Wikipedia

2023 African Football League

(Redirected from 2023 Africa Football League)

The 2023 African Football League was the first edition of Africa's newest club football tournament, the African Football League, organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

2023 African Football League
Tournament details
Dates20 October – 12 November 2023
Teams8 (from 8 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsSouth Africa Mamelodi Sundowns (1st title)
Runners-upMorocco Wydad AC
Tournament statistics
Matches played14
Goals scored24 (1.71 per match)
Attendance547,000 (39,071 per match)
Top scorer(s)South Africa Thapelo Maseko
Egypt Mahmoud Kahraba
Mali Sadio Kanouté
(2 goals each)
Best player(s)South Africa Thapelo Maseko
Best goalkeeperSouth Africa Ronwen Williams

This season was meant to be a precursor tournament to the full fledged version, which will start in the 2024–25 season, after being delayed a year.

Background

edit

The competition, initially announced in 2022 as the Africa Super League, was to involve 24 teams divided into three geographical regions and have a promotion-relegation system. The competition was delayed from August to October 2023, renamed to the African Football League, and revised into an eight-team knockout format for its inaugural season. This season is meant to be a precursor, as the originally announced format will be introduced starting in 2024–25.

Schedule

edit

The schedule was as follows.[1]

Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Quarter-finals 2 September 2023 20–22 October 2023 24–25 October 2023
Semi-finals 29 October 2023 1 November 2023
Final 5 November 2023 12 November 2023

Format

edit

Each tie was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then extra time was not played and the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Teams

edit

The African Football League involved 8 teams chosen by the CAF[how?] to enter the tournament.

class=notpageimage|
Location of teams of the 2023 African Football League
Pot 2 Pot 1

Bracket

edit

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals, semi-finals and final), which was held on 2 September 2023, 16:00 GMT (19:00 local time, UTC+3), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[1]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
  Enyimba 0 0 0
  Wydad AC 1 3 4
  Wydad AC (p) 1 0 1 (5)
  Espérance de Tunis 0 1 1 (4)
  TP Mazembe 1 0 1
  Espérance de Tunis 0 3 3
  Wydad AC 2 0 2
  Mamelodi Sundowns 1 2 3
  Petro de Luanda 0 0 0
  Mamelodi Sundowns 2 0 2
  Mamelodi Sundowns 1 0 1
  Al Ahly 0 0 0
  Simba 2 1 3
  Al Ahly (a) 2 1 3

Quarter-finals

edit

The first legs were played on 20, 21 and 22 October, and the second legs were played on 24 and 26 October 2023.[1]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Simba   3–3 (a)   Al Ahly 2–2 1–1
TP Mazembe   1–3   Espérance de Tunis 1–0 0–3
Enyimba   0–4   Wydad AC 0–1 0–3
Petro de Luanda   0–2   Mamelodi Sundowns 0–2 0–0
Simba  2–2  Al Ahly
 Report
Attendance: 60,000
Al Ahly  1–1  Simba
 Report
Attendance: 30,000

3–3 on aggregate. Al Ahly won on away goals.

TP Mazembe  1–0  Espérance de Tunis
 Report
Attendance: 40,000
Espérance de Tunis  3–0  TP Mazembe
 Report
Attendance: 40,000

Espérance de Tunis won 3–1 on aggregate.

Enyimba  0–1  Wydad AC
Report
Attendance: 5,000
Wydad AC  3–0  Enyimba
 Report
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: Pierre Atcho (Gabon)

Wydad AC won 4–0 on aggregate.

Petro de Luanda  0–2  Mamelodi Sundowns
Report
Attendance: 42,000
Referee: Ibrahim Mutaz (Libya)
Mamelodi Sundowns  0–0  Petro de Luanda
Report
Attendance: 25,000

Mamelodi Sundowns won 2–0 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

edit

The first legs were played on 29 October, and the second legs were played on 1 November 2023.[1]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Mamelodi Sundowns   1–0   Al Ahly 1–0 0–0
Wydad AC   1–1 (5–4 p)   Espérance de Tunis 1–0 0–1
Mamelodi Sundowns  1–0  Al Ahly
 Report
Attendance: 30,000
Al Ahly  0–0  Mamelodi Sundowns
Report
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Issa Sy (Senegal)

Mamelodi Sundowns won 1–0 on aggregate.

Wydad AC  1–0  Espérance de Tunis
 Report
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: Amin Omar (Egypt)
Espérance de Tunis  1–0  Wydad AC
 Report
Penalties
 4–5
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Peter Waweru (Kenya)

1–1 on aggregate. Wydad AC won 5–4 on penalties.

Final

edit
Main article: 2023 African Football League final

The first leg was played on 5 November, and the second leg was played on 12 November 2023.[1]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Wydad AC   2–3   Mamelodi Sundowns 2–1 0–2


Wydad AC  2–1  Mamelodi Sundowns
 Report
Attendance: 45,000
Mamelodi Sundowns  2–0  Wydad AC
 Report
Attendance: 50,000

Mamelodi Sundowns won 3–2 on aggregate.

Top goalscorers

edit
  Team eliminated / inactive for the round.
Rank Player Team QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2 F1 F2 Total
1   Thapelo Maseko   Mamelodi Sundowns 1 1 2
  Mahmoud Kahraba   Al Ahly 1 1
  Sadio Kanouté   Simba 1 1
4   Yahia Attiyat Allah   Wydad AC 1 1
  Hicham Boussefiane   Wydad AC 1
  Ayoub El Amloud   Wydad AC 1
  Jamal Harkass   Wydad AC 1
  Yahya Jabrane   Wydad AC 1
  Anas Serrhat   Wydad AC 1
  Marcelo Allende   Mamelodi Sundowns 1
  Abdelmounaim Boutouil   Mamelodi Sundowns 1
  Peter Shalulile   Mamelodi Sundowns 1
  Aubrey Modiba   Mamelodi Sundowns 1
  Reda Slim   Al Ahly 1
  Mohamed Amine Tougai   Espérance de Tunis 1
  Rodrigo Rodrigues   Espérance de Tunis 1
  Oussama Bouguerra   Espérance de Tunis 1
  Ghaith Ouahabi   Espérance de Tunis 1
  Cheick Oumar Abdallah Fofana   TP Mazembe 1
  Kibu Denis   Simba 1

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e "The inaugural African Football League (AFL) kicks off in October 2023 and will be preceded by official draw on Saturday 2 September 2023". Confederation of African Football. 29 August 2023.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2023_African_Football_League&oldid=1245444185"