CAF Champions League

The CAF Champions League, formerly known as African Cup of Champions Clubs and referred to as TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is a competition for soccer clubs organized by the Confederation of African Football, or CAF. The competition was created in 1964 and had a major rebranding and update to its format in 1997.

To participate in the competition, teams from all over the continent must meet the requirements set by their domestic tournament. Up to 54 teams can enter the preliminary round, while only 16 are allowed to play the group stage. According to the CAF 5-year ranking, national associations can enter two teams, one team, or none, to take part in the competition.

The format of the competition includes a first round where 22 KO ties are held. The winners are joined by ten teams who are given a bye from the first round that come from the associations allowed to enter two clubs. All ties are played on a home-and-away basis, with away goals used as a tiebreaker. In case that does not work, penalties are taken to determine the team that enters the group stage.

Once the names of the teams are known, the 16 clubs are drawn into four groups of four teams, where they are forced to play their rivals twice. The top two teams in each group reach the knockout stage. The group winners are seeded for the KO stage and face one of the other three teams that ended as runners-up. Additionally, teams from the same country cannot face each other in the quarterfinals.

The final stage sees all teams playing home-and-away ties, with away goals used as a tiebreaker in case the aggregate score is level after both games. If the away goals rule does not produce a winner, penalty shootouts decide the outcome.

The competition carries on with the same format until the final, where home and away games are played to name a champion. The winner gets access to the FIFA Club World Cup, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, and gets a chance to play in the CAF Super Cup.

Over the years, numerous clubs have claimed the title, but Al Ahly stands out as the most successful team in the competition’s history. The Egyptian powerhouse has won back-to-back CAF Champions League titles four times (2005-2006, 2012-2013, 2020-2021, and 2023-2024), more than any other club in the tournament’s history.