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
Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo in 1974 with a view to establishing a regional competition similar to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. The maiden event was hosted in
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...
and the hosts Ivory Coast won the tournament.
The
West African Nations Cup (Zone 3) commenced in 1982 on an annual basis (not in 1985), and was played until 1987. Meanwhile, in 1983
ECOWAS (French:) create another tournament, the
CEDEAO Cup (Zone 3) and it was played on a bi-annual basis until 1991.
Zone 2 also had their own tournament created, the
Amílcar Cabral Cup, named after the liberator of Guinea-Bissau,
Amílcar Cabral.
The West African Nations Cup returned in 2002 as the WAFU Nations Cup, however, officially it was not considered simply as a continuation of the old tournament, and therefore it is a new tournament. The 2002 edition was short-lived after violence broke out in Ivory Coast. Two games of the tournament had been played when it was cancelled. Finally, after an eight-year wait, the tournament returned in April 2010 which Nigeria's Ogun State hosted and the host nation won.
The
2019 edition was held in Senegal, and the 2021 tournament was supposed to be hosted by Nigeria but the tournament didn't come to fruition.
Tournament history
See also
*
UEMOA Tournament
*
Amílcar Cabral Cup (a tournament played between 1979 and 2007)
*
West African Nations Cup (a tournament played in the 1980s)
*
CEDEAO Cup (a tournament played in the 1980s and early 1990s)
*
West Africa Champions Cup (a tournament played in the 2022s)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wafu Nations Cup
West African Football Union competitions