The 2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2023–24 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 21st edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), under the current CAF Confederation Cup title after the merger of CAF Cup and African Cup Winners' Cup.
| 2023–24 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | Qualifying: 18 August – 1 October 2023 Competition proper: 26 November 2023 – 19 May 2024 |
| Teams | 52 (from 41 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Zamalek (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  RS Berkane |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 60 |
| Goals scored | 131 (2.18 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | 4 players (4 goals each) |
← 2022–23 2024–25 →
(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs) | |
The winners automatically qualified for the 2024–25 CAF Confederation Cup, and also earn the right to play against the winners of the 2023-24 CAF Champions League in the 2024 CAF Super Cup.[2]
Association team allocation
editAll 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Confederation Cup, 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 Confederation Cup, the CAF used the 2018–2023 CAF 5-year ranking, which calculated 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 were the following:[3][4][5]
| African Football League | CAF Champions League | CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winners | 7 points | 6 points | 5 points |
| Runners-up | 6 points | 5 points | 4 points |
| Losing semi-finalists | 5 points | 4 points | 3 points |
| Losing quarter-finalists | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points |
| 3rd place in groups | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
| 4th place in groups | 2 points | 1 point | 0.5 point |
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the season as follows:
- 2023–24: × 5
- 2022–23: × 4
- 2021–22: × 3
- 2020–21: × 2
- 2019–20: × 1
Teams
editThe following 52 teams from 41 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.
- Associations which did not enter a team
Schedule
edit| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying rounds | First round | 25 July 2023 | 18–20 August 2023 | 25–27 August 2023 |
| Second round | 15–17 September 2023 | 29 September – 1 October 2023 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 6 October 2023 | 26 November 2023 | |
| Matchday 2 | 3 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 10 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 20 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 25 February 2024 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 3 March 2024 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | 12 March 2024 | 31 March 2024 | 7 April 2024 |
| Semi-finals | 21 April 2024 | 28 April 2024 | ||
| Final | 12 May 2024 | 19 May 2024 | ||
Qualifying rounds
editThe draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 25 July 2023, 11:00 GMT (14:00 local time, UTC+3), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[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 the penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14).
First round
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Bendel Insurance 
|
1–1 (4–3 p) |  ASO Chlef
|
1–0 | 0–1 |
| FUS Rabat
|
5–0 |  AS Loto FC
|
3–0 | 2–0 |
Casa Sports 
|
1–1 (a) |  EF Ouagadougou
|
1–1 | 0–0 |
Arta Solar 
|
6–0 |  Horseed
|
3–0 | 3–0 |
Singida Fountain Gate 
|
4–3 |  JKU
|
4–1 | 0–2 |
Bahir Dar Kenema 
|
3–3 (4–3 p) | Azam
|
2–1 | 1–2 |
Olympique Béja 
|
0–1 |  Abu Salim
|
0–1 | 0–0 |
Kakamega Homeboyz 
|
1–4 | Al Hilal Benghazi
|
0–0 | 1–4 |
Sekhukhune United 
|
w/o[A] |  Young Buffaloes
|
— | — |
Cano Sport 
|
1–4 |  Maestro United
|
1–1 | 0–3 |
Ferroviário de Maputo 
|
w/o[B] |  Belle Lumière
|
— | — |
Gaborone United 
|
3–2 |  Elgeco Plus
|
0–1 | 3–1 |
AS Douanes Mauritania 
|
2–2 (a) |  Académie SOAR
|
2–2 | 0–0 |
ASC Kara 
|
1–2 |  AFAD Djékanou
|
0–0 | 1–2 |
| Milo FC
|
2–3 |  Dreams FC
|
1–1 | 1–2 |
AS Douanes Niger 
|
w/o[C] |  Kallon
|
— | — |
Watanga 
|
2–7 |  Stade Malien
|
1–3 | 1–4 |
Hay Al Arab 
|
w/o[D] |  Aigle Noir
|
— | — |
| Haidoub
|
0–1 |  Al Merreikh Juba
|
0–1 | 0–0 |
Académica do Lobito 
|
4–3 |  La Passe
|
2–1 | 2–2 |
Notes:
- ^ Sekhukhune United won on a walkover after Young Buffaloes withdrew due to financial problems.
- ^ Ferroviário de Maputo won on a walkover after Belle Lumière withdrew due to financial problems.
- ^ Kallon won on a walkover after Niger clubs withdrew from 2023–24 CAF interclub competitions due to the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état.[7]
- ^ Aigle Noir won on a walkover after Hay Al Arab withdrew from the competition due to the 2023 Sudan conflict.
Second round
editThe 16 winners of the second round advanced to the group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bendel Insurance
|
2–3 | RS Berkane
|
2–2 | 0–1 |
| FUS Rabat
|
1–1 (a) | USM Alger
|
1–1 | 0–0 |
| EF Ouagadougou
|
0–2 | Rivers United
|
0–0 | 0–2 |
| Arta Solar
|
3–4 | Zamalek
|
2–0 | 1–4 |
| Singida Fountain Gate
|
2–4 | Modern Future
|
1–0 | 1–4 |
| Bahir Dar Kenema
|
2–3 | Club Africain
|
2–0 | 0–3 |
| Abu Salim
|
5–4 |  Kampala City
|
3–1 | 2–3 |
| Al Hilal Benghazi
|
2–2 (4–2 p) |  Rayon Sports
|
1–1 | 1–1 |
| Sekhukhune United
|
4–2 |  Saint-Éloi Lupopo
|
3–1 | 1–1 |
| Maestro United
|
1–4 |  Diables Noirs
|
1–2 | 0–2 |
| Ferroviário de Maputo
|
1–1 (3–5 p) | Sagrada Esperança
|
1–0 | 0–1 |
| Gaborone United
|
1–4 | SuperSport United
|
1–1 | 0–3 |
| Académie SOAR
|
3–2 | AFAD Djékanou
|
1–2 | 2–0 |
| Dreams FC
|
3–2 | Kallon
|
2–1 | 1–1 |
| Stade Malien
|
3–3 (a) | Aigle Noir
|
2–0 | 1–3 |
| Al Merreikh Juba
|
0–3 | Académica do Lobito
|
0–0 | 0–3 |
Group stage
editThe draw for the group stage was held on 6 October 2023, 12:00 GMT (14:00 local time, UTC+2), in Johannesburg, South Africa. The 16 winners of the second round of qualifying rounds were drawn into four groups of four.[8]
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 contains one team from each of Pot 1 and Pot 2, and two teams from Pot 3, and each team was allocated to the positions in their group according to their pot.
| Pot | Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teams |
|
|
| Tiebreakers |
|---|
Group A
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | USMA | MOF | HIL | SSU | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USM Alger
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | |
| 2 | Modern Future
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 11 | 0–0 | — | 5–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Al Hilal Benghazi
|
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 6 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | SuperSport United
|
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — |
Group B
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ZAM | SAL | SGA | SOAR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zamalek
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 16 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0[a] | |
| 2 | Abu Salim
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 9 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Sagrada Esperança
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 8 | 0–0 | 3–0 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Académie SOAR
|
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 12 | −12 | 1 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — |
Notes:
Group C
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | DFC | RIV | CA | ADL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dreams FC
|
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 12[a] | Advance to knockout stage | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Rivers United
|
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 12[a] | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 3 | Club Africain
|
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 10 | 2–0 | 3–0 | — | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | Académica do Lobito
|
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 17 | −11 | 1 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 1–3 | — |
Notes:
Group D
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RSB | MLI | SKU | DNS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RS Berkane
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 14 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | Stade Malien
|
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Sekhukhune United
|
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 6 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | Diables Noirs
|
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — |
Knockout stage
editThe 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 could 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 | USM Alger
|
Modern Future
|
| B | Zamalek
|
Abu Salim
|
| C | Dreams F.C.
|
Rivers United
|
| D | RS Berkane
|
Stade Malien
|
Bracket
editThe bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage, which was held on 12 March 2024, 14:00 CAT (UTC+2) at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[10]
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Rivers United
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| USM Alger
| 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| USM Alger
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| RS Berkane (w/o)
| 3 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Abu Salim
| 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| RS Berkane
| 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| RS Berkane
| 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Zamalek (a)
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Modern Future
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Zamalek
| 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Zamalek
| 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Dreams F.C.
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Stade Malien
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Dreams F.C.
| 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
edit| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Future | 2–3 | Zamalek | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Abu Salim | 2–3 | RS Berkane | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| Rivers United | 1–2 | USM Alger | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Stade Malien | 2–3 | Dreams | 1–2 | 1–1 |
Semi-finals
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USM Alger
|
0–6 (w/o) | RS Berkane
|
0–3 (awd.) | 0–3 (awd.) |
| Zamalek
|
3–0 | Dreams FC
|
0–0 | 3–0 |
Final
editThe first leg was played on 12 May, and the second leg was played on 19 May 2024.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RS Berkane
|
2–2 (a) | Zamalek
|
2–1 | 0–1 |
| RS Berkane | 2–1 | Zamalek |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Zamalek | 1–0 | RS Berkane |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
2–2 on aggregate. Zamalek won on away goals.
Top goalscorers
edit| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F1 | F2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Bassène
|
RS Berkane
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| Abdoulaye Kanou
|
USM Alger
|
1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Abdul Aziz Issah
|
Dreams FC
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| John Antwi
|
Dreams FC
|
1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Ahmed Sayed Zizo
|
Zamalek
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| Adil Tahif
|
RS Berkane
|
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Youssef Zghoudi
|
RS Berkane
|
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Yoro Mamadou Diaby
|
Stade Malien
|
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Samuel Chissapa Cachimbombo
|
Académica do Lobito
|
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Muetasimballlah Al Taeb
|
Al Hilal Benghazi
|
2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Kingsley Eduwo
|
Club Africain
|
2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Bassem Srarfi
|
Club Africain
|
1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAF. 21 July 2016.
- ^ a b "CAF Confederation Cup 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.
- ^ "TotalEnergies CAF Champions League, Confederation Cup Preliminary Draw on Tuesday". Confederation of African Football. 23 July 2023.
- ^ "Désistement de nos représentants en compétitions interclubs Ligue des Champions et Coupe de la Confédération 2023-2024". Nigerien Football Federation (in French). 23 August 2023.
- ^ "TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup Group Stage Draw to be conducted on Friday". Confederation of African Football. 6 October 2023.
- ^ "كاف يقصي سوار الغيني من الكونفدرالية ويعتبره خاسرا أمام الزمالك" [CAF awards Zamalek a walkover win over SOAR of Guinea]. FilGoal (in Arabic). 11 March 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ "Draw Date confirmed for TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup Knockout Stages". Confederation of African Football. 5 March 2024.