UNAF

Union of North African Football
اتحاد شمال إفريقيا لكرة القدم
Union nord-africaine de football
Formation26 February 2005
TypeSports organization
HeadquartersTunis, Tunisia
Region served
North Africa
Membership
Official language
Arabic, English, French and Spanish
President
 Hany Abo Rida
AffiliationsCAF
Websitewww.unafonline.org

The Union of North African Football (UNAF; Arabic: اتحاد شمال إفريقيا لكرة القدم, romanized: Ittiḥād Shamāl Ifrīqyā li-Kurat al-Qadam; French: Union nord-africaine de football) is an association football organising body. It was launched in 2005 by the North African members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia, with Mauritania joining in 2025. The post of president will be rotated among the five founding nations.[1]

History

The Union of North African Football (UNAF) was founded in 2005 and includes the countries of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia and is continued to the Confederation of African Football that have 53 national football associations distributed into 6 regions. The UNAF is the sixth region of the continent by division accredited to the CAF and the Union has presided over in the first parliamentary period immediately following its founding by Mr. Samir Zaher a former president of the Egyptian Football Association, the president is elected during a plenary session for a period of 4 years by the members of the Union and are the heads of the five unions and the president-elect proposes as his deputy from among the immediate superiors five national unions during the first meeting of an executive office following the election as General Assembly by the Executive Office to determine the heads and members of the committees.

The recent president elected is Mr. Wadii Jari, a president of the Tunisian Football Federation. He was unanimously elected chairman of the UNAF for a term of four years and during the electoral general assembly, which was held on Saturday 25 October 2014 in Tunis. He was also selected Mr. Gamal Allam, a head of the Egyptian Football Association as a vice-president of the UNAF unanimously. On the other hand, the General Assembly approved in particular on the administrative and financial reports of the UNAF as well as the adoption of the estimated budget of the Union project for the year 2015 and the report of the Finance Committee meeting held on 23 October 2014. The program was approved on the North African Union's activities for the year 2015.[2]

On December 2025, Mauritania left the West African Football Union to join the UNAF.[3]

Board of directors

Current board of directors

President Years
President Abdelhakim Al-Shalmani
General Secretary Mahmoud Hammami
Assistant General Secretary Ridha Kraiem
Chairman of the Technical Committee Chafik Ameur
Chairman of the Finance Committee Hassan Filali
Chairman of the Referees Committee Essam Abdel Fattah
Chairman of the Medical Committee Chafik Jarraya

Former presidents

President Years
Samir Zaher 2005–2008
Mohamed Raouraoua 2008–2011
Ali Fassi-Fihri 2011–2014
Wadie Jary 2014–2018
Jamal Al-Jaafari 2018–2019
Abdelhakim Al-Shalmani 2019–2024
Gamal Allam 2024–2025
Hany Abo Rida 2025–Present

Member associations

UNAF has 6 member associations. All associations except from Mauritania were founding members of UNAF. All of them are members of the Confederation of African Football and the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).

Code Association National teams Founded FIFA affiliation CAF affiliation UAFA affiliation UNAF affiliation IOC member
ALG  Algeria
1962 1963 1964 1974 2005 Yes
EGY  Egypt
1921 1923 1957 1974 2005 Yes
LBY  Libya
1962 1964 1965 1974 2005 Yes
MAR  Morocco
1955 1960 1959 1976 2005 Yes
MTN  Mauritania
1961 1970 1976 1989 2025 Yes
TUN  Tunisia
1957 1960 1960 1976 2005 Yes

Competitions

See also: List of association football competitions and FIFA International Match Calendar

UNAF runs several competitions which cover men's, women's, youth, clubs and futsal.

Current title holders

See also: Portal:Current events/Sports, 2026 in association football, 2026 in sports, and FIFA International Match Calendar
For events postponed or cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, see Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.
Competition Year Champions Title Runners-up Next edition Most titles
National teams
U-23 tournament 2011  Saudi Arabia 1st  Algeria TBA  Algeria (2)
U-20 tournament 2024  Morocco 3rd  Egypt TBA  Tunisia (9)
U-18 tournament 2019  Morocco 1st  Egypt 2025  Morocco (1)
 Tunisia (1)
U-17 tournament 2024  Egypt 4th  Morocco 2026  Algeria (4)
 Morocco (4)
 Tunisia (4)
 Egypt (4)
U-16 Tournament 2026  Tunisia 2nd  Algeria TBA  Tunisia (2)
U-15 tournament 2019  Morocco 2nd  Algeria TBA  Morocco (2)
Schools tournament 2026 Morocco 1st Algeria 2027 Algeria (2)
Futsal tournament 2010  Libya 3rd  Morocco TBA  Libya (3)
National teams (women)
Women's tournament 2020  Morocco 1st  Tanzania TBA  Morocco (1)
 Tunisia (1)
U-21 women's tournament 2019 Algeria 1st Morocco TBA Algeria (1)
U-20 women's tournament 2025  Morocco 3rd  Egypt TBA  Morocco (3)
U-17 women's tournament 2024  Tanzania 1st  Tunisia TBA  Tanzania (1)
Schools women's tournament 2026 Morocco 4th Algeria 2027 Morocco (4)[4]
Club teams
Club cup 2015 Raja Casablanca 1st Ismaily SC TBA Raja Casablanca (1)
Club teams (women)
Women's club tournament 2009 ASF Sahel 1st Wadi Degla TBA ASE Alger Centre (1)
FC Berrechid (1)
ASF Sahel (1)
CAF Women's Champions League UNAF Qualifiers 2025 AS FAR 3rd FC Masar 2026 AS FAR (3)
Women's U-20 club tournament 2024 Afak Relizane 1st ASF Sousse TBA Afak Relizane (1)

Defunct competitions

Competition Year Champions Title Runners-up – Most titles
Club teams (Men's)
UNAF Cup of Champions 2010 Club Africain 2nd MC Alger – Club Africain (2)
UNAF Cup Winners Cup 2010 ES Sétif 1st Al-Nasr Benghazi – –
UNAF Super Cup 2010 ES Sétif 1st CS Sfaxien – ES Sétif (1)

Major tournament records

Legend

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record
Team 1930

(13) 		1934

(16) 		1938

(15) 		1950

(13) 		1954

(16) 		1958

(16) 		1962

(16) 		1966

(16) 		1970

(16) 		1974

(16) 		1978

(16) 		1982

(24) 		1986

(24) 		1990

(24) 		1994

(24) 		1998

(32) 		2002


(32) 		2006

(32) 		2010

(32) 		2014

(32) 		2018

(32) 		2022

(32) 		2026



(48) 		2030



(48) 		2034

(48) 		Years
 Algeria occupied by France × • • • R1
13th		 R1
22nd		 • • • • • R1
28th		 R2
14th		 • • Q 5/15
 Egypt × R1
13th		 × × • × × × × • • • • R1
20th		 • • • • • • R1
31st		 • Q 4/16
 Morocco protectorate of France • × R1
14th		 • • • R2
11th		 • R1
23rd		 R1
18th		 • • • • R1
27th		 4th Q Q 7/16
 Tunisia protectorate of France • × • • R1
9th		 • • • • R1
26th		 R1
29th		 R1
24th		 • • R1
24th		 R1
21st		 Q 7/16
Total (4 teams) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3 2 4 TBD TBD 19
Firsts
  • 1934:  Egypt first African team to qualify for the World Cup
  • 1970:  Morocco first African team to draw a match in the World Cup
  • 1978:  Tunisia first African team to win a match in the World Cup[5]
  • 1982:  Algeria first African team to win two matches in the World Cup[6][7]
  • 1986:  Algeria first African team to qualify two consecutive World Cups
  • 1986:  Morocco first African team to reach the knockout stage (round of sixteen)[8]
  • 2022:  Morocco first African team to reach the semi-finals[9]

Olympic Games For Men

Olympic Games (Men's tournament) record
Team 1900

(3)		 1904

(3)		 1908

(6)		 1912

(11)		 1920

(14)		 1924

(22)		 1928

(17)		 1936

(16)		 1948

(18)		 1952

(25)		 1956

(11)		 1960

(16)		 1964

(14)		 1968

(16)		 1972

(16)		 1976

(13)		 1980

(16)		 1984

(16)		 1988

(16)		 1992

(16)		 1996

(16)		 2000

(16)		 2004

(16)		 2008

(16)		 2012

(16)		 2016

(16)		 2020

(16)		 2024

(16)		 2028

(12)		 Years
 Algeria Part of France • • • • QF
8th		 • • • • • • • • R1
14th		 • • 2/28
 Egypt R1
8th		 QF
8th		 4th R1
9th		 R1
11th		 R1
9th		 • R1
12th		 4th • • • • QF
8th		 • R1
12th		 • • • • QF
8th		 • QF
8th		 4th 13/28
 Morocco Part of France • R1
13th		 • QF
8th		 • • R1
12th		 • R1
15 		• R1
16th		 R1
10th		 • R1
11th		 • • 3rd 8/28
 Tunisia Part of France R1
15th		 • • • • • • R1
13th		 • R1
14th		 • R1
12th		 • • • • • 4/28
Total (4 teams) 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 0 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 0 2 1 1 2 27

Africa Cup of Nations

Africa Cup of Nations record
Team
1957
(3)
1959
(3)
1962
(4)
1963
(6)
1965
(6)
1968
(8)
1970
(8)
1972
(8)
1974
(8)
1976
(8)
1978
(8)
1980
(8)
1982
(8)
1984
(8)
1986
(8)
1988
(8)
1990
(8)
1992
(12)
1994
(12)
1996
(15)
1998
(16)

2000
(16)
2002
(16)
2004
(16)
2006
(16)
2008
(16)
2010
(15)

2012
(16)
2013
(16)
2015
(16)
2017
(16)
2019
(24)
2021
(24)
2023
(24)
2025
(24)


2027
(24) 		Years
 Algeria Part of France × GS • • • • • 2nd 4th 3rd GS 3rd 1st GS •• QF GS QF GS QF • • 4th • GS QF GS 1st GS GS QF 21/35
 Egypt 1st 1st 2nd 3rd × × 3rd • 3rd 4th • 4th × 4th 1st GS GS GS QF QF 1st QF QF GS 1st 1st 1st • • • 2nd R2 2nd R2 4th 27/35
 Libya • × • × × × × 2nd • • × × × × × × • • • GS • • GS • • • • • • • 3/35
 Morocco × • × × • GS × 1st GS 3rd • • 4th 4th • GS • • QF GS GS 2nd GS GS • GS GS •• QF R2 QF R2 1st 20/35
 Mauritania Part of France × × • • × • × × • × • • × • • • • • × × • • GS GS R16 • 3/35
 Tunisia 3rd GS 2nd • × × × • 4th × GS • • • • • GS 2nd QF 4th GS 1st QF QF GS QF GS QF QF 4th QF GS R16 22/35
Total (5 teams) 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 4 4 4 4 TBD 93

African Nations Championship

African Nations Championship record
Team 2009

(8) 		2011

(16) 		2014

(16) 		2016

(16) 		2018

(16) 		2020

(16) 		2022

(17) 		2024



(TBD) 		Years
 Algeria • 4th × × • • 2nd QF 3/8
 Egypt × × × × • × × × 0/8
 Libya GS • 1st • 4th GS GS × 5/8
 Morocco • • QF GS 1st 1st •• 1st 5/8
 Tunisia • 1st • QF × •• × •• 2/8
Total (5 teams) 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 15

FIFA Futsal World Cup

FIFA Futsal World Cup record
Team 1989

(16)		 1992

(16)		 1996

(16)		 2000

(16)		 2004

(16)		 2008

(20)		 2012

(24)		 2016

(24)		 2021

(24)		 2024

(24)		 2028

(24)		 Years
 Algeria R1
15th		 × × × × × × × • • 1/9
 Egypt × × R1
12th		 R2
6th		 R1
9th		 R1
13th		 R2
14th		 QF
8th		 R1
19th		 • 7/9
 Libya × × × • × R1
16th		 R1
24th		 • • R1
18th		 3/9
 Morocco × × × • • • R1
23rd		 R1
20th		 QF
8th		 QF
7th		 4/9
 Tunisia × × × × × • • • × × 0/9
Total (5 teams) 1 0 1 1 1 2 3 2 2 2 15

Futsal Africa Cup of Nations

Futsal Africa Cup of Nations record
Team
1996
2000		 h/a
2004
2008
2011
2016
2020
2024
2026		 Years
 Algeria × × × × × • • 0/7
 Egypt 1st 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 4th 7/7
 Libya × 3rd × 1st R1 4th 3rd 5/7
 Morocco × 2nd 3rd 3rd 1st 1st 1st Q 7/8
 Tunisia × × × R1 R1 × × 2/7
Total (5 teams) 1 3 2 4 − 4 3 3 20

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

Year
Team
 Beach Soccer World Championships FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Appearances
1995

(8) 		1996

(8) 		1997

(8) 		1998

(10) 		1999

(12) 		2000

(12) 		2001

(12) 		2002

(8) 		2003

(8) 		2004

(12) 		2005

(12) 		2006

(16) 		2007

(16) 		2008

(16) 		2009

(16) 		2011

(16) 		2013

(16) 		2015

(16) 		2017

(16) 		2019

(16) 		2021

(16) 		2024

(16) 		2025

(16) 		2027

(16) 		WC
/10 		FIFA
/13 		Total
/23
 Egypt • • • • • • • • • • × • • • • • • • • • • R1
12th		 • 0 1 1
Total (1 team) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1

Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations

Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations record
Year
Team
 2006

(6) 		2007

(8) 		2008

(8) 		2009

(9) 		2011

(9) 		2013

(8) 		2015

(8) 		2016

(8) 		2018

(8) 		2021

(7) 		2022

(8) 		2024

(8) 		2026

(?) 		Apps
⁄12
 Algeria × × × × 6th × × × × × × × 1
 Egypt 3rd 5th 4th 4th 3rd R1 6th 3rd 3rd 5th 2nd 4th 12
 Libya × × × R1 8th R1 × 8th 8th × × × 5
 Morocco 6th × × 5th 5th 3rd 5th 4th 4th 3rd 3rd 3rd 10
 Tunisia × × × × × × × × × × × × 0
Total (5 teams) 2 1 1 3 4 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 30

Former tournaments

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Team 1992

(4) 		1995

(6) 		1997

(8) 		1999

(8) 		2001


(8) 		2003

(8) 		2005

(8) 		2009

(8) 		2013

(8) 		2017

(8) 		Years
 Egypt • • • R1
7th		 • • • R1
6th		 • • 2/10
 Tunisia • • • • • • R1
6th		 • • • 1/10
Total (2 teams) 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 3

Rankings

Men's national futsal teams

UNAF CAF FIFA Country Points
1 1 8  Morocco 1570
2 2 39  Egypt 1109
3 4 47  Libya 1048
4 7 92  Algeria 804
5 10 96  Tunisia 800
6 12 111  Mauritania 681

Last updated 23 June 2023

African school football championship

Regional champions of UNAF, representing their regions in the final stage of the tournament.

Year National team (M) National team (F)
2023[12]  Algeria  Morocco
2024[13]  Libya  Morocco
2025[14]  Algeria  Morocco
2026[15]  Morocco  Morocco

Controversy

On 20 November 2009, the Egyptian Football Association withdrew its membership citing the incidents that accompanied the playoff between Egypt and Algeria,[16][17] but returned in 2011.

See also

References

  1. ^ Shaheen, Amr (20 February 2005). "North Africa to get federation". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  2. ^ "تاريخ إتحاد شمال إفريقيا". UNAF official website. Archived from the original on 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2015-08-15.
  3. ^ SPORTS, BSN. "Mauritania Reassigned To North Africa, Exits West Africa Zone A". Mauritania Reassigned To North Africa, Exits West Africa Zone A. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
  4. ^ "CAF African Schools Football Championship Team Profile: Morocco (Girls)". CAF African Schools Football Championship Team Profile: Morocco (Girls). Retrieved 2025-11-27.
  5. ^ "World Cup Spotlight: The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia". Voice of America. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  6. ^ Okeleji, Oluwashina. "'Algeria can punch above their weight'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  7. ^ "Algeria midfielder Kadir confident of World Cup chances". BBC Sport. 8 February 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  8. ^ Jeanes, Will (17 December 2022). "After 92 years and 49 attempts, an African side reaches the World Cup semi-finals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  9. ^ Ronald, Issy (10 December 2022). "Morocco becomes first ever African team to reach World Cup semifinals with historic victory over Portugal". CNN. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  10. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men) - CAF Region". FIFA. 4 June 2015. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014.
  11. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Women) - CAF Region". FIFA. 2011-12-23. Archived from the original on June 4, 2007.
  12. ^ "champions-crowned-at-2022-23-caf-african-schools-football-championship-continent". champions-crowned-at-2022-23-caf-african-schools-football-championship-continent. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  13. ^ "Libya, Morocco to represent UNAF at CAF African Schools Football Championship Finals". CAF. 2023-12-19. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  14. ^ "WATCH LIVE: CAF African Schools Football Championships, Ghana 2025 Official Draw". WATCH LIVE: CAF African Schools Football Championships, Ghana 2025 Official Draw. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  15. ^ "Morocco secure double triumph at CAF African Schools Football Championship UNAF Qualifiers". Morocco secure double triumph at CAF African Schools Football Championship UNAF Qualifiers. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  16. ^ "EFA suspends membership in UNAF". Egypt State Information. November 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  17. ^ "Egypt retire from UNAF" (in French). El Watan. 21 November 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
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