2025–26 CAF Confederation Cup
| TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup 2025–2026 | |
|---|---|
 Cairo International Stadium in Cairo hosted the second leg of the final | |
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | Qualification: 16 September – 26 October 2025 Competition proper: 22 November 2025 – 16 May 2026 |
| Teams | 58 (from 46 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  USM Alger (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Zamalek |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 62 |
| Goals scored | 123 (1.98 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Abdennour Belhocini Ahmed Khaldi Oday Dabbagh Sofian El Moudane(4 goals) |
← 2024–25 2026–27 →
(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying rounds) | |
The 2025–26 CAF Confederation Cup, officially the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes,[1] was the 23rd edition of the CAF Confederation Cup and 51st overall season of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The winners of this edition of the competition, USM Alger, earned the right to play against the winners of the 2025–26 CAF Champions League in the 2026 CAF Super Cup.[2]
Association team allocation
All 54 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Confederation Cup, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to the CAF 5-year ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition.[2] As a result, a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For this season's edition, CAF used the 2020–2025 CAF 5-year ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs performance over the 5 years in the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The criteria for the points are as follows:[3][4]
| 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 season as follows:
- 2024–25: × 5
- 2023–24: × 4
- 2022–23: × 3
- 2021–22: × 2
- 2020–21: × 1
Teams
The following 58 teams from 46 associations entered the competition.
- Bold received a bye to the second round.
- The other teams entered the first round.
Associations are shown according to their CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score (in parentheses) indicated.
- Associations which did not enter a team
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Schedule
The schedule of the qualifying tournament is as follows.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying rounds | First round | 9 August 2025 | 19–21 September 2025 | 26–28 September 2025 |
| Second round | 17–19 October 2025 | 24–26 October 2025 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 3 November 2025 | 23 November 2025 | |
| Matchday 2 | 30 November 2025 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 25 January 2026 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 1 February 2026 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 8 February 2026 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 15 February 2026 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | 17 February 2026 | 15 March 2026 | 22 March 2026 |
| Semi-finals | 12 April 2026 | 19 April 2026 | ||
| Final | 9 May 2026 | 16 May 2026 | ||
Qualifying rounds
The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 9 August 2025, 10:00 GMT (13:00 local time, UTC+3), at Azam TV studios in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.[5] 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
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Asante Kotoko  | 5–3 |  Kwara United | 4–3 | 1–0 |
Génération Foot  | 4–6 |  AFAD Djékanou | 1–1 | 3–5 |
Bhantal  | 3–5 |  Hafia | 0–3 | 3–2 |
USFA  | 3–0 | .svg.png){kind=small} AS Gbohloé-Su | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Abia Warriors | 1–2 |  Djoliba | 1–1 | 0–1 |
ASN Nigelec  | 0–6 | Olympic Safi | 0–1 | 0–5 |
Stade Tunisien  | 2–0 |  ASC Snim | 2–0 | 0–0 |
Aigle Royal  | 2–3 | San Pédro | 0–1 | 2–2 |
Black Man Warrior  | 1–4 |  Coton FC | 0–0 | 1–4 |
Dekedaha  | 2–2 (a) |  Al Zamala | 1–0 | 1–2 |
Wolaitta Dicha  | 1–3 |  Al Ittihad Tripoli | 0–0 | 1–3 |
NEC FC  | 3–3 (a) |  Nairobi United | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Al Ahli Madani | 1–3 | Étoile du Sahel | 1–0 | 0–3 |
AS Port  | 2–4 |  KMKM | 1–2 | 1–2 |
El Merreikh Bentiu  | 0–4 |  Azam | 0–2 | 0–2 |
Flambeau du Centre  | 4–3 | Al Akhdar | 2–1 | 2–2 |
Rayon Sports  | 1–3 | Singida Black Stars | 0–1 | 1–2 |
Foresters Mont Fleuri  | 1–4 |  15 de Agosto | 1–0 | 0–4 |
FC 105 Libreville  | 2–5 |  ZESCO United | 2–0 | 0–5 |
Mighty Wanderers  | 1–1 (5–6 p) |  Jwaneng Galaxy | 1–0 | 0–1 |
AS Simba  | 3–0 |  Djabal d'Iconi | 1–0 | 2–0 |
Kabuscorp  | 1–1 (4–5 p) |  Kaizer Chiefs | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Maniema Union | 4–3 |  Pamplemousses | 2–1 | 2–2 |
Young African  | 0–7 |  Royal Leopards | 0–2 | 0–5 |
Ferroviário de Maputo  | 3–2 |  AS Fanalamanga | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Primeiro de Agosto | 1–2 |  AS Otohô | 1–2 | 0–0 |
Second round
The 16 winners of the second round advanced to the group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asante Kotoko | 1–6 | Wydad AC | 0–1 | 1–5 |
| AFAD Djékanou | 1–3 | USM Alger | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| Hafia | 1–3 | CR Belouizdad | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| USFA | 1–2 | Djoliba | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Olympic Safi | 3–2 | Stade Tunisien | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| San Pédro | 4–1 | Coton FC | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Dekedaha | 0–7 | Zamalek | 0–6 | 0–1 |
| Al Ittihad Tripoli | 1–2 | Al Masry | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Nairobi United | 2–2 (7–6 p) | Étoile du Sahel | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| KMKM | 0–9 | Azam | 0–2 | 0–7 |
| Flambeau du Centre | 2–4 | Singida Black Stars | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| 15 de Agosto | 1–4 | Stellenbosch | 0–0 | 1–4 |
| ZESCO United | 5–4 | Jwaneng Galaxy | 4–3 | 1–1 |
| AS Simba | 1–3 | Kaizer Chiefs | 0–0 | 1–3 |
| Maniema Union | 2–2 (4–3 p) | Royal Leopards | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Ferroviário de Maputo | 0–3 | AS Otohô | 0–1 | 0–2 |
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 3 November 2025, 11:00 GMT (13:00 local time, UTC+2), in Johannesburg, South Africa.[6] The 16 winners of the second round of qualifying rounds 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, and Pot 3, and each team was allocated to the positions in their group according to their pot.
| Pot | Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams |
|
|
|
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
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):
- 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 was 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.
Knockout stage
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 could not be drawn against each other, while teams from the same association could be drawn against each other.
- In the draws for the 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 |
Olympic Safi |
| B | Wydad AC |
Maniema Union |
| C | CR Belouizdad |
AS Otohô |
| D | Zamalek |
Al Masry |
Bracket
The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage, which was held on 17 February 2026, 12:00 GMT (12:00 local time, UTC+2), at the Egyptian Football Association headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[7]
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Maniema Union
| 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| USM Alger (a)
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| USM Alger (a)
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Olympic Safi
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Olympic Safi (a)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Wydad AC
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| USM Alger (p)
| 1 | 0 | 1 (8) | ||||||||||||||
| Zamalek
| 0 | 1 | 1 (7) | ||||||||||||||
| Al Masry
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| CR Belouizdad (a)
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| CR Belouizdad
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Zamalek
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| AS Otohô
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Zamalek
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Masry | 1–1 (a) | CR Belouizdad | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Olympic Safi | 3–3 (a) | Wydad AC | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| AS Otohô | 2–3 | Zamalek | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Maniema Union | 2–2 (a) | USM Alger | 2–1 | 0–1 |
Semi-finals
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USM Alger | 1–1 (a) | Olympic Safi | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| CR Belouizdad | 0–1 | Zamalek | 0–1 | 0–0 |
Final
The first was played on 9 May, and the second leg was played on 16 May 2026.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USM Alger | 1–1 (8–7 p) | Zamalek | 1–0 | 0–1 |
1–1 on aggregate. USM Alger won 8–7 on penalties.
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F1 | F2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abdennour Belhocini |
CR Belouizdad |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||||||
| Ahmed Khaldi |
USM Alger |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Oday Dabbagh |
Zamalek |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Sofian El Moudane |
Olympic Safi |
1 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||
See also
References
- ↑ "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAFonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
- 1 2 "CAF Confederation Cup regulations" (PDF). CAFonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ↑ "16 Clubs for Group Phase of CC and CL effective 2017". CAFonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ↑ "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAFonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- ↑ "CAF to stage the TotalEnergies CAF Interclub Preliminary Draw in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Saturday". CAFOnline.com. 5 August 2025. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
- ↑ "CAF Interclub Group Stages Draw to be held in Johannesburg on 03 November". Confederation of African Football. 23 October 2025.
- ↑ "CAF to conduct Quarter-final draws for TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup in Cairo on Tuesday". Confederation of African Football. 15 February 2026.
- ↑