CAF Confederation Cup

The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football club competition established in 2004 from a merger of the CAF Cup and the African Cup Winners' Cup and organized by CAF.[1]

CAF Confederation Cup
Organising bodyCAF
Founded2004 (2004)
RegionAfrica
Number of teams
  • 16 (group stage)
  • 59 (total)
Qualifier forCAF Super Cup
Related competitionsCAF Champions League
Current champions Zamalek (2nd title)
Most successful club(s) CS Sfaxien (3 titles)
Websitecafonline.com/confederation-cup
2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup

Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. It is the second-tier competition of African club football, ranking below the CAF Champions League. The winner of the tournament faces the winner of the aforementioned competition in the following season's CAF Super Cup.

Moroccan clubs have the highest number of victories (seven titles), followed by Tunisia with five. Morocco has the largest number of winning teams, with five clubs having won the title. The competition has been won by 13 clubs, five of which have won it more than once. Club Sfaxien is the most successful club in the competition's history, having won the tournament three times. Zamalek are the current defending champions, having beaten RS Berkane in the 2024 final.

History
Winners
CAF Cup / CAF Confederation Cup
SeasonCAF Cup
2004 Hearts of Oak
2005 ASFAR
2006 Étoile du Sahel
2007 CS Sfaxien
2008 CS Sfaxien (2)
2009 Stade Malien
2010 FUS de Rabat
2011 MAS Fez
2012 AC Léopards
2013 CS Sfaxien (3)
2014 Al Ahly
2015 Étoile du Sahel (2)
2016 TP Mazembe
2017 TP Mazembe (2)
2018 Raja CA
2019 Zamalek
2020 RS Berkane
2021 Raja CA (2)
2022 RS Berkane (2)
2023 USM Alger
2024 Zamalek (2)

2004–2017: Beginnings, Tunisian dominance

In 2004, CAF merged the African Cup Winners' Cup created in 1975 with the CAF Cup introduced in 1992 to form a new competition called the Confederation Cup, which has since become the secondary African club competition.

In the first edition, the Ghanaian club Hearts of Oak won the edition by beating another Ghanaian club, Asante Kotoko in the final on Penalties.[2] The following year, Moroccan club AS FAR won the cup against Nigeria's Dolphin FC.[3] In 2006, Tunisian club Étoile du Sahel won the cup against Moroccan AS FAR (thanks to the away goals rule).[4]

The Tunisian club CS Sfaxien won the cup in 2007 by beating the Sudanese Al Merreikh 5 goals to 2 in aggregate score (4-2, 1-0).[5] The following season, Club Sfaxien again won the cup against another Tunisian club, Étoile du Sahel.[6] In 2009, Stade Malien won the edition by beating the Algerian club ES Sétif in the final, on penalties.[7] The following season, the Moroccan club Fath Union Sport won the cup against Tunisian Club Sfaxien, winning the return match 3 to 2.[8]

In 2011, Moroccan club Maghreb Fès defeated Tunisia's Club Africain in the final, on penalties.[9] The following year, Congolese club AC Léopards beat Malian club Djoliba AC in the final.[10] The 2013 edition saw CS Sfaxien win against Congolese TP Mazembe.[11] In 2014, the Egyptian club Al Ahly obtained its first confederation cup by beating the Ivorian club Séwé FC.[12] In 2015, Étoile du Sahel again won the cup by beating South African club Orlando Pirates.[13] TP Mazembe achieved the double in 2016 and 2017, beating Algerian club MO Béjaïa and South African SuperSport United respectively.[14][15]

2018–present: Moroccan dominance

Moroccan club Raja CA won in 2018 against Congolese AS Vita Club.[16] In 2019, Zamalek SC beat Moroccan RS Berkane in the final, on Penalties.[17]

In 2020 in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the matches were then played behind closed doors, the Moroccan club RS Berkane beat the Egyptians of Pyramids FC by the score of 1 to 0.[18] Since this season, the final has been played in a single game. In 2021, the Moroccan club Raja CA won the cup for the second time by beating JS Kabylie in the final with a score of 2 to 1.[19]

In 2022, Moroccan club RS Berkane won the cup for the second time, beating South African club Orlando Pirates in the final on penalties.[20] On 3 June 2023, USM Alger became the first Algerian club to win the confederation cup after beating Young Africans in the 2023 final.[21]

Qualification

The competition is composed of domestic cup winners from all 54 CAF member associations and the third-placed-finished club in the domestic leagues of the top twelve-ranked associations discounting/excluding the present year/season.

Format

The competition is played into two phases; the qualification phase and the main phase.[22]

Qualification phase

The competition begins with a preliminary round and then a first qualifying round played in a "trim-down" knock-out format with the away goals rule serving as tiebreakers.

Main phase
  • The sixteen winning teams from the second qualifying round enter the group stage divided into four groups of four. Each team will play against the other three opponents in a round-robin system three points for a win.
  • The group winners and runners-up qualify to a two-legged knock-out rounds which shall be played in two matches, home and away in three rounds (quarter-finals, semi-finals and the finals).
  • In case of equality in the number of goals scored during the two matches, the team scoring the greatest number of away goals will be declared winner. If the number of goals scored on the away matches is equal, kicks from the penalty mark will be taken.

The Super Cup

The winners will face the CAF Champions League winners in the CAF Super Cup the following season on the former's home venue.

Sponsorship

In October 2004, MTN contracted a four-year deal to sponsor CAF's competitions worth US$12.5 million, which at that time was the biggest sponsorship deal in African sporting history.[23]

In 2008, CAF put a value of €100 million for a comprehensive and long-term package of its competitions when it opened tenders for a new sponsor, which was scooped up by French telecommunications giant Orange through the signing of an eight-year deal in July the following year, whose terms were not disclosed.[24]

On 21 July 2016, French energy and petroleum giant Total S.A. (renamed TotalEnergies in 2021) secured an eight-year sponsorship package from CAF to sponsor its competitions, beginning with its flagship competition, the Africa Cup of Nations.[25]

Current Sponsors:

Title SponsorOfficial SponsorsFormer SponsorBall Supplier

Prizes

Trophy and medals

Each year, the winning team is presented with the African Champion Clubs' Cup, the current version of which has been awarded since the competition name change in 1997. Forty gold medals are presented to the competition winners and 40 silver medals to the runners-up.

2009–2020

CAF increased the prize money to be shared between the top 16 clubs.[35][36]

Final
position		Prize money
WinnerUS$1,250,000
Runner-upUS$625,000
Semi-finalistsUS$450,000
Quarter-finalistsUS$350,000
3rd in group stageUS$275,000
4th in group stageUS$275,000

Note: National Associations receive an additional equivalent share of 5% for each amount awarded to clubs.

2023

CAF increased the prize money to be shared between the top 8 clubs.[37]

Final
position		Prize money
WinnerUS$2,000,000
Runner-upUS$1,000,000
Semi-finalistsUS$750,000
Quarter-finalistsUS$550,000
3rd in group stageUS$400,000
4th in group stageUS$400,000

2024

CAF increased the prize money to be shared between the top 6 clubs.[38]

Final
position		Prize money
WinnerUS$1,500,000
Runner-upUS$1,400,000
Semi-finalistsUS$600,000
Quarter-finalistsUS$300,000
3rd in group stageUS$200,000
4th in group stageUS$100,000

Broadcast coverage

Below are the current broadcast rights holders of this competition:[39]

Country/Region Channels
 Algeria EPTV
 ASEAN beIN Sports
 Benin ORTB
 Europe Sportfive
 France beIN Sports
 Burkina Faso RTB
Latin America ESPN
 Ghana
MENA beIN Sports
 South Africa
[41]
Western Balkans Sport Klub
 United States beIN Sports
Sub-Saharan Africa
East Africa

Records and statistics
Main article: CAF Confederation Cup records and statistics

List of finals
Main article: List of CAF Confederation Cup finals

Performance by clubs
Performance in the CAF Confederation Cup by club
Club		 Titles Runners-up Seasons won Seasons runners-up
CS Sfaxien 3 1 2007, 2008, 2013 2010
RS Berkane 2 2 2020, 2022 2019, 2024
Étoile du Sahel 2 1 2006, 2015 2008
TP Mazembe 2 1 2016, 2017 2013
Zamalek 2 0 2019, 2024
Raja CA 2 0 2018, 2021
FAR Rabat 1 1 2005 2006
Hearts of Oak 1 0 2004
Stade Malien 1 0 2009
FUS Rabat 1 0 2010
MAS Fez 1 0 2011
AC Léopards 1 0 2012
Al Ahly 1 0 2014
USM Alger 1 0 2023
Orlando Pirates 0 2 2015, 2022
Asante Kotoko 0 1 2004
Dolphins FC 0 1 2005
Al-Merrikh 0 1 2007
ES Sétif 0 1 2009
Club Africain 0 1 2011
Djoliba AC 0 1 2012
Séwé Sport 0 1 2014
MO Béjaïa 0 1 2016
SuperSport United 0 1 2017
AS Vita Club 0 1 2018
Pyramids 0 1 2020
JS Kabylie 0 1 2021
Young Africans 0 1 2023

Performance by nations
Performances in finals by nation
Nation Winners Runners-up Total
 Morocco 7 3 10
 Tunisia 5 3 8
 Egypt 3 1 4
 DR Congo 2 2 4
 Algeria 1 3 4
 Ghana 1 1 2
 Mali 1 1 2
 Congo 1 0 1
 South Africa 0 3 3
 Ivory Coast 0 1 1
 Nigeria 0 1 1
 Sudan 0 1 1
 Tanzania 0 1 1

Champions by region
Federation (Region) Champion(s) Titles
UNAF (North Africa) Club Sfaxien (3), Étoile du Sahel (2), Raja CA (2), RS Berkane (2), Zamalek (2), Al Ahly (1), FAR Rabat (1), FUS Rabat (1), MAS Fez (1), USM Alger (1) 16
UNIFFAC (Central Africa) TP Mazembe (2), AC Léopards (1) 3
WAFU (West Africa) Hearts of Oak (1), Stade Malien (1) 2
CECAFA (East Africa) 0
COSAFA (Southern Africa) 0

Top goalscorers
YearFootballerClubGoals
2004 Ugochukwu Okeke
Christopher Katongo		 Enugu Rangers
Green Buffaloes		5
2005 Eric Gawu
Khalid El Hirech
Kelechi Osunwa		 King Faisal Babes
AS Marsa
Dolphins FC		7
2006 Manucho Petro Atlético8
2007 Trésor Mputu TP Mazembe11
2008 Eric Bekoe Asante Kotoko10
2009 Abdelmalek Ziaya ES Sétif15
2010 Ahmed Abdel-Ghani Haras El Hodood7
2011 Salakiaku Matondo DC Motema Pembe6
2012 Rudy Ndey
Ismaïla Diarra
Edward Sadomba		 AC Léopards
Cercle Olympique de Bamako
Al-Hilal		5
2013 Vincent Die Foneye
Mbwana Samatta
Sonito		 ENPPI
TP Mazembe
Liga Muçulmana		6
2014 Kader Bidimbou
Kudakwashe Musharu
Koffi Foba		 AC Léopards
How Mine
ASEC Mimosas		6
2015 Baghdad Bounedjah
Georges Ambourouet
Thamsanqa Gabuza		 Étoile du Sahel
CF Mounana
Orlando Pirates		6
2016 Rainford Kalaba TP Mazembe7
2017 Ben Malango TP Mazembe6
2018 Mahmoud Benhalib Raja CA9
2019 Waleed Al-Shoala Al-Hilal7
2020 Karim El Berkaoui Hassania Agadir8
2021 Ben Malango Raja CA6
2022 Victorien Adebayor USGN6
2023 Fiston Kalala Mayele Young Africans7
2024 Paul Bassène RS Berkane4
Abdoulaye Kanou USM Alger
Abdul Aziz Issah Dreams FC
John Antwi

See also

References
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  2. "African Club Competitions 2004". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
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