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 edition under the current CAF Champions League title.

2022–23 CAF Champions League

2022–23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League
Tournament details
Dates	Qualification: 10 September – 20 October 2022 Main Phase: 10 February – 9 June 2023 ^[1]
Teams	Main Competition: 16 Total: 58 (from 46 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	40
Goals scored	85 (2.13 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Makabi Lilepo Clatous Chama (4 goals each)
← 2021–22 2023–24 → All statistics correct as of 18 March 2023. (Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs)

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 will the use 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.

• Teams in bold received a bye to the second round.
• The other teams entered the first round.

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	Title holders (2021–22 CAF Champions League winners) 2021–22 Botola champions
		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
		US Monastir	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

•   Kenya
•   Zimbabwe
•   Cape Verde
•   Eritrea
•   Guinea-Bissau
•   Mauritius
•   Namibia
•   Réunion
•   São Tomé and Príncipe
•   Somalia

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
Qualification	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	April 2023	21–22 April 2023	28–29 April 2023
	Semi-finals		12–13 May 2023	19–20 May 2023
	Finals		2 June 2023	9 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	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	US Monastir	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.^[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 Confederation Cup play-off round.

Team 1	Agg.	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
US Monastir	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

Main article: 2022–23 CAF Champions League group stage

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   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 is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group will advance to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order (Regulations III. 20 & 21): Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Away goals scored in all group matches; Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JSK	WAC	APL	ASV
1	JS Kabylie (A)	5	3	1	1	4	2	+2	10^[a]	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–0	1–0	2–1
2	Wydad AC (A)	5	3	1	1	4	1	+3	10^[a]			31 Mar–1 Apr	—	1–0	1–0
3	Petro de Luanda (E)	5	1	1	3	2	5	−3	4^[b]			0–0	0–2	—	31 Mar–1 Apr
4	AS Vita Club (E)	5	1	1	3	3	5	−2	4^[b]			1–0	0–0	1–2	—

Updated to match(es) played on 18 March 2023. Source: CAF
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated
Notes:

1. Head-to-head points: JS Kabylie 3, Wydad AC 0
2. Head-to-head points: Petro de Luanda 3, AS Vita Club 0

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MDS	HIL	ASC	CSG
1	Mamelodi Sundowns (A)	5	3	2	0	12	6	+6	11	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–0	5–2	31 Mar–1 Apr
2	Al Hilal	5	3	1	1	6	3	+3	10			1–1	—	1–0	2–0
3	Al Ahly	5	2	1	2	11	8	+3	7			2–2	31 Mar–1 Apr	—	3–0
4	Coton Sport (E)	5	0	0	5	2	14	−12	0			1–3	1–2	0–4	—

Updated to match(es) played on 18 March 2023. Source: CAF
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		RCA	SSC	HAC	VSC
1	Raja CA (A)	5	4	1	0	14	2	+12	13	Advance to knockout stage		—	31 Mar–1 Apr	2–0	5–0
2	Simba (A)	5	3	0	2	9	4	+5	9			0–3	—	7–0	1–0
3	Horoya (E)	5	1	1	3	2	12	−10	4			1–3	1–0	—	31 Mar–1 Apr
4	Vipers (E)	5	0	2	3	1	8	−7	2			1–1	0–1	0–0	—

Updated to match(es) played on 18 March 2023. Source: CAF
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		EST	CRB	MSC	ZSC
1	Espérance de Tunis (A)	5	3	1	1	6	4	+2	10	Advance to knockout stage		—	31 Mar–1 Apr	1–0	2–0
2	CR Belouizdad (A)	5	3	0	2	4	2	+2	9			0–1	—	1–0	2–0
3	Al Merrikh (E)	5	1	2	2	2	3	−1	5			1–1	1–0	—	0–0
4	Zamalek (E)	5	1	1	3	3	6	−3	4			3–1	0–1	31 Mar–1 Apr	—

Updated to match(es) played on 17 March 2023. Source: CAF
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated

Knockout stage

Main article: 2022–23 CAF Champions League 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 were 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 can be drawn against each other.
• In the draws for 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 will be played, the identity of the quarter-final winners will not be known at the time of the semi-final draw.

Group	Winners	Runners-up	Qualified (position TBD)
A			JS Kabylie   Wydad AC
B			Mamelodi Sundowns
C	Raja CA	Simba
D			Espérance de Tunis   CR Belouizdad

Top goalscorers

As of 18 March 2023

  Team eliminated / inactive for this round.

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F1	F2	Total
1	Makabi Lilepo	Al Hilal		1	2	1									4
	Clatous Chama	Simba				1	3
3	Cassius Mailula	Mamelodi Sundowns	1	2											3
	Hamza Khabba	Raja CA	1	1	1
	Peter Shalulile	Mamelodi Sundowns			1	2
	Kahraba	Al Ahly					3
7	Patient Wassou	Coton Sport		1	1										2
	Walid Sabbar	Raja CA				2
	Pape Abdou N'Diaye	Horoya	1			1
	Mohamed Sherif	Al Ahly	1			1
	Mohamed Ali Ben Hammouda	Espérance de Tunis			1		1
	Paulo Sérgio	Al Merrikh			1		1
	Percy Tau	Al Ahly				1	1
	Leonel Wamba	CR Belouizdad	1				1
	Khuliso Mudau	Mamelodi Sundowns		1			1
	Jean Othos	Simba					2
	Sadio Kanouté	Simba					2
	Soufiane Benjdida	Raja CA		1			1

See also

• 2022–23 CAF Confederation Cup
• 2023 CAF Super Cup

References

1. "Media Statement on CAF Interclub 2022/23 season" (Press release). CAFOnline.com. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
2. . 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. . CAFOnline.com. 11 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
6. . CAFOnline.com. 30 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
7. . 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.

External links

• Official website