WAFF Championship

The West Asian Football Federation Championship (Arabic: بطولة اتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم), or simply WAFF Championship, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the governing body of football in West Asia. The championship has been held nine times since the first edition in 2000.^[1]

WAFF Championship

Organiser(s)	WAFF
Founded	2000; 25 years ago (2000)
Region	West Asia
Teams	12 (2026)
Current champions	Bahrain (1st title)
Most championships	Iran (4 titles)
Website	the-waff.com
2026 WAFF Championship

Members of the WAFF

The defending champions are Bahrain, having defeated hosts Iraq in the 2019 final. The most successful team is Iran, with four titles; however, they do not compete in the competition anymore as they are no longer members of the WAFF.

History

The inaugural WAFF Championship was held in 2000 in Jordan, with Iran winning the first edition.^[2] It was hosted in memory of Hussein of Jordan, who had died a year prior.^[3] The Al Hussein Cup, assigned to the winner of each tournament, was designed and manufactured in Italy in 2000, and is made of silver and copper.^[2]

Results

Edition	Year	Hosts		Champions	Score	Runners-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		No. of Teams
1	2000	Jordan		Iran	1–0	Syria		Iraq	4–1	Jordan		8
2	2002	Syria		Iraq	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Jordan		Iran	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–2 pen.)	Syria		6
3	2004	Iran		Iran	4–1	Syria		Jordan	3–1	Iraq		6
4	2007	Jordan		Iran	2–1	Iraq		Jordan and  Syria[note 1]				6
5	2008	Iran		Iran	2–1	Jordan		Qatar and  Syria[note 1]				6
6	2010	Jordan		Kuwait	2–1	Iran		Iraq and  Yemen[note 1]				9
7	2012	Kuwait		Syria	1–0	Iraq		Oman	1–0	Bahrain		11
8	2013	Qatar		Qatar	2–0	Jordan		Bahrain	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–2 pen.)	Kuwait		9
9	2019	Iraq		Bahrain	1–0	Iraq		[note 2]				9
10	2026	Oman										12

• a.e.t.: after extra time
• pen.: after penalty shoot-out
• TBD: to be determined

Notes

1. The two semi-finalists in 2007, 2008, and 2010 did not play a third-place match.
2. There were neither semi-finals nor a third-place match in 2019.

Teams reaching the top four

Teams reaching the top four

Team	Titles	Runners-up	Third place1	Fourth place	Total
Iran	4 (2000, 2004*, 2007, 2008*)	1 (2010)	1 (2002)		6
Iraq	1 (2002)	3 (2007, 2012, 2019*)	2 (2000, 20102)	1 (2004)	7
Syria	1 (2012)	2 (2000, 2004)	2 (20072, 20082)	1 (2002*)	6
Bahrain	1 (2019)		1 (2013)	1 (2012)	3
Qatar	1 (2013*)		1 (20082)		2
Kuwait	1 (2010)			1 (2013)	2
Jordan		3 (2002, 2008, 2013)	2 (2004, 20072*)	1 (2000*)	6
Yemen			1 (20102)		1
Oman			1 (2012)		1

* = hosts

1 = includes semi-finals in case there was no third-place match

2 = semi-final

Records and statistics

Top goalscorers by tournament

Year	Player(s)	Goals
2000	Razzaq Farhan	4
2002	Alireza Nikbakht	2
	Razzaq Farhan
	Muayad Salim
	Anas Sari
2004	Ali Daei	5
2007	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	2
	Salih Sadir
2008	Kianoush Rahmati	3
2010	Ali Al-Nono	4
2012	Qasim Said	4
	Ahmad Al Douni
2013	Boualem Khoukhi	6
2019	Hussein Ali	3

See also

• WAFF U-23 Championship
• WAFF U-19 Championship
• WAFF U-17 Championship
• WAFF Women's Championship
• Arabian Gulf Cup
• FIFA Arab Cup
• AFC Asian Cup
  • AFF Championship
  • CAFA Nations Cup
  • EAFF E-1 Football Championship
  • SAFF Championship