2022–23 CAF Champions League

The 2022–23 CAF Champions League (officially the 2022–23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship purposes)[2] is the 59th season of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the 27th and last edition under the current CAF Champions League title.

2022–23 CAF Champions League
2022–23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League
Tournament details
DatesQualification:
10 September – 20 October 2022
  • Main Phase:
  • 10 February – 11 June 2023
[1]
TeamsMain Competition: 16
Total: 58 (from 46 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played58
Goals scored126 (2.17 per match)
Top scorer(s)3 players
(5 goals each)

Unlike the last three seasons, the final of this edition will be played in a two-legged format as per the decision of CAF at the executive committee meeting on July 3 at Rabat, arising from a formal complaint made by Al Ahly to CAF over the choice of Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca as the venue for the 2022 final: despite the intention that the final be played at a neutral venue, the 2022 tournament culminated with the stadium being the home venue of their opponent, Wydad AC.[3]

The winners of the 2022–23 CAF Champions League will automatically qualify for the 2023–24 CAF Champions League and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2022–23 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2023 CAF Super Cup along with the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia.[4]

Wydad AC are the defending champions after beating Al Ahly in the 2022 final to claim their third title and first since 2017.

Association team allocation

All 54 CAF member associations are expected to enter their league champions into this season of the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-Year Ranking eligible to enter two teams in this season.[4] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.

For this season of the tournament, CAF used the 2018–2022 CAF 5-Year Ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over those 5 years in CAF club competitions. The criteria for points are as follows:[5][6][7]

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:

  • 2021–22: x 5
  • 2020–21: × 4
  • 2019–20: × 3
  • 2018–19: × 2
  • 2018: × 1

Teams

The following 58 teams from 46 associations participated in this edition of the competition.

Associations are shown according to their 2018–2022 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score (in parentheses) indicated.

Associations eligible to enter two teams (Top 12 associations)
Association Rank (Pts) Team Qualifying method
 Morocco 1 (194) Wydad AC
Raja CA 2021–22 Botola runners-up
 Egypt 2 (176) Zamalek 2021–22 Egyptian Premier League 1st place after 24 rounds[Note EGY]
Al Ahly 2021–22 Egyptian Premier League 2nd place after 24 rounds[Note EGY]
 Algeria 3 (115) CR Belouizdad 2021–22 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions
JS Kabylie 2021–22 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up
 Tunisia 4 (113) Espérance de Tunis 2021–22 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions
Union Monastirienne 2021–22 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up
 South Africa 5 (109.5) Mamelodi Sundowns 2021–22 South African Premier Division champions
Cape Town City 2021–22 South African Premier Division runners-up
 DR Congo 6 (63) TP Mazembe 2021–22 Linafoot champions
AS Vita Club 2021–22 Linafoot runners-up
 Angola 7 (46) Petro de Luanda 2021–22 Girabola champions
1º de Agosto 2021–22 Girabola runners-up
 Sudan 8 (33.5) Al Hilal 2021–22 Sudan Premier League champions
Al Merrikh 2021–22 Sudan Premier League runners-up
 Libya 9 (33) Al Ittihad 2021–22 Libyan Premier League champions
Al Ahli Tripoli 2021–22 Libyan Premier League runners-up
 Guinea 10 (31) Horoya 2021–22 Guinée Championnat National champions
SOA Renaissante 2021–22 Guinée Championnat National runners-up
 Tanzania 11 (30.5) Young Africans 2021–22 Tanzanian Premier League champions
Simba 2021–22 Tanzanian Premier League runners-up
 Nigeria 12 (26) Rivers United 2021–22 Nigeria Professional Football League champions
Plateau United 2021–22 Nigeria Professional Football League runners-up
Associations eligible to enter one team
Association Rank (Pts) Team Qualifying method
 Zambia 13 (24.5) Red Arrows 2021–22 Zambia Super League champions
 Cameroon 14 (14.5) Coton Sport 2021–22 Elite One champions
 Senegal 15 (12) Casa Sports 2021–22 Senegal Premier League champions
 Ivory Coast 16 (10.5) ASEC Mimosas 2021–22 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 champions
 Congo 17 (8) AS Otohô 2021–22 Congo Ligue 1 champions
 Botswana 18 (6) Gaborone United 2021–22 Botswana Premier League champions
 Eswatini 21 (3.5) Royal Leopards 2021–22 Eswatini Premier League champions
 Mali 21 (3.5) Djoliba 2021–22 Malian Première Division champions
 Burkina Faso 23 (3) Rail Club du Kadiogo 2021–22 Burkinabé Premier League champions
 Niger 24 (2.5) ASN Nigelec 2021–22 Niger Premier League champions
 Ghana 24 (2.5) Asante Kotoko 2021–22 Ghana Premier League champions
 Rwanda 26 (2) APR 2021–22 Rwanda Premier League champions
 Uganda 26 (2) Vipers 2021–22 Uganda Premier League champions
 Mauritania 28 (1.5) FC Nouadhibou 2021–22 Ligue 1 Mauritania champions
 Benin 28 (1.5) Coton Sport Benin 2021–22 Benin Premier League champions
 Mozambique 30 (1) Black Bulls 2021 Moçambola champions
 Togo 30 (1) ASKO Kara 2021–22 Togolese Championnat National champions
 Burundi — Flambeau du Centre 2021–22 Burundi Ligue A champions
 Central African Republic — Olympic Real de Bangui 2021–22 Central African Republic League champions
 Chad — Elect Sport 2021–22 Chad Premier League champions
 Comoros — Volcan Club 2021–22 Comoros Premier League champions
 Djibouti — Arta Solar 2021–22 Djibouti Premier League champions
 Equatorial Guinea — Deportivo Mongomo 2021–22 Equatoguinean Primera División champions
 Ethiopia — Saint George 2021–22 Ethiopian Premier League champions
 Gabon — AS Stade Mandji 2021–22 Gabon Championnat National D1 champions
 Gambia — Hawks 2021–22 GFA League First Division champions
 Lesotho — Matlama 2021–22 Lesotho Premier League champions
 Liberia — Watanga 2021–22 LFA First Division champions
 Madagascar — CFFA 2021–22 Madagascar Premier League champions
 Malawi — Nyasa Big Bullets 2020–21 Super League of Malawi champions
 Seychelles — La Passe 2021–22 Seychelles Premier League champions
 Sierra Leone — Bo Rangers 2021–22 Sierra Leone Premier League champions
 South Sudan — Zalan 2021–22 South Sudan Premier League champions
 Zanzibar — KMKM 2021–22 Zanzibar Premier League champions
Associations which did not enter a team

Notes:

  1. ^
    Egypt (EGY):The 2021–22 Egyptian Premier League was not finished by the CAF deadline. As a result, the Egyptian Football Association announced that Zamalek and Al Ahly, who were at first and second place after 24 rounds respectively, represented Egypt in the 2022–23 CAF Champions League. Meanwhile, Future and Pyramids FC, who were at third and fourth place after 24 rounds respectively, represented Egypt in the 2022–23 CAF Confederation Cup.

Schedule

The official competition schedule was released on 24 June 2022 on their website to prepare the qualified teams for the upcoming season.[1]

Schedule for the 2022–23 CAF Champions League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying rounds First round 9 August 2022 9–11 September 2022 16–18 September 2022
Second round 7–9 October 2022 14–16 October 2022
Group stage Matchday 1 12 December 2022 10–11 February 2023
Matchday 2 17–18 February 2023
Matchday 3 24–25 February 2023
Matchday 4 7–11 March 2023
Matchday 5 17–18 March 2023
Matchday 6 31 March – 1 April 2023
Knockout stage Quarter-finals 5 April 2023 21–22 April 2023 28–29 April 2023
Semi-finals 12–13 May 2023 19–20 May 2023
Final 4 June 2023 11 June 2023

Qualifying rounds
Main article: 2022–23 CAF Champions League qualifying rounds

The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 9 August 2022 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[8][9][10] In the qualifying rounds, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule was applied, and if still tied, extra time was not played, and the penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14).

First round
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Rivers United Nigeria 3–1 Liberia Watanga 3–0 0–1
AS Stade Mandji Gabon 2–3 Nigeria Plateau United 2–2 0–1
ASN Nigelec Niger 2–1 Guinea SOA Renaissante 2–1 0–0
APR Rwanda 1–3 Tunisia Union Monastirienne 1–0 0–3
Olympic Real de Bangui Central African Republic 0–4 Uganda Vipers 0–3 0–1
Volcan Club Comoros w/o[upper-alpha 1] Seychelles La Passe 1–0 —
Coton Sport Benin Benin 1–4 Ivory Coast ASEC Mimosas 1–2 0–2
Hawks The Gambia w/o[upper-alpha 2] Guinea Horoya — —
ASKO Kara Togo 2–1 Mauritania FC Nouadhibou 1–1 1–0
Casa Sports Senegal 1–3 Algeria JS Kabylie 1–0 0–3
Deportivo Mongomo Equatorial Guinea 2–5 Mali Djoliba 2–0 0–5
Bo Rangers Sierra Leone 0–3 Algeria CR Belouizdad 0–0 0–3
Zalan South Sudan 0–9 Tanzania Young Africans 0–4 0–5
Saint George Ethiopia 2–2 (a) Sudan Al Hilal 2–1 0–1
Arta Solar Djibouti 1–2 Sudan Al Merrikh 1–2 0–0
KMKM Zanzibar 0–6 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli 0–2 0–4
Flambeau du Centre Burundi 2–2 (a) Libya Al Ittihad 1–0 1–2
Elect Sport Chad 0–4 Egypt Zamalek 0–2 0–2
Cape Town City South Africa 2–0 Republic of the Congo AS Otohô 2–0 0–0
Black Bulls Mozambique 1–5 Angola Petro de Luanda 0–3 1–2
Red Arrows Zambia 1–2 Angola 1º de Agosto 0–1 1–1
Nyasa Big Bullets Malawi 0–4 Tanzania Simba 0–2 0–2
CFFA Madagascar 3–5 Eswatini Royal Leopards 2–3 1–2
Matlama Lesotho 0–4 Cameroon Coton Sport 0–3 0–1
Rail Club du Kadiogo Burkina Faso 1–1 (3–1 p) Ghana Asante Kotoko 0–1 1–0
Gaborone United Botswana 2–3 Democratic Republic of the Congo AS Vita Club 1–0 1–3

Notes:

  1. La Passe won on a walkover after Volcan Club failed to appear for the second leg.[11]
  2. Horoya won on a walkover after Hawks withdrew from the competition citing financial reasons.[12]

Second round

The 16 winners of the second round advanced to the group stage, while the 16 losers of the second round entered the CAF Confederation Cup playoff round.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Rivers United Nigeria 2–7 Morocco Wydad AC 2–1 0–6
Plateau United Nigeria 2–2 (a) Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 2–1 0–1
ASN Nigelec Niger 0–3 Morocco Raja CA 0–2 0–1
Union Monastirienne Tunisia 0–4 Egypt Al Ahly 0–1 0–3
Vipers Uganda 0–0 (4–2 p) Democratic Republic of the Congo TP Mazembe 0–0 0–0
La Passe Seychelles 1–15 South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 0–7 1–8
ASEC Mimosas Ivory Coast 1–2 Guinea Horoya 0–1 1–1
ASKO Kara Togo 2–3 Algeria JS Kabylie 1–2 1–1
Djoliba Mali 2–3 Algeria CR Belouizdad 2–1 0–2
Young Africans Tanzania 1–2 Sudan Al Hilal 1–1 0–1
Al Merrikh Sudan 3–3 (a) Libya Al Ahli Tripoli 2–0 1–3
Flambeau du Centre Burundi 1–6 Egypt Zamalek 0–1 1–5
Cape Town City South Africa 0–4 Angola Petro de Luanda 0–3 0–1
1º de Agosto Angola 1–4 Tanzania Simba 1–3 0–1
Royal Leopards Eswatini 2–3 Cameroon Coton Sport 1–1 1–2
Rail Club du Kadiogo Burkina Faso 0–0 (3–4 p) Democratic Republic of the Congo AS Vita Club 0–0 0–0

Group stage
Main article: 2022–23 CAF Champions League group stage
Location of teams of the 2022–23 CAF Champions League group stage.
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D.

The draw for the group stage was held on 12 December 2022, 12:00 GMT (14:00 local time, UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[13] The 16 winners of the second round of qualifying were drawn into four groups of four.

The teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons (CAF 5-Year Ranking points shown next to every team). Each group contained one team from each of Pot 1, Pot 2, Pot 3, and Pot 4, and each team was allocated to the positions in their group according to their pot.

Pot 1
Team Pts
Egypt Al Ahly 78
Morocco Wydad AC 71
Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 58
Morocco Raja CA 54
Pot 2
Team Pts
South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 46
Egypt Zamalek 43
Angola Petro de Luanda 31
Guinea Horoya 31
Pot 3
Team Pts
Tanzania Simba 28
Algeria CR Belouizdad 27
Algeria JS Kabylie 22
Sudan Al Hilal 19.5
Pot 4
Team Pts
Democratic Republic of the Congo AS Vita Club 17
Cameroon Coton Sport 14.5
Sudan Al Merrikh 9
Uganda Vipers —

In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification WAC JSK APL ASV
1 Morocco Wydad AC 6 4 1 1 7 1 +6 13 Advance to knockout stage — 3–0 1–0 1–0
2 Algeria JS Kabylie 6 3 1 2 4 5 −1 10 1–0 — 1–0 2–1
3 Angola Petro de Luanda 6 2 1 3 3 5 −2 7 0–2 0–0 — 1–0
4 Democratic Republic of the Congo AS Vita Club 6 1 1 4 3 6 −3 4 0–0 1–0 1–2 —
Source: CAF

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MDS ASC HIL CSG
1 South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 6 4 2 0 14 7 +7 14 Advance to knockout stage — 5–2 1–0 2–1
2 Egypt Al Ahly 6 3 1 2 14 8 +6 10[lower-alpha 1] 2–2 — 3–0 3–0
3 Sudan Al Hilal 6 3 1 2 6 6 0 10[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 1–0 — 2–0
4 Cameroon Coton Sport 6 0 0 6 3 16 −13 0 1–3 0–4 1–2 —
Source: CAF
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head points: Al Ahly 3, Al Hilal 3. Head-to-head goal difference: Al Ahly +2, Al Hilal -2

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification RCA SSC HAC VSC
1 Morocco Raja CA 6 5 1 0 17 3 +14 16 Advance to knockout stage — 3–1 2–0 5–0
2 Tanzania Simba 6 3 0 3 10 7 +3 9 0–3 — 7–0 1–0
3 Guinea Horoya 6 2 1 3 4 12 −8 7 1–3 1–0 — 2–0
4 Uganda Vipers 6 0 2 4 1 10 −9 2 1–1 0–1 0–0 —
Source: CAF

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification EST CRB ZSC MSC
1 Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 6 3 2 1 6 4 +2 11 Advance to knockout stage — 0–0 2–0 1–0
2 Algeria CR Belouizdad 6 3 1 2 4 2 +2 10 0–1 — 2–0 1–0
3 Egypt Zamalek 6 2 1 3 7 9 −2 7 3–1 0–1 — 4–3
4 Sudan Al Merrikh 6 1 2 3 5 7 −2 5 1–1 1–0 0–0 —
Source: CAF

Knockout stage
Main article: 2022–23 CAF Champions League knockout stage

The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:

  • In the draw for the quarter-finals, the four group winners were seeded, and the four group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could not be drawn against each other, while teams from the same association can be drawn against each other.
  • In the draws for semi-finals, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw.
Group Winners Runners-up
A Morocco Wydad AC Algeria JS Kabylie
B South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns Egypt Al Ahly
C Morocco Raja CA Tanzania Simba
D Tunisia Espérance de Tunis Algeria CR Belouizdad

Bracket

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals, semi-finals and final), which was held on 5 April 2023, 18:30 GMT (20:30 local time, UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[14]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
Algeria JS Kabylie 0 1 1
Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 1 1 2
Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 0
Egypt Al Ahly 3
Egypt Al Ahly 2 0 2
Morocco Raja CA 0 0 0
SF1 Winner
SF2 Winner
Tanzania Simba 1 0 1 (3)
Morocco Wydad AC (p) 0 1 1 (4)
Morocco Wydad AC 0
South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 0
Algeria CR Belouizdad 1 1 2
South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 4 2 6

Quarter-finals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Simba Tanzania 1–1 (3–4 p) Morocco Wydad AC 1–0 0–1
Al Ahly Egypt 2–0 Morocco Raja CA 2–0 0–0
CR Belouizdad Algeria 2–6 South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 1–4 1–2
JS Kabylie Algeria 1–2 Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 0–1 1–1

Semi-finals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Espérance de Tunis Tunisia SF1 Egypt Al Ahly 0–3 19 May
Wydad AC Morocco SF2 South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 0–0 20 May

Final
Main article: 2023 CAF Champions League Final
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
SF1 winner F SF2 winner 4 Jun 11 Jun

Top goalscorers
As of 13 May 2023
  Team eliminated / inactive for this round.
Rank Player Team MD1 MD2 MD3 MD4 MD5 MD6 QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2 F1 F2 Total
1 Morocco Hamza Khabba Morocco Raja CA 1112 5
Namibia Peter Shalulile South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 122
Egypt Kahraba Egypt Al Ahly 311
4 Democratic Republic of the Congo Makabi Lilepo Sudan Al Hilal 121 4
Zambia Clatous Chama Tanzania Simba 13
Democratic Republic of the Congo Jean Othos Tanzania Simba 211
South Africa Cassius Mailula South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 121
Senegal Bouly Sambou Morocco Wydad AC 121
South Africa Percy Tau Egypt Al Ahly 112
10 Brazil Paulo Sérgio Sudan Al Merrikh 111 3
Egypt Nasser Mansi Egypt Zamalek 3
Egypt Hussein El Shahat Egypt Al Ahly 12
Tunisia Mohamed Ali Ben Hammouda Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 111

See also

References
  1. "Media Statement on CAF Interclub 2022/23 season" (Press release). CAFOnline.com. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  2. "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAFOnline.com. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  3. "TotalEnergies Champions League final to be held over two legs". CAFOnline.com.
  4. "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  5. "16 Clubs for Group Phase of CC and CL effective 2017". CAFOnline.com. 11 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  6. "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAFOnline.com. 30 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  7. "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". CAFOnline.com. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  8. "The new CAF interclub season is on!". CAF. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  9. "2022-23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League First Preliminary Round - First Leg Fixtures". CAF. 6 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  10. ""CL Fixtures - 1st & 2nd Round"" (PDF). CAF. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  11. "Volcan Club de Moroni disqualified from TotalEnergies Champions League". cafonline.com. 26 September 2022.
  12. "Le Horoya AC passe au tour suivant après le retrait du Hawks FC". mosaiqueguinee.com (in French). 29 August 2022.
  13. "New date confirmed for TotalEnergies CAF Interclubs group stage draw". CAFOnline.com. 24 November 2022.
  14. "TotalEnergies CAF Interclub Quarterfinals Draw to be conducted on 05 April". CAF. 29 March 2023.
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