The 2025 WAFU Zone A Women's Cup (; ) was the third edition of the WAFU Zone A Women's Cup, an international

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

tournament contested by the women's national association football teams of

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

zone A organized by the

West African Football Union The West African Football Union (; ), officially abbreviated as WAFU-UFOA and WAFU, is a sports governing body representing the football associations in West Africa that was founded in 1975 and is a subregional body of the Confederation of Afr ...

(WAFU).

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

hosted the tournament from 22 to 31 May 2025, marking the first-ever women's international football competition to take place in the country.

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

were two-time champions, having won every edition of the tournament to date. However, they fell short in their title defense after a 0–1 defeat to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

in the final. Conversely, ''Sierra Queens''; who had never progressed beyond the group stage in prior editions, enjoyed a historic campaign, culminating in their maiden title triumph. Senegal's Hapsatou Malado Diallo claimed the Top Scorer award for the second consecutive time, netting five goals throughout the competition. Sierra Leone's goalkeeper, Hannah Juana was named both Best Player and Best Goalkeeper, following a series of standout performances that played a pivotal role in her nation's maiden title victory. Of the eight participating teams, hosts

scored their first-ever goal in the tournament and went on to secure their maiden victory; both in the competition and on the international stage, by defeating

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

in their final group-stage match.

Teams

Participating teams

On 13 May 2025, WAFU Zone A announced that 8 of its 9 member associations would participate in the tournament, with

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

, last edition's runners-up, being the only nation to not enter. ;Did not enter (125)

Draw

The draw to determine the participating countries' groups took place at 11:00 GMT on 14 May 2025 at the WAFU-UFOA A headquarters in

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

. The draw started with the hosts, Mauritania, being assigned to position A1, and title holders Senegal being assigned to position B1. The other teams were drawn using two pots: one containing the teams and the other the positions in the groups. The draw resulted in the following groups:

Squads

Each team was required by WAFU-UFOA to name a squad of a minimum of 20 players (two of whom must be goalkeepers).

Venues

On 14 May 2025, WAFU A confirmed the selection of two stadiums within the Mauritanian capital to host the tournament matches.

Match officials

As of 22 May 2025, the following match officials were confirmed for the tournament.

Referees

* Fatou Ngum * Félicité Kourouma * Love Whyee * Aissata Diarra * Aissata Lam * Yacine Samassa

Assistant referees

* Marisa Monteiro * Abbie Ceesay * Cadidjatu Mancal * Mariam Coulibaly * Diba Houleye

Group stage

WAFU A initially announced the tournament schedule, including kick-off times and venues, on 14 May 2025. However, the schedule was completely rescheduled on 18 May due to

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

issues that delayed the arrival of most delegations to Mauritania, with the tournament now set to start on 22 May.

Tiebreakers

In the group stage, Teams are ranked according to

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

(3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings: #Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; #

Goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

in head-to-head matches among tied teams; #Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; #If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; #Goal difference in all group matches; #Goals scored in all group matches; #Drawing of lots. All times are local, GMT (

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

Group A

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Group B

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Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

is used to decide the winner if necessary.

Semi-finals

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Third place play-off

Final

Senegal and Sierra Leone contested the final for the first time in the history of the

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

. The ''Lionesses of Teranga'' as two-time champions, entered the match as the tournament's most successful team, while ''Sierra Queens'' reached the final for the first time. The two sides had previously met three times in the competition, most recently in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the current edition, which ended in a 1–1 draw. Senegal had won one and drawn one of the two earlier encounters. Player of the Match:

Salamatu Kamara Salamatu Kamara is a Sierra Leonean educator, politician and women's rights activist. She is the co-ordinator at the Tamarameh Gender Development Group. Early life and education Kamara is a widowed mother of four children. She is the proprietor ...

(Sierra Leone) Assistant referees:

Cadidjatu Mancal (

)

Fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (also known as a linesman) is an official who assists the referee in administering the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the Laws, at most organised levels ...

:
Love Whyee (

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

)

Goalscorers

Final ranking and awards

Final ranking

, - , colspan="11", Eliminated in the group stage , -

Individual awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:

References

{{WAFU Zone A Women's Cup WAFU-A Women's Cup 2025 WAFU Zone A Cup