The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the governing body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was officially established on 8 February 1957 at the Grand Hotel in Khartoum, Sudan and today comprises 54 member associations. The foundation followed a decision made at the 1954 FIFA Congress in Bern, Switzerland, where Africa was formally recognised as a football confederation.

Representing the African confederation of FIFA, CAF organises runs and regulates national team and club continental competitions annually or biennially such as the Africa Cup of Nations and Women's Africa Cup of Nations, which they control the prize money and broadcast rights to. CAF has been allocated 9 spots at the FIFA World Cup from 2026 with an opportunity of a 10th spots through an intercontinental play-off involving 6 teams to decide the last 2 FIFA World Cup places (46+2).

The headquarters of CAF were originally located within the offices of the Sudanese Football Association in Khartoum, before being relocated to a site near Cairo, Egypt, following a fire. Youssef Mohamad served as the organisation’s first general secretary, and Abdel Aziz Abdallah Salem was its first president. The current president, Patrice Motsepe of South Africa, was first elected unopposed on 12 March 2021 in elections held in Rabat, Morocco.

History

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 NamePosition Patrice MotsepePresident Fouzi Lekjaa1st Vice President Kurt Okraku2nd Vice President Pierre-Alain Mounguengui 3rd Vice President Bestine Ditabala 4th Vice President Feizal Sidat5th Vice President Samson AdamuActing General Secretary Frederick AcheampongGeneral Coordinator Sources:

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

Members Association National teams Founded FIFA affiliation CAF affiliation Regional affiliation IOC memberUnion of North African Football (UNAF) (5) ALG 1962 1964 1964 2005 EGY 1921 1923 1957 2005 LBY 1962 1964 1965 2005 MAR 1955 1960 1960 2005 TUN 1957 1960 1960 2005 West African Football Union (WAFU) (16) BEN 1962 1964 1963 1975 BFA 1960 1964 1964 1975 CPV 1982 1986 1986 1975 GAM 1952 1968 1966 1975 GHA 1935 1948 1960 1975 GUI 1960 1962 1962 1975 GNB 1974 1986 1986 1975 CIV 1960 1964 1965 1975 LBR 1936 1964 1962 1975 MLI 1960 1964 1963 1975 MTN 1961 1970 1976 1975 NIG 1962 1964 1965 1975 NGA 1945 1960 1959 1975 SEN 1960 1964 1963 1975 SLE 1960 1960 1967 1975 TOG 1960 1964 1963 1975 Central African Football Federations' Union (UNIFFAC) (8) CMR 1959 1964 1963 1978 CTA 1961 1964 1968 1978 CHA 1962 1964 1964 1978 CGO 1962 1964 1965 1978 COD 1919 1964 1964 1978 EQG 1957 1986 1986 1978 GAB 1962 1966 1968 1978 STP 1975 1986 1986 1978 Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) (12) BDI 1948 1972 1972 1994 DJI 1979 1994 1994 1994 ERI 1996 1998 1998 1973 ETH 1943 1952 1957 1983 KEN 1960 1960 1961 1973 RWA 1975 1978 1976 1995 SOM 1951 1962 1968 1973 SSD 2011 2012 2012 2012 SDN 1936 1948 1957 1975 TAN 1945 1964 1965 1973 UGA 1924 1960 1961 1973 Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) (14) ANG 1979 1980 1980 1997 BOT 1970 1978 1976 1997 COM 1979 2005 2003 2007 SWZ 1968 1978 1976 1997 LES 1932 1964 1963 1997 MAD 1961 1964 1963 2000 MWI 1966 1968 1974 1997 MRI 1952 1964 1965 2000 MOZ 1975 1980 1978 1997 NAM 1990 1992 1992 1997 SEY 1979 1986 1986 2000 RSA 1892 1992 1992 1997 ZAM 1929 1964 1964 1997 ZIM 1892 1965 1980 1997 Non-member special cases (2) REU 1956 1992 ZAN 1926 1973

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 Year Champions Title Runners-up Next editionMen's national teams Africa Cup of Nations 2025 (final) 2nd 2027 (final) U-23 Cup of Nations 2023 1st 2027 Men's African Games Tournament 2023 1st 2027 U-20 Cup of Nations 2025 1st 2027 U-17 Cup of Nations 2026 2nd 2027 CAF African Schools U15 Boy's 2026 1st 2027 Futsal Cup of Nations 2024 3rd 2026 Youth Olympic Futsal Qualifying Tournament 2018 1st 2026 Beach Soccer Cup of Nations 2024 5th 2026Women's national teams Women's Africa Cup of Nations 2026 (final) 1st 2028 (final) Women's African Games Tournament 2023 2nd 2027 African U-20 Women's World Cup qualification 2026 1st7th1st12th 2028 African U-17 Women's World Cup qualification 2026 2nd4th9th7th 2027Women's Futsal Africa Cup of Nations20251st2029 CAF African Schools U15 Girl's 2026 2nd 2027Men's club teams Super Cup 2025 Pyramids FC 1st RS Berkane 2026 Champions League Mamelodi Sundowns 2nd AS FAR Confederation Cup 2025–26 (final) USM Alger 2nd Zamalek Women's club teams Women's Champions League 2025 (final) AS FAR 2nd ASEC Mimosas 2026 (final)

Competition winners NationMenWomenTotalCANCHANU-23sU-20sU-17sFutsalBeach SoccerAfrican GamesWAFCONAfrican GamesWomen's Futsal Nigeria3—172 – –1103—27 Egypt7 – 1413—2———18 Cameroon5——12—–411—14 Ghana4——42——2—2—14 Morocco231113————112 Senegal11—12—51———11 Ivory Coast3———1——————4 Algeria2——1———1———4 DR Congo22—————————4

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

+ Top four teams at year-endYear First Second Third Fourth 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Women + Team ranking in the top four – Women'sYear First Second Third Fourth 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Other rankings CAF overall ranking of African clubs by titles

Men's Futsal Per 12 December 2025: