2026–27 CAF Champions League
| TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2026–2027 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | Qualification: 4 September – 25 October 2026 Competition proper: 27 November 2026 – 31 May 2027 |
| Teams | 64 (initially registered) (from 52 associations) |
← 2025–26 2027–28 →
All statistics correct as of 27 July 2026.(Note: All statistics do not include qualifying rounds) | |
The 2026–27 CAF Champions League, officially the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship purposes,[1] will be the 63rd season of Africa's premier football club tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 31st season under the CAF Champions League title.
Mamelodi Sundowns are the defending champions, having defeated AS FAR 2–1 on aggregate in the 2026 final to win their second continental title.[2]
The winners of the competition will automatically qualify for the 2027–28 CAF Champions League, and will earn the right to play against the winners of the 2026–27 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2027 CAF Super Cup. They will also qualify for the 2027 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and are expected to qualify for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup, subject to the final qualification regulations issued by FIFA.[3]
Association team allocation
All 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Champions League. The 12 highest-ranked associations according to the CAF 5-year ranking are eligible to enter two teams in the competition.[3]
The reigning CAF Champions League title holders are also automatically entitled to enter the following edition. However, no association may normally be represented by more than two clubs. As a result, a maximum of 68 teams could theoretically enter the tournament, although this number has never been reached.
For the 2026–27 edition, CAF used the 2021–2026 CAF 5-year ranking. The ranking calculated points for each association based on its clubs' performances in the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup during the previous five seasons.
The points awarded for each stage were as follows:[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 |
| Third place in group | 2 points | 1 point |
| Fourth place in group | 1 point | 0.5 point |
The points were multiplied by a coefficient according to the season as follows:
- 2025–26: × 5
- 2024–25: × 4
- 2023–24: × 3
- 2022–23: × 2
- 2021–22: × 1
The twelve associations eligible to enter two clubs were Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Mali, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
Teams
CAF initially confirmed 61 teams from 48 associations for the competition.[6]
- 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. Associations with a ranking score have their position and points indicated in parentheses.
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- Associations which did not enter a team
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Schedule
CAF announced the competition calendar on 2 July 2026.[7]
The exact dates of the final and the dates of the qualifying and group-stage draws had not been announced as of 27 July 2026.
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying rounds | First round | 6 August 2026[8] | 4–6 September 2026 | 11–13 September 2026 |
| Second round | 16–18 October 2026 | 23–25 October 2026 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | To be confirmed | 27–29 November 2026 | |
| Matchday 2 | 4–6 December 2026 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 18–20 December 2026 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 8–10 January 2027 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 15–17 January 2027 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 22–24 January 2027 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | To be confirmed | 26–28 February 2027 | 5–7 March 2027 |
| Semi-finals | 9–11 April 2027 | 16–18 April 2027 | ||
| Final | 9–31 May 2027 (exact dates to be confirmed) | |||
Qualifying rounds
The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 6 August 2026, 12:00 GMT (15:00 local time, UTC+3), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[9] In the qualifying rounds, each tie will be played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score will be tied after the second leg, the away goals rule will be applied, and if still tied, extra time will not be played, and a penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14).
First round
Second round
The 16 winners of the second round will advance to the group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR1 winner | SR1 |  Mamelodi Sundowns | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR2 winner | SR2 | FR3 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR4 winner | SR3 | FR5 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR6 winner | SR4 | FR7 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR8 winner | SR5 | FR9 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR10 winner | SR6 |  Espérance de Tunis | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR11 winner | SR7 | FR12 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR13 winner | SR8 | FR14 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR15 winner | SR9 | FR16 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR17 winner | SR10 |  RS Berkane | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR18 winner | SR11 | FR19 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR20 winner | SR12 | FR21 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR22 winner | SR13 | FR23 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR24 winner | SR14 | FR25 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR26 winner | SR15 | FR27 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
| FR28 winner | SR16 | FR29 winner | 16–18 Oct | 23–25 Oct |
See also
References
- ↑ "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAFOnline.com. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
- ↑ "Sundowns hold off FAR Rabat to win second TotalEnergies CAF Champions League title". CAFOnline.com. 24 May 2026. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
- 1 2 "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). Confederation of African Football. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
- ↑ "16 Clubs for Group Phase of CC and CL effective 2017". CAFOnline.com. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
- ↑ "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAFOnline.com. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
- ↑ "CAF confirms Rangers, Rivers United, others for 2026/27 Champions League qualifiers". Punch. 29 June 2026. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
- ↑ "CAF announces match calendar for TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2026/27 and TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup 2026/27 seasons". CAFOnline.com. 2 July 2026. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
- ↑ "Road to CAF Interclub glory begins with Preliminary Round draws in Cairo on Thursday". CAFOnline.com. 3 August 2026. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ "Road to CAF Interclub glory begins with Preliminary Round draws in Cairo on Thursday". cafonline.com. 2 August 2026. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
External links
- TotalEnergies CAF Champions League, CAFonline.com