2022–23 CAF Champions League

The 2022–23 CAF Champions League (officially the 2022–23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship purposes)[1] was the 59th season of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the 27th under the current CAF Champions League title.

2022–23 CAF Champions League
2022–23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League
Stade Mohammed V hosted the podium where Al Ahly lifted the trophy
Tournament details
DatesQualification:
10 September – 20 October 2022
  • Main Phase:
  • 10 February – 11 June 2023
TeamsMain Competition: 16
Total: 58 (from 46 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsEgypt Al Ahly (11th title)
Runners-upMorocco Wydad AC
Tournament statistics
Matches played62
Goals scored136 (2.19 per match)
Top scorer(s)Egypt Mahmoud Kahraba
Namibia Peter Shalulile
(6 goals each)
(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs)

Unlike the last three seasons, the final of this edition was 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.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

The winners, Al Ahly, automatically qualified 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.[8]

Wydad AC were the defending champions, but they lost the final against Al Ahly.

Association team allocation

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A total of 46 out of the 56 CAF member associations entered this season's CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-year ranking eligible to enter two teams in this season.[8] 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:[9][10][11]

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

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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 Ligue 1 champions
  Ivory Coast 16 (10.5) ASEC Mimosas 2021–22 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 champions
  Congo 17 (8) AS Otohô 2021–22 Congo Premier League 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 FC 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 Malagasy Pro 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 National 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

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The official competition schedule was released on 24 June 2022 on their website to prepare the qualified teams for the upcoming season.[12]

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

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The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 9 August 2022 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[13][14][15]

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

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Rivers United   3–1   Watanga 3–0 0–1
AS Stade Mandji   2–3   Plateau United 2–2 0–1
ASN Nigelec   2–1   SOA Renaissante 2–1 0–0
APR   1–3   Union Monastirienne 1–0 0–3
Olympic Real de Bangui   0–4   Vipers 0–3 0–1
Volcan Club   w/o[A]   La Passe 1–0
Coton Sport Benin   1–4   ASEC Mimosas 1–2 0–2
Hawks   w/o[B]   Horoya
ASKO Kara   2–1   FC Nouadhibou 1–1 1–0
Casa Sports   1–3   JS Kabylie 1–0 0–3
Deportivo Mongomo   2–5   Djoliba 2–0 0–5
Bo Rangers   0–3   CR Belouizdad 0–0 0–3
Zalan   0–9   Young Africans 0–4 0–5
Saint George   2–2 (a)   Al Hilal 2–1 0–1
Arta Solar   1–2   Al Merrikh 1–2 0–0
KMKM   0–6   Al Ahli Tripoli 0–2 0–4
Flambeau du Centre   2–2 (a)   Al Ittihad 1–0 1–2
Elect Sport   0–4   Zamalek 0–2 0–2
Cape Town City   2–0   AS Otohô 2–0 0–0
Black Bulls   1–5   Petro de Luanda 0–3 1–2
Red Arrows   1–2   1º de Agosto 0–1 1–1
Nyasa Big Bullets   0–4   Simba 0–2 0–2
CFFA   3–5   Royal Leopards 2–3 1–2
Matlama   0–4   Coton Sport 0–3 0–1
Rail Club du Kadiogo   1–1 (3–1 p)   Asante Kotoko 0–1 1–0
Gaborone United   2–3   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.[16]
  2. ^ Horoya won on a walkover after Hawks withdrew from the competition citing financial reasons.[17]


Second round

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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.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Rivers United   2–7   Wydad AC 2–1 0–6
Plateau United   2–2 (a)   Espérance de Tunis 2–1 0–1
ASN Nigelec   0–3   Raja CA 0–2 0–1
Union Monastirienne   0–4   Al Ahly 0–1 0–3
Vipers   0–0 (4–2 p)   TP Mazembe 0–0 0–0
La Passe   1–15   Mamelodi Sundowns 0–7 1–8
ASEC Mimosas   1–2   Horoya 0–1 1–1
ASKO Kara   2–3   JS Kabylie 1–2 1–1
Djoliba   2–3   CR Belouizdad 2–1 0–2
Young Africans   1–2   Al Hilal 1–1 0–1
Al Merrikh   3–3 (a)   Al Ahli Tripoli 2–0 1–3
Flambeau du Centre   1–6   Zamalek 0–1 1–5
Cape Town City   0–4   Petro de Luanda 0–3 0–1
1º de Agosto   1–4   Simba 1–3 0–1
Royal Leopards   2–3   Coton Sport 1–1 1–2
Rail Club du Kadiogo   0–0 (3–4 p)   AS Vita Club 0–0 0–0

Group stage

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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.[18] 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
  Al Ahly 78
  Wydad AC 71
  Espérance de Tunis 58
  Raja CA 54
Pot 2
Team Pts
  Mamelodi Sundowns 46
  Zamalek 43
  Petro de Luanda 31
  Horoya 31
Pot 3
Team Pts
  Simba 28
  CR Belouizdad 27
  JS Kabylie 22
  Al Hilal 19.5
Pot 4
Team Pts
  AS Vita Club 17
  Coton Sport 14.5
  Al Merrikh 9
  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

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

Group B

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

Group C

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

Group D

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

Knockout stage

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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 cannot be drawn against each other, while teams from the same association can be drawn against each other.
  • In the draws for the semi-finals and final, 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   Wydad AC   JS Kabylie
B   Mamelodi Sundowns   Al Ahly
C   Raja CA   Simba
D   Espérance de Tunis   CR Belouizdad

Bracket

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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.[19]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
  JS Kabylie 0 1 1
  Espérance de Tunis 1 1 2
  Espérance de Tunis 0 0 0
  Al Ahly 3 1 4
  Al Ahly 2 0 2
  Raja CA 0 0 0
  Al Ahly 2 1 3
  Wydad AC 1 1 2
  Simba 1 0 1 (3)
  Wydad AC (p) 0 1 1 (4)
  Wydad AC (a) 0 2 2
  Mamelodi Sundowns 0 2 2
  CR Belouizdad 1 1 2
  Mamelodi Sundowns 4 2 6

Quarter-finals

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Simba   1–1 (3–4 p)   Wydad AC 1–0 0–1
Al Ahly   2–0   Raja CA 2–0 0–0
CR Belouizdad   2–6   Mamelodi Sundowns 1–4 1–2
JS Kabylie   1–2   Espérance de Tunis 0–1 1–1

Semi-finals

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Espérance de Tunis   0–4   Al Ahly 0–3 0–1
Wydad AC   2–2 (a)   Mamelodi Sundowns 0–0 2–2

Final

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The first leg was played on 4 June, and the second leg was played on 11 June 2023.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Al Ahly   3–2   Wydad AC 2–1 1–1


Al Ahly  2–1  Wydad AC
  • Tau   45+4'
  • Kahraba   59'
Report
Wydad AC  1–1  Al Ahly
Report

Al Ahly won 3–2 on aggregate.


Top goalscorers

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  Team eliminated / inactive for this round.
Rank Player Team MD1 MD2 MD3 MD4 MD5 MD6 QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2 F1 F2 Total
1   Peter Shalulile   Mamelodi Sundowns 1 2 2 1 6
  Mahmoud Kahraba   Al Ahly 3 1 1 1
3   Hamza Khabba   Raja CA 1 1 1 2 5
  Percy Tau   Al Ahly 1 1 2 1
5   Makabi Lilepo   Al Hilal 1 2 1 4
  Clatous Chama   Simba 1 3
  Jean Othos   Simba 2 1 1
  Cassius Mailula   Mamelodi Sundowns 1 2 1
  Bouly Sambou   Wydad AC 1 2 1
  Hussein El Shahat   Al Ahly 1 2 1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ Sang, Kiplagat (2022-05-12). "Caf Champions League final: Morocco venue choice explained after Mosimane and Al Ahly protests | Goal.com US". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  3. ^ Mabuka, Dennis (2022-05-11). "Al Ahly lodges complaint with Cas over Caf Champions League final venue | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  4. ^ "Al Ahly appeal to Cas about Champions League final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  5. ^ "CAS Rejects Al Ahly's Appeal to Postpone CAF Champions League Final". Moneycentral. 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  6. ^ Kwakofi, Edwin (2022-07-14). "CAF Champions League final to return to two-legged format next year". Citi Sports Online. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  7. ^ "CAF President Dr Motsepe announces African Super League launch details, AFCON 2023 and Champions League key decisions". WebWire. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  8. ^ a b "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAFOnline.com. 30 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "Media Statement on CAF Interclub 2022/23 season" (Press release). CAFOnline.com. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  13. ^ "The new CAF interclub season is on!". CAF. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  14. ^ "2022-23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League First Preliminary Round - First Leg Fixtures". CAF. 6 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  15. ^ ""CL Fixtures - 1st & 2nd Round"" (PDF). CAF. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Volcan Club de Moroni disqualified from TotalEnergies Champions League". cafonline.com. 26 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Le Horoya AC passe au tour suivant après le retrait du Hawks FC". mosaiqueguinee.com (in French). 29 August 2022.
  18. ^ "New date confirmed for TotalEnergies CAF Interclubs group stage draw". CAFOnline.com. 24 November 2022.
  19. ^ "TotalEnergies CAF Interclub Quarterfinals Draw to be conducted on 05 April". CAF. 29 March 2023.
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