2023–24 CAF Champions League
The 2023–24 CAF Champions League (officially the 2023–24 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)[1] will be the 60th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 28th edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
| 2023–24 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 18 August – 30 September 2023 Competition proper: 1 December – 12 May 2024 |
The winners of the 2023–24 CAF Champions League will automatically qualify for the 2024–25 CAF Champions League and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2024 CAF Super Cup.[2]
While there is no official news yet, some media pointed out that the format of the competition will change starting the 2023–24 season due ti CAF's newest competition, the Africa Super League.
Association team allocation
All 54 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-Year Ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition.[2] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2023–24 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2019–2023 CAF 5-Year Ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over those 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup. The criteria for points are the following:[3][4][5]
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Winners | 6 points | 5 points |
| Runners-up | 5 points | 4 points |
| Losing semi-finalists | 4 points | 3 points |
| Losing quarter-finalists | 3 points | 2 points |
| 3rd place in groups | 2 points | 1 point |
| 4th place in groups | 1 point | 0.5 point |
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
- 2022–23: × 5
- 2021–22: × 4
- 2020–21: × 3
- 2019–20: × 2
- 2018–19: × 1
Teams
The following 66 teams from 54 associations entered the competition.
- Teams in
- Bold received a bye to the second round.
- The other teams entered the first round.
Associations are shown according to their 2018–2023 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score (in parentheses) indicated.
| Association | Rank (Pts) | Team | Qualifying method |
|---|---|---|---|
 Morocco |
1 (194) | 2022–23 Botola Wydad or FAR Rabat champions | |
| 2022–23 Botola runners-up | |||
 Egypt |
2 (176) | 2022–23 Egyptian Premier League champions | |
| 2022–23 Egyptian Premier League runners-up | |||
 Algeria |
3 (115) | 2022–23 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions | |
| 2022–23 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up | |||
 Tunisia |
4 (113) | 2022–23 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions | |
| 2022–23 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up | |||
 South Africa |
5 (109.5) | Mamelodi Sundowns | 2022–23 South African Premier Division champions |
| Orlando Pirates | 2022–23 South African Premier Division runners-up | ||
 DR Congo |
6 (63) | 2022–23 Linafoot champions | |
| TP Mazembe | 2022–23 Linafoot runners-up | ||
 Angola |
7 (46) | Petro de Luanda | 2022–23 Girabola champions |
| 2022–23 Girabola runners-up | |||
 Sudan |
8 (33.5) | 2022–23 Sudan Premier League champions | |
| 2022–23 Sudan Premier League runners-up | |||
 Libya |
9 (33) | 2022–23 Libyan Premier League champions | |
| 2022-23 Libyan Premier League runners-up | |||
 Guinea |
10 (31) | 2022–23 Guinée Championnat National champions | |
| 2022–23 Guinée Championnat National runners-up | |||
 Tanzania |
11 (30.5) | Young Africans | 2022-23 Tanzanian Premier League champions |
| Simba | 2022-23 Tanzanian Premier League runners-up | ||
 Nigeria |
12 (26) | 2022–23 Nigeria Professional Football League champions | |
| 2022–23 Nigeria Professional Football League runners-up | |||
| Association | Rank (Pts) | Team | Qualifying method |
|---|---|---|---|
 Zambia |
13 (24.5) | Power Dynamos | 2022–23 Zambian Super League champions |
 Cameroon |
14 (14.5) | 2022–23 Elite One champions | |
 Senegal |
15 (12) | 2022–23 Senegal Premier League champions | |
 Ivory Coast |
16 (10.5) | 2021–22 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 champions | |
 Congo |
17 (8) | 2023 Congo Ligue 1 champions | |
 Botswana |
18 (6) | 2022–23 Botswana Premier League champions | |
 Kenya |
19 (5) | 2022–23 FKF Premier League champions | |
 Zimbabwe |
19 (5) | 2022 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League champions | |
 Eswatini |
21 (3.5) | 2022–23 Eswatini Premier League champions | |
 Mali |
21 (3.5) | 2022–23 Malian Première Division champions | |
 Burkina Faso |
23 (3) | 2022–23 Burkinabé Premier League champions | |
 Niger |
24 (2.5) | 2022–23 Niger Premier League champions | |
 Ghana |
24 (2.5) | 2022–23 Ghana Premier League champions | |
 Rwanda |
26 (2) | 2022–23 Rwanda Premier League champions | |
 Uganda |
26 (2) | 2022–23 Uganda Premier League champions | |
 Mauritania |
28 (1.5) | 2022–23 Ligue 1 Mauritania champions | |
 Benin |
28 (1.5) | 2022–23 Benin Premier League champions | |
 Mozambique |
30 (1) | 2023 Moçambola champions | |
 Togo |
30 (1) | 2022–23 Togolese Championnat National champions | |
 Ethiopia |
— | 2022–23 Ethiopian Premier League champions | |
 Gabon |
— | 2022–23 Gabon Championnat National D1 champions | |
 Burundi |
— | 2022–23 Burundi Premier League champions | |
 Central African Republic |
— | 2022–23 Central African Republic League champions | |
 Djibouti |
— | 2022–23 Djibouti Premier League champions | |
 Equatorial Guinea |
— | 2022–23 Equatoguinean Primera División champions | |
 Gambia |
— | 2022–23 GFA League First Division champions | |
 Liberia |
— | LISCR FC | 2022–23 Liberian First Division League champions |
 Malawi |
— | 2022–23 Super League of Malawi champions | |
 Seychelles |
— | 2023 Seychelles Premier League champions | |
 Somalia |
— | 2022–23 Somali First Division champions | |
 São Tomé and Príncipe |
— | 2023 São Tomé and Príncipe Championship champions | |
 Eritrea |
— | 2023 Eritrean Premier League champions | |
 Chad |
— | 2023 LINAFOOT (Chad) champions | |
 Mauritius |
— | 2023 Mauritian Premier League champions | |
 South Sudan |
— | 2023 South Sudan Football Championship champions | |
 Lesotho |
— | 2022-23 Lesotho Premier League champions | |
 Comoros |
— | 2023 Comoros Premier League champions | |
 Guinea-Bissau |
— | 2022-23 Campeonato Nacional da Guiné-Bissau champions | |
 Madagascar |
— | 2022-23 Malagasy Pro League champions | |
 Cape Verde |
— | 2023 Cape Verdean Football Championship champions | |
 Namibia |
— | African Stars F.C. | 2022-23 Namibia Premier Football League champions |
 Sierra Leone |
— | 2023 Sierra Leone National Premier League champions |
Schedule
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying rounds | First round | 2023 | 18–19 August 2023 | 25–26 August 2023 |
| Second round | 15–16 September 2023 | 29–30 September 2023 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 2023 | 1–2 December 2023 | |
| Matchday 2 | 8–9 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 19 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 9–10 February 2024 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 16–17 February 2024 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 27 February 2024 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | March 2024 | 15–16 March 2024 | 29–30 March 2024 |
| Semi-finals | 12–13 April 2024 | 19–20 April 2024 | ||
| Final | 5 May 2024 | 12 May 2024 | ||
See also
- 2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup
- 2024 CAF Super Cup
References
- "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAF. 21 July 2016.
- "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
- "16 Clubs for Group Phase of CC and CL effective 2017". CAF. 11 May 2016.
- "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAF. 30 May 2016.
- "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.