2025–26 CAF Champions League
| TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2025–2026 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | Qualification: 16 September – 1 November 2025 Competition proper: 21 November 2025 – 24 May 2026 |
| Teams | 62 (from 50 associations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 48 |
| Goals scored | 91 (1.9 per match) |
| Top scorer |  Trézéguet (5 goals) |
← 2024–25 2026–27 →
All statistics correct as of 15 February 2026.(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying rounds) | |
The 2025–26 CAF Champions League, officially the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship purposes,[1] is the 62nd season of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the 30th under the CAF Champions League title.
The winners of this edition of the competition will automatically qualify for its next edition, the 2026 FIFA Intercontinental Cup, the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2025–26 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2026 CAF Super Cup.[2]
Association team allocation
All 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to the CAF 5-year ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition.[2] As a result, a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For this season's edition, CAF used the 2020–2025 CAF 5-year ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs performance over the 5 years in the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The criteria for the points were as follows:[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 were multiplied by a coefficient according to the season as follows:
- 2024–25: × 5
- 2023–24: × 4
- 2022–23: × 3
- 2021–22: × 2
- 2020–21: × 1
Teams
The following 62 teams from 50 associations entered the competition.
- Bold received a bye to the second round.
- The other teams entered the first round.
Associations are shown according to their CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score (in parentheses) indicated.
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- Associations which did not enter a team
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Schedule
The schedule of the qualifying tournament is as follows.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying rounds | First round | 9 August 2025 | 19–21 September 2025 | 26–28 September 2025 |
| Second round | 17–19 October 2025 | 24 October – 1 November 2025 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 3 November 2025 | 21–23 November 2025 | |
| Matchday 2 | 28–30 November 2025 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 23–25 January 2026 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 30 January – 1 February 2026 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 6–8 February 2026 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 13–15 February 2026 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | 17 February 2026 | 13–14 March 2026 | 20–21 March 2026 |
| Semi-finals | 10–11 April 2026 | 17–18 April 2026 | ||
| Final | 15 May 2026 | 24 May 2026 | ||
Qualifying rounds
The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 9 August 2025, 10:00 GMT (13:00 local time, UTC+3), in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.[6]
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 a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14).
First round
Second round
The 16 winners of the second round advanced to the group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aigle Noir  | 0–2 | Al Ahly | 0–1 | 0–1 |
Ethiopian Insurance  | 1–3 | Pyramids | 1–1 | 0–2 |
Kenya Police  | 1–4 |  Al Hilal | 0–1 | 1–3 |
Rahimo  | 0–4 |  Espérance de Tunis | 0–1 | 0–3 |
Al Ahli Tripoli  | 2–3 |  RS Berkane | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| US Monastir | 1–5 |  JS Kabylie | 0–3 | 1–2 |
FC Nouadhibou  | 1–3 |  Stade Malien | 1–1 | 0–2 |
Horoya  | 1–4 | AS FAR | 1–1 | 0–3 |
Colombe Sportive  | 1–1 (a) | MC Alger | 1–1 | 0–0 |
Remo Stars  | 1–7 |  Mamelodi Sundowns | 1–5 | 0–2 |
Nsingizini Hotspurs  | 0–3 |  Simba | 0–3 | 0–0 |
Silver Strikers  | 1–2 | Young Africans | 1–0 | 0–2 |
Stade d'Abidjan  | 0–4 |  Petro de Luanda | 0–2 | 0–2 |
Black Bulls  | 2–3 | Rivers United | 1–0 | 1–3 |
Vipers  | 2–3 |  Power Dynamos | 1–2 | 1–1 |
Saint-Éloi Lupopo  | 3–3 (5–4 p) | Orlando Pirates | 3–0 | 0–3 |
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 3 November 2025, 12:00 GMT (14:00 local time, UTC+2), in Johannesburg, South Africa.[7] The 16 winners of the second round of qualifying rounds 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.
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Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PYR | RSB | PDFC | RUFC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pyramids
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 16 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | |
| 2 | RS Berkane
|
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 10 | 0–0 | — | 3–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 3 | Power Dynamos
|
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 7 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | ||
| 4 | Rivers United
|
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 13 | −11 | 1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AHL | ASFAR | YNG | JSK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Ahly
|
6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | |
| 2 | AS FAR
|
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 9 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Young Africans
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 8 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 3–0 | ||
| 4 | JS Kabylie
|
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — |
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | HIL | MSFC | MCA | FCSEL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Hilal
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Mamelodi Sundowns
|
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 9 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | ||
| 3 | MC Alger
|
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 7 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Saint-Éloi Lupopo
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 5 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — |
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SML | EST | APL | SSC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stade Malien
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | |
| 2 | Espérance de Tunis
|
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 9 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Petro de Luanda
|
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 6 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | Simba
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 5 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | — |
Knockout stage
The mechanism of the draws for each round will be as follows:
- In the draw for the quarter-finals, the four group winners will be seeded, and the four group runners-up will be unseeded. The seeded teams will be 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 could be drawn against each other.
- In the draws for the semi-finals, there will be 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 will be held together before the quarter-finals are played, the identity of the quarter-final winners will not be known at the time of the semi-final draw.
| Group | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| A | Pyramids
|
RS Berkane
|
| B | Al Ahly
|
AS FAR
|
| C | Al Hilal
|
Mamelodi Sundowns
|
| D | Stade Malien
|
Espérance de Tunis
|
Top goalscorers
As of 14 February 2026
| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F1 | F2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trézéguet
|
Al Ahly
|
2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||
| 2 | Ahmed Atef
|
Pyramids
|
3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Abdel Raouf
|
Al Hilal
|
1 | 1 | 2 |
See also
References
- ^ "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". TotalEnergies. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- ^ a b "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ "16 Clubs for Group Phase of CC and CL effective 2017". CAFOnline.com. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ^ "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAFOnline.com. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "CAF to stage the TotalEnergies CAF Interclub Preliminary Draw in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Saturday". CAFOnline.com. 5 August 2025.
- ^ "CAF Interclub Group Stages Draw to be held in Johannesburg on 03 November". Confederation of African Football. 23 October 2025.
External links
- TotalEnergies CAF Champions League, CAFonline.com