CAF Zones Explained: UNAF, WAFU, UNIFFAC, CECAFA and COSAFA
The six regional unions inside the Confederation of African Football, their members and their tournaments.
By the SSFA Online team · Updated 2026-10-19
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has 54 member associations organised into six regional unions. The zones run their own tournaments and shape qualifying draws, so knowing them helps make sense of African football.
CAF in brief
CAF was founded in Khartoum in February 1957 by the football associations of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Africa, and is headquartered in Cairo. It organises the Africa Cup of Nations, World Cup qualifying for Africa, the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup for clubs, and the African Nations Championship (CHAN) for players based in their home leagues.
The six zones
UNAF – North Africa
Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia: the zone with the most AFCON titles and World Cup appearances. Its regional competition is the UNAF Tournament.
WAFU Zone A – West Africa A
Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Its historic regional cup was the Amílcar Cabral Cup.
WAFU Zone B – West Africa B
Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria and Togo, home of some of the continent's fiercest rivalries such as Ghana vs Nigeria. The two WAFU zones contest the WAFU Cup of Nations.
UNIFFAC – Central Africa
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe. Regional competitions include the UNIFFAC Cup and the CEMAC Cup.
CECAFA – East and Central Africa
Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, plus Zanzibar as an associate. The CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup traces its roots to the Gossage Cup of 1926, making it the oldest regional national-team competition in Africa.
COSAFA – Southern Africa
Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The COSAFA Cup, played since 1997, is one of the most regular regional tournaments on the continent.
Why zones matter
Zonal tournaments give smaller nations competitive matches outside the qualifying calendar, and they often shape long-running rivalries. You can browse all teams by zone on our national teams page, and every regional cup on the tournaments page.