CAF Confederation Cup

CAF Confederation Cup

Organising body	CAF
Founded	2004;20 years ago (2004)
Region	Africa
Number of teams	16 (group stage) 59 (total)
Qualifier for	CAF Super Cup
Related competitions	CAF Champions League
Current champions	Zamalek (2nd title)
Most successful club(s)	CS Sfaxien (3 titles)
Website	cafonline.com/confederation-cup
2024–25 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]

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 Confederation Cup

Season	Winner
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)
2025

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 Sponsor	Official Sponsors	Former Sponsor	Ball Supplier
TotalEnergies [26]	Orange [27] 1xBet [28] TikTok [29] [30] [31]	QNET [32]	Umbro [33] [34]

Prizes

Trophy and medals

Official trophy

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
Winner	US$1,250,000
Runner-up	US$625,000
Semi-finalists	US$450,000
Quarter-finalists	US$350,000
3rd in group stage	US$275,000
4th in group stage	US$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
Winner	US$2,000,000
Runner-up	US$1,000,000
Semi-finalists	US$750,000
Quarter-finalists	US$550,000
3rd in group stage	US$400,000
4th in group stage	US$400,000

Broadcast coverage

Below are the current broadcast rights holders of this competition: ^[38]

Country/Region	Channels
Algeria	EPTV
ASEAN	beIN Sports
Benin	ORTB
Europe	Sportfive
France	beIN Sports
Burkina Faso	RTB
Latin America	ESPN
Ghana	GTV Sports+ StarTimes [39]
MENA	beIN Sports
South Africa	SuperSport SABC Sport [40]
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

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

v t e 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

Year	Footballer	Club	Goals
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 Atlético	8
2007	Trésor Mputu	TP Mazembe	11
2008	Eric Bekoe	Asante Kotoko	10
2009	Abdelmalek Ziaya	ES Sétif	15
2010	Ahmed Abdel-Ghani	Haras El Hodood	7
2011	Salakiaku Matondo	DC Motema Pembe	6
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 Mazembe	7
2017	Ben Malango	TP Mazembe	6
2018	Mahmoud Benhalib	Raja CA	9
2019	Waleed Al-Shoala	Al-Hilal	7
2020	Karim El Berkaoui	Hassania Agadir	8
2021	Ben Malango	Raja CA	6
2022	Victorien Adebayor	USGN	6
2023	Fiston Kalala Mayele	Young Africans	7
2024	Paul Bassène	RS Berkane	4
	Abdoulaye Kanou	USM Alger
	Abdul Aziz Issah	Dreams FC
	John Antwi

See also

• Football in Africa portal

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

References

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External links

• Official website
• CAF Confederation Cup on RSSSF