The 2023–24 CAF Champions League (officially the 2023–24 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 60th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 28th edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
| 2023–24 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | Qualifying: 18 August – 2 October 2023 Competition proper: 24 November 2023 – 25 May 2024 |
| Teams | 54 (from 42 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Al Ahly (12th title) |
| Runners-up |  Espérance de Tunis |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 62 |
| Goals scored | 94 (1.52 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Sankara William Karamoko (4 goals) |
← 2022–23 2024–25 →
(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying play-offs) | |
The winners automatically qualified for the 2024–25 CAF Champions League and earned the right to play against the winners of the 2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2024 CAF Super Cup.[2] They also qualified for the brand new 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
The qualifying rounds for the CAF Champions League may have been pushed back to August and September and the group stage pushed forward to start in November. No official explanation was given, though the press claims that the reason was the introduction of CAF's newest competition, the African Football League, which began on 20 October 2023.
Association team allocation
editAll 54 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Champions League, 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 Champions League, the CAF used the 2019–2023 CAF 5-year ranking, which calculates 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]
| 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 year as follows:
- 2022–23: × 5
- 2021–22: × 4
- 2020–21: × 3
- 2019–20: × 2
- 2018–19: × 1
Teams
editThe following 54 teams from 42 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 | 24–25 November 2023 | |
| Matchday 2 | 1–2 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 8–9 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 19 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 23–24 February 2024 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 1–2 March 2024 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | 12 March 2024 | 29–30 March 2024 | 5–6 April 2024 |
| Semi-finals | 20 April 2024 | 26 April 2024 | ||
| Final | 18 May 2024 | 25 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 a 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hafia 
|
2–2 (a) |  Génération Foot
|
0–0 | 2–2 |
AS GNN 
|
w/o[A] |  AS Douanes Burkina Faso
|
— | — |
Bo Rangers 
|
2–1 |  LISCR
|
1–1 | 1–0 |
Medeama 
|
1–1 (3–2 p) |  Remo Stars
|
1–0 | 0–1 |
KMKM 
|
2–5 |  Saint George
|
1–2 | 1–3 |
APR 
|
3–1 |  Gaadiidka
|
1–1 | 2–0 |
Centre Sportif de Bendje 
|
2–6 |  Bumamuru
|
1–1 | 1–5 |
African Stars 
|
2–2 (a) |  Power Dynamos
|
2–1 | 0–1 |
UD Songo 
|
2–1 |  Green Mamba
|
1–0 | 1–1 |
Dragón 
|
0–3 |  Nyasa Big Bullets
|
0–2 | 0–1 |
Al Ahly Benghazi 
|
4–3 | Enyimba
|
4–3 | 0–0 |
Coton FC 
|
0–2 | ASEC Mimosas
|
0–0 | 0–2 |
CS Constantine 
|
0–3 | Étoile du Sahel
|
0–2 | 0–1 |
ASKO Kara 
|
0–8 |  ASFAR
|
0–1 | 0–7 |
Real Bamako 
|
2–0 |  Coton Sport
|
0–0 | 2–0 |
FC Nouadhibou 
|
2–1 | Al Ahli Tripoli
|
2–0 | 0–1 |
Primeiro de Agosto 
|
2–1 |  AS Vita Club
|
1–0 | 1–1 |
Salaam FC Bor 
|
w/o[B] |  Al Hilal
|
— | — |
AS Otohô 
|
1–1 (a) | Al Merrikh
|
1–1 | 0–0 |
Djibouti Telecom 
|
1–7 |  Young Africans
|
0–2 | 1–5 |
Jwaneng Galaxy 
|
3–2 |  Vipers
|
2–0 | 1–2 |
Djabal 
|
0–4 |  Orlando Pirates
|
0–1 | 0–3 |
Notes:
- ^ AS Douanes Burkina Faso won on a walkover after Niger clubs withdrew from 2023–24 CAF interclub competitions due to the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état.[7]
- ^ Al Hilal won on a walkover after Salaam FC Bor failed to travel to Morocco.
Second round
editThe 16 winners of the second round advanced to the group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hafia
|
1–4 | Wydad AC
|
1–1 | 0–3 |
| AS Douanes Burkina Faso
|
0–1 | Espérance de Tunis
|
0–1 | 0–0 |
| Bo Rangers
|
2–6 | CR Belouizdad
|
1–3 | 1–3 |
| Medeama
|
4–3 | Horoya
|
3–1 | 1–2 |
| Saint George
|
0–7 | Al Ahly
|
0–3 | 0–4 |
| APR
|
1–6 | Pyramids
|
0–0 | 1–6 |
| Bumamuru
|
0–6 | Mamelodi Sundowns
|
0–4 | 0–2 |
| Power Dynamos
|
3–3 (a) | Simba
|
2–2 | 1–1 |
| UD Songo
|
2–5 | Petro de Luanda
|
1–2 | 1–3 |
| Nyasa Big Bullets
|
0–5 | TP Mazembe
|
0–1 | 0–4 |
| Al Ahly Benghazi
|
1–2 | ASEC Mimosas
|
0–0 | 1–2 |
| Étoile du Sahel
|
3–1 | ASFAR
|
1–0 | 2–1 |
| Real Bamako
|
1–4 | FC Nouadhibou
|
0–3 | 1–1 |
| Primeiro de Agosto
|
1–2 | Al Hilal
|
0–0 | 1–2 |
| Al Merrikh
|
0–3 | Young Africans
|
0–2 | 0–1 |
| Jwaneng Galaxy
|
1–1 (5–4 p) | Orlando Pirates
|
1–0 | 0–1 |
Group stage
editThe draw for the group stage was held on 6 October 2023, 13:00 GMT (15:00 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 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.
|
|
|
|
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.
Tiebreakers
editThe teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were 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 were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were 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.
| Tiebreakers |
|---|
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations III. 20 & 21):
|
Group A
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SUN | TPM | NDB | PYR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mamelodi Sundowns
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | |
| 2 | TP Mazembe
|
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 10 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 3 | FC Nouadhibou
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 5[a] | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Pyramids
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 5[a] | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | — |
Notes:
Group B
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ASE | SIM | WAC | JWA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ASEC Mimosas
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | |
| 2 | Simba
|
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 9[a] | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 6–0 | ||
| 3 | Wydad AC
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 9[a] | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | ||
| 4 | Jwaneng Galaxy
|
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | −11 | 4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — |
Notes:
Group C
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | APL | EST | HIL | ESS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petro de Luanda
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | Espérance de Tunis
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 11 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | Al Hilal
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 5 | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | Étoile du Sahel
|
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 9 | −7 | 4 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — |
Group D
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AHL | YNG | CRB | MED | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Ahly
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | |
| 2 | Young Africans
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 8[a] | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 3 | CR Belouizdad
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 8[a] | 0–0 | 3–0 | — | 3–0 | ||
| 4 | Medeama
|
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 12 | −9 | 4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — |
Notes:
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 | Mamelodi Sundowns
|
TP Mazembe
|
| B | ASEC Mimosas
|
Simba
|
| C | Petro de Luanda
|
Espérance de Tunis
|
| D | Al Ahly
|
Young Africans
|
Bracket
editThe bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage, which was held on 12 March 2024, 15:00 CAT (UTC+2) at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[9]
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Espérance de Tunis (p)
| 0 | 0 | 0 (4) | ||||||||||||||
| ASEC Mimosas
| 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | ||||||||||||||
| Espérance de Tunis
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Mamelodi Sundowns
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Young Africans
| 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | ||||||||||||||
| Mamelodi Sundowns (p)
| 0 | 0 | 0 (3) | ||||||||||||||
| Espérance de Tunis
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Al Ahly
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| TP Mazembe
| 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Petro de Luanda
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| TP Mazembe
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Al Ahly
| 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Simba
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Al Ahly
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simba
|
0–3 | Al Ahly
|
0–1 | 0–2 |
| TP Mazembe
|
2–1 | Petro de Luanda
|
0–0 | 2–1 |
| Espérance de Tunis
|
0–0 (4–2 p) | ASEC Mimosas
|
0–0 | 0–0 |
| Young Africans
|
0–0 (2–3 p) | Mamelodi Sundowns
|
0–0 | 0–0 |
Semi-finals
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espérance de Tunis
|
2–0 | Mamelodi Sundowns
|
1–0 | 1–0 |
| TP Mazembe
|
0–3 | Al Ahly
|
0–0 | 0–3 |
Final
editThe first leg was played on 18 May, and the second leg was played on 25 May 2024.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espérance de Tunis
|
0–1 | Al Ahly
|
0–0 | 0–1 |
Al Ahly won 1–0 on aggregate.
Top goalscorers
edit| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F1 | F2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sankara William Karamoko
|
ASEC Mimosas
|
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2 | Abdelraouf Benguit
|
CR Belouizdad
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| Hussein El Shahat
|
Al Ahly
|
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
 Yan Sasse
|
Espérance de Tunis
|
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Pacôme Zouzoua
|
Young Africans
|
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
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 Champions League 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.
- ^ "Draw Date confirmed for TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup Knockout Stages". Confederation of African Football. 5 March 2024.