022: a number between brackets is the rank of the previous week. (*)= Provisional ranking (played at least 10 matches) (**)= Inactive for more than 24 months

Women's Futsal

Beach soccer national teams

Rankings are calculated by

Beach Soccer Worldwide Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) is the organisation responsible for the founding and growth of association football's derivative sport of beach soccer. The founding partners of BSWW codified the rules of beach soccer in 1992, with BSWW as it is kno ...

(BSWW). Top ten
last updated 12 March 2018

Major tournament records

;''Legend'' * – Champions * – Runners-up * – Third place * – Fourth place *QF – Quarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, and 1986–present: knockout round of 8) *R2 — Round 2 (1974–1978, second group stage, top 8; 1982: second group stage, top 12; 1986–present: knockout round of 16) *R1 — Round 1 (1930, 1950–1970 and 1986–present: group stage; 1934–1938: knockout round of 16; 1974–1982: first group stage) *''Q'' — Qualified for upcoming tournament * – Qualified but withdrew * – Did not qualify * – Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned * – Hosts * – Not affiliated in FIFA For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

FIFA World Cup

;''Firsts'' *1934: first African team to qualify for the World Cup *1970: first African team to draw a match in the World Cup *1978: first African team to win a match in the World Cup *1982: first African team to win two matches in the World Cup *1986: first African team to qualify for two consecutive World Cups *1986: first African team to reach the knockout stage (round of sixteen) *1990: first African team to reach the knockout stage (quarter-finals) *1994 and 1998: first African team to top a group stage and reach the knockout stage (round of sixteen) in two consecutive World Cups *2002: first African team to reach the knockout stage (quarter-finals) further on the World Cup debut *2010: first African team to host the World Cup *2014: & first African teams to reach the knockout stage (round of sixteen) simultaneously in the World Cup *2022: first African team to reach the knockout stage (semi-finals), taking the fourth place

FIFA Women's World Cup

Teams are sorted by number of appearances.

Olympic Games For Men

Olympic Games For Women

Africa Cup of Nations

Women's Africa Cup of Nations

FIFA U-20 World Cup

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

FIFA U-17 World Cup

*Note 1: Original hosts Peru were stripped of the rights to host the 2019 edition in February that year.

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

FIFA Futsal World Cup

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

Former tournaments

FIFA Confederations Cup

CAF Best Footballers of the Century

The voting to select the best of the century refers to three categories: male player, goalkeeper and female player and is obtained from five different steps. The resulting best players and goalkeepers were honored during the "World Football Gala 1999".

CAF Best Player of the Century

CAF Best Goalkeeper of the Century

CAF Best Women's Footballer of the Century

CAF Golden Jubilee Best Players poll

In 2007, CAF published the list of top 30 African players who played in the period from 1957 to 2007, as part of the celebration of the golden jubilee or 50th anniversary of the foundation of CAF, ordered according to an online poll. :1.

Roger Milla Albert Roger Miller (born 20 May 1952), known as Roger Milla, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three Wor ...

:2.

Mahmoud El Khatib Mahmoud Ibrahim Ibrahim El Khatib ( ar, محمود إبراهيم إبراهيم الخطيب; born 30 October 1954), popularly nicknamed Bibo ( ar, بيبو), is an Egyptian retired footballer and current President of Al Ahly. He is widely rega ...

:3.

Hossam Hassan Hossam Hassan Hussein ( ar, حسام حسن حسين; born 10 August 1966) is an Egyptian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer, he is Egypt's all-time top scorer with 83 goals in 176 appea ...

:4.

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...

:5.

Abedi Pele Abedi Ayew ( ; born 5 November 1964), known professionally as Abedi Pele, is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and who served as captain of the Ghana national team. He is regarded as one of the g ...

:6.

George Weah George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (; born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional footballer who is the incumbent president of Liberia, in office since 2018. Prior to his election to the presidency, Weah served a ...

:7.

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. He is best known for his career at ...

:8.

Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu (born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the Nigeria national team, and played for Nigerian team Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Dutch side Ajax, Inter Milan of Italy, and ...

:9.

Rabah Madjer Rabah Mustapha Madjer ( ar, رابح مصطفى ماجر; born 15 December 1958) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He reached stardom as a Porto player during the 1980s, being widely regarded as one of th ...

:10.

Kalusha Bwalya Kalusha Bwalya (born 16 August 1963) is a Zambian former international footballer. He is Zambia's eighth-most capped player and third on the list of all-time top goalscorers behind Godfrey Chitalu and Alex Chola. Kalusha was named African Fo ...

:11.

Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder and is currently a member of Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland's coaching staff. He was ...

:12.

Augustine Okocha Augustine Azuka Okocha ( ; born 14 August 1973), commonly known as Jay-Jay Okocha, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He played 73 times for the Nigeria national team between 1993 and 2006, scorin ...

:13.

Saleh Selim Saleh Selim ( ar, صالح سليم) (11 September 1930 - 6 May 2002) was the 10th president of the Egyptian Al Ahly Sporting Club. He also was a famous Egyptian football player and actor. He was nicknamed El Maestro because of his way of lead ...

:14.

Hacène Lalmas Hacène Lalmas (12 March 1943 – 7 July 2018), also known as El Kebch (The Ram), was an Algerian footballer who played as a midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively ...

:15.

Benni McCarthy Benedict Saul "Benni" McCarthy (born 12 November 1977) is a South African coach and former footballer who is a first-team coach at Manchester United. He previously worked as head coach of South African Premier Division team AmaZulu. A former fo ...

:16.

El Hadji Diouf El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf (; born 15 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional footballer. Throughout his career, Diouf played as a winger or a forward. Having started his professional football career in France with Sochaux, Rennes an ...

:17.

Noureddine Naybet Noureddine Naybet ( ar, نور الدين نيبت; born 10 February 1970) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He played in Spain (Deportivo de La Coruña) and Portugal for Sporting CP and England for To ...

:18. Rashidi Yekini :19.

Hany Ramzy Hany Guda Ramzy ( ar, هانى جودة رمزى ) (born 10 March 1969) is an Egyptian football coach and former defender. Early life Ramzy was born in Abdeen region of Cairo to Coptic Orthodox parents. He has one sister, Miriam. Ramzy be ...

:20. Hassan Shehata :21.

Lucas Radebe Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe OIS (born 12 April 1969) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, before transferring to Leeds United, where he played 256 m ...

:22.

Tarak Dhiab Tarak Dhiab ( ar, طارق ذياب, born January 15, 1954) is a former footballer from Tunisia. The African Footballer of the Year in 1977, he is listed by the Tunisian Football Federation as having 107 caps for the Tunisian national football ...

:23. Mohammed Timoumi :24.

Anthony Yeboah Anthony Yeboah (born 6 June 1966) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the most prominent and prolific goal scorers in Ghanaian and African football history and gained a reputation for sc ...

:25.

Salif Keita Salif Keïta () (born 25 August 1949) is a Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa". He is a member of the Keita royal family of Mali. Biography Early life Salif Keita was born a traditional prince in the village o ...

:26.

Karim Abdul Razak Karim Abdul Razak Tanko (born 18 April 1956) is a Ghanaian football coach and former midfielder. He played for several clubs in the 1970s and 1980s, notably the local club Asante Kotoko and the New York Cosmos in the defunct North American Socc ...

:27.

Samuel Kuffour Samuel Osei "Sammy" Kuffour (born 3 September 1976) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for his physical power, Kuffour is best remembered for his time with Bayern Munich, whom he represented for ...

:28.

Lakhdar Belloumi Lakhdar Belloumi ( ar, لخضر بلومي; born on 29 December 1958) is an Algerian former football player and manager. He is widely considered as the best Algerian player of all time and one of the best players in Africa. He is said to have inv ...

:29.

Rigobert Song Rigobert Song Bahanag (born 1 July 1976) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who is the manager of the Cameroon national team. Known for his defensive skills, Song usually played as a centre-back but could also operate at right-back ...

:30. Nasr Eddin "Jaksa" Abbas

CAF resolutions

Awards: *

CAF Awards The CAF Awards is an awards evening held to honour the best African association football players. It is conferred by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Current awards The awards include: CAF Player of the Year CAF Most Promising Talen ...

African Footballer of the Year African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

CAF Clubs of the 20th Century On 31 December 2000 the CAF has published that Al Ahly SC is CAF African Club of the Century. Ranking The ranking was calculated by the exclusively on the basis of performance by African teams throughout their participation in CAF club competitio ...

Qualifications: *

CAF 5-Year Ranking The CAF 5-Year Ranking system is used by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to determine the number of clubs that each member association may enter its club football competitions; the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. ...

International top goalscorers

This table is for players with 30 or more goals for a CAF national team. Players in bold are still active at international level.

Notes

References

External links

*
Overview of CAF and its competitions
via Soccerlens.com
The CAF Anthem
since 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Confederation Of African Football Sports organizations established in 1957

Foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

FIFA confederations 1957 establishments in Africa

History

The CAF Anthem

Current Leadership

CAF members and zones

Members

Competitions

CAF competitions

International

Club

Current title holders

Competition Winners

Sponsorship

FIFA World Rankings

Overview

Historical leaders

Team of the Year

Other rankings

CAF overall ranking of African clubs by titles

By country

CAF overall ranking of African clubs

Men's Futsal

Women's Futsal

Beach soccer national teams

Major tournament records

FIFA World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup

Olympic Games For Men

Olympic Games For Women

Africa Cup of Nations

Women's Africa Cup of Nations

FIFA U-20 World Cup

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

FIFA U-17 World Cup

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup

FIFA Futsal World Cup

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

Former tournaments

FIFA Confederations Cup

CAF Best Footballers of the Century

CAF Best Player of the Century

CAF Best Goalkeeper of the Century

CAF Best Women's Footballer of the Century

CAF Golden Jubilee Best Players poll

CAF resolutions

International top goalscorers

See also

Notes

References

External links