CAF Champions League Scores, Results & Standings

CAF Champions League is Africa’s premier men’s club cup competition, organised by the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) to determine the continent’s leading club side. It brings together champions and other high-performing clubs from CAF’s member associations, providing the highest level of inter-club competition in African football and a route to the global stage.

Identity and purpose

The competition exists to crown the champion of Africa while strengthening the quality, visibility and professional standards of club football across the continent. Its field reflects the variety of African football, combining established powers from North, West, Central, East and Southern Africa with ambitious clubs seeking continental recognition.

As a cup competition rather than a domestic league, the CAF Champions League does not operate through a single national pyramid. Entry is earned through domestic league performance, and the tournament’s later rounds place a premium on managing pressure over two-legged ties, travelling effectively and producing decisive performances in high-stakes matches.

Origins and development

CAF was established in 1957, creating the continental framework within which African club competitions developed. The predecessor of the modern tournament was introduced in 1964 as the African Cup of Champions Clubs. It was rebranded as the CAF Champions League in 1997, when the competition adopted the Champions League identity and a more developed multi-stage structure.

Since then, it has become the continent’s leading club tournament and one of the most important annual competitions in African sport. CAF governs its regulations, disciplinary framework, competition administration and commercial arrangements, while national associations and domestic leagues provide the sporting route through which clubs qualify.

Qualification and access

Participation is based principally on domestic league results. Clubs generally enter as champions or runners-up of the top division in their country, subject to CAF’s allocation system. The highest-ranked national associations in CAF’s five-year ranking may enter two clubs, normally the domestic champion and runner-up; associations outside that group generally enter one representative, usually the league champion.

The ranking evaluates clubs’ performances in recent CAF competitions and helps determine both access and seeding. The previous champions may also receive an additional route into the next edition if they do not qualify through their domestic league, subject to the regulations for the relevant season. This system balances broad continental representation with a stronger field for associations whose clubs have performed consistently in Africa.

Competition format

The tournament uses a hybrid structure that begins with qualifying ties and develops into a group competition before the final knockout rounds.

• Preliminary rounds are normally played over two legs, with clubs seeking to eliminate an opponent across home and away matches.
• The group stage consists of 16 teams divided into four groups of four. Each team plays the other sides in its group home and away, creating a double round-robin schedule.
• The top two teams in each group progress to the quarter-finals.
• The quarter-finals and subsequent knockout rounds are played over two legs, with the final contested as a single match under the regulations for that edition.

The draw and seeding arrangements are designed to distribute highly ranked clubs across the groups. The exact entry points, draw procedures and match venues can vary according to the annual CAF regulations, particularly where scheduling, stadium approval or exceptional competition circumstances are involved.

Points and tie-breakers

In the group stage, a win earns three points, a draw one point and a defeat no points. Teams level on points are separated using the applicable CAF competition regulations, with head-to-head performance and related goal-difference criteria forming a central part of the hierarchy. The precise order should therefore be read in the context of the season concerned rather than assumed to be permanently unchanged.

In two-legged knockout ties, the aggregate score across both matches determines which club advances. Where the regulations for the relevant edition apply an away-goals provision, that rule may be used as a tie-breaker. If the aggregate score remains level after the permitted procedures, a penalty shoot-out can decide the tie; extra time may apply in the final or in other situations specified by that season’s regulations. These details are regulatory matters and should not be treated as identical for every historical edition.

Calendar and sporting stakes

The competition generally follows an annual seasonal cycle. Preliminary rounds commonly begin around August or September, the group stage is usually played during the winter and early spring, and the knockout rounds lead towards a final in late spring or early summer. Dates can shift between editions because of domestic calendars, international fixtures, venue availability and CAF scheduling decisions.

Winning the CAF Champions League delivers the title of African club champion and significant sporting prestige. The champion traditionally earns a place in the CAF Super Cup against the CAF Confederation Cup winner and represents Africa in the FIFA Club World Cup, where it faces champions from other confederations. The tournament therefore links domestic success, continental supremacy and global club football, making it the defining test of sustained excellence in African football.