CAF Champions League facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
CAF Champions League

Organising body	CAF
Founded	1964; 61 years ago (1964) (rebranded in 1997)
Region	Africa
Number of teams	16 (group stage) 68 (total) (from 56 associations)
Qualifier for	CAF Super Cup FIFA Club World Cup FIFA Intercontinental Cup
Related competitions	CAF Confederation Cup
Current champions	Al Ahly (12th title)
Most successful club(s)	Al Ahly (12 titles)
Television broadcasters	List of broadcasters

The CAF Champions League is a super exciting yearly football (soccer) competition. It's organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). This tournament brings together the very best football clubs from across Africa. They play in a group stage first, then move on to knockout matches, and finally, a big home-and-away final. It's the most important club competition in African football!

The team that wins the CAF Champions League gets to play in the FIFA Club World Cup. This is a special tournament where champion clubs from all six continents compete. The winner also plays against the CAF Confederation Cup champion in the next season's CAF Super Cup. Starting in 2024, the top five teams from the Champions League also get a spot in the new FIFA Intercontinental Cup. If a team finishes second in their national league and doesn't qualify for the Champions League, they can still play in the CAF Confederation Cup, which is the second-tier competition.

Clubs from Egypt have won the most titles, with 18 wins! Morocco is next with 7 titles. Countries like Cameroon, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco have had three different clubs win the title. Overall, 26 clubs have won this competition, and 12 of them have won it more than once. Al Ahly from Egypt is the most successful club, with a record 12 wins. They even won the most recent season in 2024, beating Espérance de Tunis 1-0.

History of the Tournament

Early Days: 1964–1997

The competition started in 1964 and was first called the African Cup of Champions Clubs. The very first team to win was Oryx Douala from Cameroon. They beat Stade Malien from Mali 2-1 in the final.

Ali Abo Gresha, a top scorer who won with Ismaily in 1969.

The tournament wasn't played in 1965. But in 1966, they introduced a new rule: the final would be played over two matches, one at each team's home stadium. In that year, AS Real Bamako from Mali played against Stade d'Abidjan from Ivory Coast. Real Bamako won their home game 3-1, but Stade Abidjan won their home game 4-1, taking the title 5-4 overall!

In 1967, Asante Kotoko from Ghana and TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) played. Both their matches ended in a draw. So, CAF planned a third deciding match. But Kotoko didn't show up, so Mazembe was given the title. Mazembe then won the title again the next year!

However, the Ghanaian team, Kotoko, got their revenge in 1970. They met Mazembe in the final again. The first game was a 1-1 draw. But Kotoko surprised everyone by winning their away game 2-1, finally lifting the trophy they had missed out on.

The 1970s were a great time for Cameroonian club football. This success helped build the strong international football reputation Cameroon has today.

Al Ahly, winners of the 1982 competition.

Zamalek, winners of the 1984 competition.

Between 1971 and 1980, Cameroonian teams won the cup four times. Canon Yaoundé won three titles (1971, 1978, and 1980), and US Douala won in 1979. During this time, Hafia Conakry from Guinea also had a golden age, winning three times (1972, 1975, and 1977).

New Name, Bigger Reputation: 1997–Present

Not much changed in the competition until 1997. That's when CAF decided to make a big change, similar to what Europe had done with their Champions League. They added a group stage to the tournament and changed its name to the CAF Champions League.

Zamalek, winners of the 2002 competition.

CAF also started offering prize money for the first time! The winners received US$1 million, and the runners-up got US$750,000. This made it the richest African club competition back then.

In the new format, national league champions would play through several qualifying rounds. The top 8 teams would then enter two groups of four teams. Each team played every other team in their group at home and away. The best team from each group then met in a two-legged final.

In the 2001 season, CAF added a semi-final stage. So, the top two teams from each group would play in the semi-finals, and the winners would go to the final.

The prize money increased again in 2009. Champions received $1.5 million, and runners-up got $1 million. Since 1997, teams from North Africa have been very strong in the competition. Raja Casablanca from Morocco won two of the first three new-format titles. But Al Ahly became the most successful, winning in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2012. Zamalek won in 2002.

Tunisian teams also started winning. Étoile du Sahel won in 2007. Espérance de Tunis won their second title in 2011.

Mohamed Aboutrika, who won the CAF Champions League 5 times with Al Ahly.

Even with North African teams dominating, Enyimba from Nigeria won two titles in a row in 2003 and 2004. ASEC Mimosas from Ivory Coast and Accra Hearts of Oak from Ghana also won championships for West Africa. In 2010, TP Mazembe from the DRC became the first club to win the title twice on two separate occasions (1967, 1968 and 2009, 2010). In 2017, the group stage grew even bigger, from 2 groups to 4 groups, and quarter-finals were added.

The 2020–21 season was played without fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an exciting all-Egyptian final, Al Ahly played their rivals Zamalek. Al Ahly won their ninth title! They then successfully defended their title in 2021, winning their 10th trophy. However, they couldn't win a third title in a row in 2022. They lost to Wydad AC from Morocco, who won their third title.

The finals went back to two-legged matches after the pandemic. Al Ahly got their revenge in 2023, taking the title back from Wydad. They won their 11th title! Then, in 2024, they defended it again, winning their 12th title against Tunisia's Esperance.

CAF plans to keep the Champions League even with the new Africa Football League starting in 2023–24. Some people think the Champions League might go back to being only knockout matches, without a group stage, like it was before 1997.

How Teams Qualify and Play

Qualification Rules

The CAF Champions League is open to the winners of all national football leagues that are part of CAF. The team that won the Champions League the previous season also gets to play. Since 2004, the second-place teams from the 12 highest-ranked countries also get to join. This makes a total of 64 teams! These 12 countries are ranked based on how well their clubs have done in the Champions League over the past 5 years.

CAF decides each year how many teams each country can send to the Champions League. The higher a country is ranked, the more teams it can send. Also, higher-ranked countries' teams might not have to play as many early qualifying rounds.

The CAF Champions League mostly works as a knockout competition. Teams play in two qualifying rounds: the preliminary stage and the first round. After the first round, the winning teams are split into four groups of four teams. Teams that lose in the first qualifying round get a second chance in the CAF Confederation Cup. The top two teams from each group then move on to a two-legged knockout stage. The winners of these matches play in a single final game to win the trophy!

Sponsorship

In 2004, MTN signed a four-year deal to sponsor CAF competitions for US$12.5 million. This was the biggest sports sponsorship deal in Africa at the time!

In 2008, CAF looked for a new sponsor. French company Orange signed an eight-year deal in 2009. The details of this deal were not shared.

On July 21, 2016, the French energy company TotalEnergies (then called Total S.A.) became a major sponsor. They signed an 8-year deal to support CAF competitions, including the Africa Cup of Nations.

Current Sponsors:

Prizes

Trophy and Medals

The official CAF Champions League trophy.

Every year, the winning team receives the CAF Champions League trophy. This trophy has been given out since the competition changed its name in 1997. The winners also get 40 gold medals, and the runners-up get 40 silver medals.

Prize Money: 1997–2008

When the competition was renamed in 1997, CAF started giving prize money to the eight teams that reached the group stage. This was the first time an African club football competition offered prize money.

Prize Money: 2009–2016

CAF increased the prize money for the 8 clubs in the group stage.

Prize Money: 2017–2022

The prize money increased again, and now 16 clubs in the group stage shared the money.

* Note: National Football Associations also receive an extra 5% of each amount given to clubs.

Prize Money: 2023–Present

On May 19, 2023, CAF announced another increase in prize money for the 16 clubs in the group stage. This is the latest prize money structure.

Broadcast Coverage

Here are the TV channels and networks that currently show the CAF Champions League matches:

Country/Region	Channels
Algeria	EPTV
ASEAN	beIN Sports
Morocco	Arryadia
Benin	ORTB
Europe	Sportfive
Portugal	Sport TV
France	beIN Sports
Burkina Faso	RTB
Latin America	ESPN
Nigeria	SuperSport
Ghana	GTV Sports+ StarTimes
MENA	beIN Sports
South Africa	SuperSport SABC Sport
Western Balkans	Sport Klub
United States	beIN Sports
Sub-Saharan Africa	Canal+ SuperSport (selected matches) StarTimes (except South Africa)
East Africa	TVZ ZBC

Records and Statistics

Performance by Nations

This table shows how many times clubs from different countries have won or been runners-up in the finals.

Performances in finals by nation

Nation	Winners	Runners-up	Total
Egypt	18	10	28
Morocco	7	4	11
Tunisia	6	8	14
DR Congo	6	6	12
Algeria	5	2	7
Cameroon	5	1	6
Ghana	3	8	11
Guinea	3	2	5
Nigeria	2	5	7
South Africa	2	3	5
Ivory Coast	2	2	4
Congo	1	0	1
Mali	0	2	2
Uganda	0	2	2
Sudan	0	2	2
Togo	0	1	1
Zambia	0	1	1
Zimbabwe	0	1	1

Performances by Region

This table shows how many titles clubs from different regions of Africa have won.

Top Goalscorers by Year

This table lists the top goal scorers for each year of the competition.

Year	Footballer	Club	Goals
African Cup of Champions Clubs era
1965	Salif Keïta	Stade Malien	3
1966			14
1967	Badawi Abdel Fattah Ahmed El-Qazzaz Osei Kofi Pierre Kalala Leonard Saidi Kamunda Tshinabu	Al Olympi Al Olympi Asante Kotoko TP Englebert TP Englebert TP Englebert	2
1968	Pierre Kalala	TP Englebert	7
1969	Ali Abo Greisha	Ismaily	7
1970	Pierre Kalala	TP Englebert	4
1971	Cecil Jones Attuquayefio	Accra Great Olympics	6
1972	Godfrey Chitalu	Kabwe Warriors	13
1973	Chérif Souleymane	Hafia FC	5
1974	Paul Moukila	CARA Brazzaville	10
1975	N’Jo Léa	Hafia FC	4
1976	Abdesslem Bousri	MC Alger	5
1977	Mahmoud El Khatib	Al Ahly	4
1978	Seydouba Bangoura Mayanga Maku	Hafia FC AS Vita Club	2
1979	Ally Thuwen	Simba SC	3
1980	Jean Manga Onguéné	Canon Yaoundé	9
1981	Mahmoud El Khatib	Al Ahly	6
1982
1983
1984	Felix Owolabi	Shooting Stars	5
1985	Mokhtar Chibani Saâd Dahane Abdellah Haidamou Abderrazak Khairi	GCR Mascara FAR Rabat FAR Rabat FAR Rabat	4
1986	Gamal Abdel Hamid	Zamalek	7
1987	Mahmoud El Khatib	Al Ahly	5
1988	Abdeslam Laghrissi	FAR Rabat	7
1989	Mourad Meziane	MC Oran	5
1990	Nacer Bouiche	JS Kabylie	7
1991	Faouzi Rouissi Adel Sellimi	Club Africain	6
1992	Kenneth Malitoli	Nkana	6
1993	Ayman Mansour	Zamalek	5
1994	Anthony Nwaigwe	Iwuanyanwu Nationale	7
1995	Kofi Deblah Sékou Bamba	Obuasi Goldfields ASEC Mimosas	4
1996	Ahmed El-Kass Ayman Mansour Tarek Mostafa Mohamed Sabry Julien Ndagano Skander Souayah	Zamalek Zamalek Zamalek Zamalek APR FC CS Sfaxien	2
Champions League era
1997	Kossi Noutsoudje	Obuasi Goldfields	7
1998	Aseged Tesfaye Reda Ereyahi	Ethiopian Coffee Raja CA	6
1999	Hossam Hassan	Al Ahly	6
2000	Emmanuel Osei Kuffour	Accra Hearts of Oak	10
2001	Kapela Mbiyavanga	Petro Atlético	9
2002	Ahmed Belal Antonin Koutouan Hicham Aboucherouane	Al Ahly ASEC Mimosas Raja CA	7
2003	Dramane Traoré	Ismaily	8
2004	Mamadou Diallo	USM Alger	10
2005	Mohamed Barakat Joetex Frimpong	Al Ahly Enyimba	7
2006	Mohamed Aboutrika	Al Ahly	8
2007	Trésor Mputu	TP Mazembe	9
2008	Stephen Worgu	Enyimba	13
2009	Dioko Kaluyituka	TP Mazembe	8
2010	Michael Eneramo	Espérance de Tunis	8
2011	Edward Sadomba	Al-Hilal	14
2012	Emmanuel Clottey	Berekum Chelsea	12
2013	Alexis Yougouda Kada	Coton Sport	7
2014	El Hedi Belameiri Haythem Jouini Ndombe Mubele Mrisho Ngasa	ES Sétif Espérance de Tunis AS Vita Club Young Africans	6
2015	Bakri Al-Madina Mbwana Samatta	Al-Merrikh TP Mazembe	7
2016	Mfon Udoh	Enyimba	9
2017	Taha Yassine Khenissi Saladin Said	Espérance de Tunis Saint George	7
2018	Anice Badri	Espérance de Tunis	8
2018–19	Moataz Al-Mehdi	Al-Nasr	7
2019–20	Jackson Muleka	TP Mazembe	7
2020–21	Mohamed Sherif	Al Ahly	6
2021–22	Tiago Azulão	Petro Atlético	6
2022–23	Mahmoud Kahraba Peter Shalulile	Al Ahly Mamelodi Sundowns	6
2023–24	Sankara William Karamoko	ASEC Mimosas	4

All-Time Top Scorers

This table shows the players who have scored the most goals in the history of the competition.

Rank	Nat	Name	Club	Goals	Apps
1		Trésor Mputu	TP Mazembe Kabuscorp	39	73
2		Mohamed Aboutrika	Al Ahly	31	85
3		Flávio Amado	Al Ahly	30
4		Mahmoud El Khatib	Al Ahly	28	30
5		Emad Moteab	Al Ahly	24	74
6		Ali Zitouni	Espérance de Tunis	23	22
		Edward Sadomba	Dynamos Al-Hilal Al-Ahly Benghazi	23	24
8		Mbwana Samatta	TP Mazembe Simba SC	21	26
		Clatous Chama	Simba SC RS Berkane	21	51
10		Mouhcine Iajour	Moghreb Tétouan Wydad AC Raja CA	20	36
		Dioko Kaluyituka	TP Mazembe	20	45
13		Emmanuel Osei Kuffour	Accra Hearts of Oak	19	13
		Bakri Al-Madina	Al-Merrikh Al-Hilal	19	35
15		Gamal Abdel-Hamid	Al Ahly Zamalek	18	41
		Kelechi Osunwa	Al-Merrikh Al-Hilal	18	21
		Hussein El Shahat	Al Ahly	18	55
18		Mudather El Tahir	Al-Hilal	17	27
		Hossam Hassan	Al Ahly Zamalek	17	31
		Walid Soliman	Al Ahly	17	82
		Mohamed Barakat	Al Ahly	17	68
		Salif Keïta	AS Real Bamako Stade Malien	17
		Themba Zwane	Mamelodi Sundowns	17	70
24		Billel Dziri	USM Alger Étoile du Sahel	16
		Joetex Asamoah Frimpong	Enyimba CS Sfaxien	16
		Kamilou Daouda	Coton Sport Al-Ittihad Tripoli	16	37
		Ocansey Mandela	Horoya	16	55
28		Karim Aribi	Étoile du Sahel CR Belouizdad	15	24
		Ali Maaloul	Al Ahly CS Sfaxien	15	87
		Yannick N'Djeng	JSM Béjaïa Espérance de Tunis	15	39
		Tiago Azulão	Atlético Petróleos de Luanda	15	38
31		Muhannad El Tahir	Al-Hilal	14	17
		Achraf Bencharki	Wydad AC Zamalek	14	38
		Jackson Muleka	TP Mazembe	14	38
		Mohamed Nahiri	Wydad AC Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi Raja CA	14	40
		Mohamed Sherif	Al Ahly	14	39
		Anice Badri	Espérance de Tunis	14	56
		Emeka Nwanna	Enyimba Heartland	14	18
		Peter Shalulile	Mamelodi Sundows	14	29

See also

In Spanish: Liga de Campeones de la CAF para niños

• African Football League
• CAF Women's Champions League
• CAF Confederation Cup
• CAF Super Cup
• African Cup Winners' Cup
• CAF Cup