Confederation of African Football

History

Main article: History of CAF

Anthem

CAF launched a competition for all African composers to create its anthem without lyrics to reflect the cultural patrimony and the music of Africa on 18 September 2007.

Leadership

Sources:

Members and zones

A total of 54 member associations are part of the Confederation of African Football.

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Members

Additionally, there are territories located in Africa which are not affiliated with CAF or any other confederation to any extent.

• (British Indian Ocean Territory)

Some African states with limited or no international recognition have official national teams, but none have been considered for CAF membership. Instead, they are affiliated with organisations such as CONIFA. Somaliland is not a member of CONIFA after leaving in 2010s and is a candidate to join FIFA after its recognition in the coming years.

• FIFA code: SMD

Competitions

CAF competitions

National teams: ;Men

• Africa Cup of Nations
• African Nations League
• U-23 Africa Cup of Nations
• U-20 Africa Cup of Nations
• U-17 Africa Cup of Nations
• CAF African Schools U15 Boy's
• Futsal Africa Cup of Nations
• African Youth Olympic Futsal Qualifying Tournament
• Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations ;Women
• Women's Africa Cup of Nations
• African U-20 Women's World Cup qualification
• African U-17 Women's World Cup qualification
• CAF African Schools U15 Girl's
• Women's Futsal Africa Cup of Nations ;Defunct
• African Nations Championship

Clubs:

• CAF Super Cup
• CAF Champions League
• CAF Confederation Cup
• CAF Women's Champions League
• CAF U-20 Women's Champions League ;Defunct
• African Cup Winners' Cup
• CAF Cup
• African Football League

Regional:

• CECAFA Cup
• WAFU Nations Cup
• COSAFA Cup
• CEMAC Cup
• UNIFFAC Cup (U-17)
• UNAF U-23 Tournament ;Defunct
• Amilcar Cabral Cup
• CEMAC Cup

Inter Continental: ;Defunct

• Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
• Afro-Asian Club Championship
• UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup

International

Shortly after formation, CAF organised the Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated AFCON) in 1957 and it has since become its flagship competition. Faced with undisclosed decline in popularity of local competitions and the mass exodus of homegrown footballers to Europe, Asia and the Americas in the 1990s and early 2000s, CAF launched the African Nations Championship (alternatively, though not widely used, the Championship of African Nations (CHAN)) on 11 September 2007 and began organisation two years later, to address this issue. CAF also organises qualification tournaments/competitions for the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the FIFA U-17 World Cup for its member associations; both of which initially began on a home-and-away two-legged basis but has since 1995 been organised in appointed host countries as respectively the Under-20 and U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.

For women's football operates competitions which currently serve as qualification tournaments for the related FIFA-organised tournaments which launched at the exact same year they began formation. The flagship African women's football competition/tournament is the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, which launched in 1991 as the African Women's Championship and was known in the mass media between 2015 and 2021 as the Africa/African Women/Women's Cup of Nations, which currently qualifies 4 teams to the FIFA Women's World Cup. CAF also organises qualification matches for "promising future female footballers" at both the Under-20 and Under-17 levels, launched in 2002 and 2008 respectively, both of which crowns no champions but instead qualifies 2 teams to compete at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup respectively.

Club

For African clubs, CAF runs the CAF Men's and Women's Champions League, the CAF Confederation Cup, the CAF Super Cup and the African Schools Football Championship for both males and females. First held in 1964 as the African Cup of Champions Clubs (simply known sometimes as the African Cup) and rebranded in 1997 as the CAF Champions League, this football club competition currently features the champions of top-division leagues of CAF member associations and the runners-up teams of the league classifications of member associations the top 12 ranked national associations as documented by the CAF 5-year ranking system.

A currently-former competition, the African Cup Winners' Cup, commenced in 1975 for national cup winners of member associations and a third currently-former competition, the CAF Cup, launched in 1992 for African teams who finished below the top 2 positions of the league classifications of member associations and haven't met any criteria for qualification to any CAF competition. CAF decided to merge these two competitions together to form the current second-tier CAF Confederation Cup in 2004, and it currently incorporates the participation of national cup winners from the Cup Winners' Cup, whiles maintaining the format of the participation of teams who finished 3rd in the top-division league classifications of the 12 highest-ranked member associations as documented by the CAF 5-Year Ranking system from the CAF Cup. It is also ranked below the CAF Champions League.

The winners of the CAF Champions League play the winners of the African Cup Winners' Cup until 2004 and the CAF Confederation Cup thereafter in the CAF Super Cup which was launched in 1993.

The Afro-Asian Club Championship was an annual football match jointly organised between CAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the winners of the AFC Champions League between 1987 and 1999.

The CAF Women's Champions League was announced and approved on 30 June 2020, launched on 12 September that year and began contesting the following year, i.e. 2021. It features women's national league and cup winners nvolving 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 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 on 28 May 2021.

The current main CAF sponsors are:

• 1xBet
• TikTok
• TotalEnergies
• Orange

FIFA World Rankings

Overview

Historical leaders

Men

;All time No. 1 ImageSize = width:160 height:1800 PlotArea = left:40 right:0 bottom:10 top:10

1. Just short of the date the next version of the FIFA World Ranking will be released (dd/mm/yyyy) Define $enddate = 04/04/2024

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:08/08/1993 till:$enddate TimeAxis = orientation:vertical format:yyyy ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1994

1. 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(0, 0, 0) 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)

2. A line at the right side of the graph LineData = from:08/08/1993 till:end atpos:65 color:black width:0.5

3. 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:26 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:22/12/2022 shift:(20,-5) $labelSenegal from:22/12/2022 till:end shift:(20,-5) $labelMorocco

Women

;All time No. 1 ImageSize = width:160 height:300 PlotArea = left:40 right:0 bottom:10 top:10 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2003 till:29/09/2024 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:27/09/2024 shift:(20,-3) text:"Nigeria" color:NGA

Other rankings

CAF overall ranking of African clubs by titles

The following clubs are the top 10 clubs in CAF competitions.

Non-CAF competition

The 1982 African Super Cup is a match which took place on 25 January 1982 during the Tournament of Fraternity in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The Kabyles of JS Kabylie won this trophy against the Cameroonians of Union Douala.

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 44 titles. Egyptian clubs hold a record number of wins in the African Cup of Champions Clubs/CAF Champions League (19), the now-defunct African Cup Winners' Cup (8), the CAF Super Cup (12) and the now-defunct Afro-Asian Club Championship (3), followed by Tunisian clubs with 24 titles and they have the most victories in the now-defunct CAF Cup (4) and Moroccan clubs have secured also 24 titles with the most victories in the CAF Confederation Cup (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 organised by either CAF themselves or FIFA since the establishment of the first African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1964.

Men's Futsal

Per 12 December 2025:

(*)= 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 (BSWW). Top ten, last updated 1 October 2025

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)
• R3 — Round 3 (2026–present: knockout round of 16)
• R2 — Round 2 (1974–1978: second group stage, top 8; 1982: second group stage, top 12; 1986–2022: knockout round of 16; 2026–present: knockout round of 32)
• 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

Main article: National team appearances in the 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 16) in two consecutive World Cups
• 2002: first African team to reach the knockout stage (quarter-finals) on their 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 fourth place

FIFA Women's World Cup

Main article: FIFA Women's World Cup records and statistics

Teams are sorted by number of appearances.

Olympic Games

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Africa Cup of Nations

Main article: Africa Cup of Nations records and statistics