2023–24 CAF Champions League
| 2023–24 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | Qualifying: 18 August – 2 October 2023 Competition proper: 24 November – 26 May 2024 |
| Teams | 54 (from 42 associations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 50 (1.61 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Sankara William Karamoko (4 goals) |
The 2023–24 CAF Champions League (officially the 2023–24 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)[1] is the 60th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 28th edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
The winners of the 2023–24 CAF Champions League will automatically qualify for the 2024–25 CAF Champions League and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2024 CAF Super Cup.[2] They will also qualify for the brand new 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
While it wasn't officially confirmed, the qualifying rounds for the Champions League may have been pushed back to August and September and the group stage pushed forward to start in November because of the introduction of CAF's newest competition, the African Football League, which began on 20 October 2023.
Association team allocation
All 54 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-year ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition.[2] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2023–24 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2019–2023 CAF 5-year ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over those 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup. The criteria for points are the following:[3][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 |
| 3rd place in groups | 2 points | 1 point |
| 4th place in groups | 1 point | 0.5 point |
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
- 2022–23: × 5
- 2021–22: × 4
- 2020–21: × 3
- 2019–20: × 2
- 2018–19: × 1
Teams
The following 54 teams from 42 associations entered the competition. Teams in:
- Bold received a bye to the second round.
- The other teams entered the first round.
Associations are shown according to their 2018–2023 CAF 5-year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score (in parentheses) indicated.
- Associations which did not enter a team
Schedule
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying rounds | First round | 25 July 2023 | 18–20 August 2023 | 25–27 August 2023 |
| Second round | 15–17 September 2023 | 29 September – 1 October 2023 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 6 October 2023 | 24–25 November 2023 | |
| Matchday 2 | 1–2 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 8–9 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 19 December 2023 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 23–24 February 2024 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 1–2 March 2024 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | March 2024 | 29–30 March 2024 | 5–6 April 2024 |
| Semi-finals | 19–20 April 2024 | 26–27 April 2024 | ||
| Final | 19 May 2024 | 26 May 2024 | ||
Qualifying rounds
The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 25 July 2023, 11:00 GMT (14:00 local time, UTC+3), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[6]
In the qualifying rounds, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule was applied, and if still tied, extra time was not played, and the penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14).
First round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hafia 
|
2–2 (a) |  Génération Foot
|
0–0 | 2–2 |
AS GNN 
|
w/o[A] |  AS Douanes Burkina Faso
|
— | — |
Bo Rangers 
|
2–1 |  LISCR
|
1–1 | 1–0 |
Medeama 
|
1–1 (3–2 p) |  Remo Stars
|
1–0 | 0–1 |
KMKM 
|
2–5 |  Saint George
|
1–2 | 1–3 |
APR 
|
3–1 |  Gaadiidka
|
1–1 | 2–0 |
Centre Sportif de Bendje 
|
2–6 |  Bumamuru
|
1–1 | 1–5 |
African Stars 
|
2–2 (a) |  Power Dynamos
|
2–1 | 0–1 |
UD Songo 
|
2–1 |  Green Mamba
|
1–0 | 1–1 |
Dragón 
|
0–3 |  Nyasa Big Bullets
|
0–2 | 0–1 |
Al Ahly Benghazi 
|
4–3 | Enyimba
|
4–3 | 0–0 |
Coton FC 
|
0–2 | ASEC Mimosas
|
0–0 | 0–2 |
CS Constantine 
|
0–3 |  Étoile du Sahel
|
0–2 | 0–1 |
ASKO Kara 
|
0–8 |  ASFAR
|
0–1 | 0–7 |
Real Bamako 
|
2–0 |  Coton Sport
|
0–0 | 2–0 |
FC Nouadhibou 
|
2–1 | Al Ahli Tripoli
|
2–0 | 0–1 |
Primeiro de Agosto 
|
2–1 |  AS Vita Club
|
1–0 | 1–1 |
Salaam FC Bor 
|
w/o[B] |  Al Hilal
|
— | — |
AS Otohô 
|
1–1 (a) | Al Merrikh
|
1–1 | 0–0 |
Djibouti Telecom 
|
1–7 |  Young Africans
|
0–2 | 1–5 |
Jwaneng Galaxy 
|
3–2 |  Vipers
|
2–0 | 1–2 |
Djabal 
|
0–4 |  Orlando Pirates
|
0–1 | 0–3 |
Notes:
- ^ AS Douanes Burkina Faso won on a walkover after Niger clubs withdrew from 2023–24 CAF interclub competitions due to the 2023 Nigerien coup d'état.[7]
- ^ Al Hilal won on a walkover after Salaam FC Bor failed to travel to Morocco.
Second round
The 16 winners of the second round advanced to the group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hafia
|
1–4 | Wydad AC
|
1–1 | 0–3 |
| AS Douanes Burkina Faso
|
0–1 | Espérance de Tunis
|
0–1 | 0–0 |
| Bo Rangers
|
2–6 | CR Belouizdad
|
1–3 | 1–3 |
| Medeama
|
4–3 | Horoya
|
3–1 | 1–2 |
| Saint George
|
0–7 |  Al Ahly
|
0–3 | 0–4 |
| APR
|
1–6 | Pyramids
|
0–0 | 1–6 |
| Bumamuru
|
0–6 | Mamelodi Sundowns
|
0–4 | 0–2 |
| Power Dynamos
|
3–3 (a) | Simba
|
2–2 | 1–1 |
| UD Songo
|
2–5 | Petro de Luanda
|
1–2 | 1–3 |
| Nyasa Big Bullets
|
0–5 | TP Mazembe
|
0–1 | 0–4 |
| Al Ahly Benghazi
|
1–2 | ASEC Mimosas
|
0–0 | 1–2 |
| Étoile du Sahel
|
3–1 | ASFAR
|
1–0 | 2–1 |
| Real Bamako
|
1–4 | FC Nouadhibou
|
0–3 | 1–1 |
| Primeiro de Agosto
|
1–2 | Al Hilal
|
0–0 | 1–2 |
| Al Merrikh
|
0–3 | Young Africans
|
0–2 | 0–1 |
| Jwaneng Galaxy
|
1–1 (5–4 p) | Orlando Pirates
|
1–0 | 0–1 |
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 6 October 2023, 13:00 GMT (15:00 local time, UTC+2), in Johannesburg, South Africa. The 16 winners of the second round of qualifying rounds were drawn into four groups of four.[8]
The teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons (CAF 5-year ranking points shown next to every team). Each group contained one team from each of Pot 1, Pot 2, Pot 3, and Pot 4, and each team was allocated to the positions in their group according to their pot.
|
|
|
|
| Tiebreakers |
|---|
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | TPM | SUN | NDB | PYR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TP Mazembe
|
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7[a] | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 23–24 Feb | |
| 2 | Mamelodi Sundowns
|
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 7[a] | 1–2 Mar | — | 3–0 | 0–0 | ||
| 3 | FC Nouadhibou
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 4[b] | 0–0 | 23–24 Feb | — | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Pyramids
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 4[b] | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 Mar | — |
Notes:
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ASE | SIM | JWA | WAC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ASEC Mimosas (A)
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 23–24 Feb | 3–0 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Simba
|
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 Mar | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | Jwaneng Galaxy
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 23–24 Feb | ||
| 4 | Wydad AC
|
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 3 | 1–2 Mar | 1–0 | 0–1 | — |
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | APL | EST | ESS | HIL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petro de Luanda
|
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 0–0 | 1–2 Mar | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Espérance de Tunis
|
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–2 Mar | ||
| 3 | Étoile du Sahel
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 4[a] | 0–2 | 23–24 Feb | — | 1–0 | ||
| 4 | Al Hilal
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4[a] | 23–24 Feb | 3–1 | 1–1 | — |
Notes:
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AHL | YNG | MED | CRB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al Ahly
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 5[a] | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–2 Mar | 3–0 | 0–0 | |
| 2 | Young Africans
|
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5[a] | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 23–24 Feb | ||
| 3 | Medeama
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 4[b] | 23–24 Feb | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 4 | CR Belouizdad
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4[b] | — | 3–0 | 1–2 Mar | — |
Notes:
Knockout stage
The mechanism of the draws for each round will be as follows:
- In the draw for the quarter-finals, the four group winners will be seeded, and the four group runners-up will be unseeded. The seeded teams will be drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could not be drawn against each other, while teams from the same association could be drawn against each other.
- In the draws for semi-finals, there will be no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held together before the quarter-finals will be played, the identity of the quarter-final winners will not be known at the time of the semi-final draw.
| Group | Winners | Runners-up | Qualified (position TBD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 
|
|
|
| B |
|
|
ASEC Mimosas
|
| C |
|
|
|
| D |
|
|
|
Top goalscorers
- As of 20 December 2023
| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F1 | F2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sankara William Karamoko
|
ASEC Mimosas
|
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2 | Pacôme Zouzoua
|
Young Africans
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 3 | Abdelraouf Benguit
|
CR Belouizdad
|
1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
 Alexandre Guedes
|
Petro de Luanda
|
2 | |||||||||||||
| Cheick Oumar Abdallah Fofana
|
TP Mazembe
|
2 | |||||||||||||
| Pape Abdou N'Diaye
|
Al Hilal
|
1 | 1 |
See also
- 2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup
- 2023 African Football League
- 2023 CAF Women's Champions League
- 2024 CAF Super Cup
References
- ^ "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAF. 21 July 2016.
- ^ a b "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
- ^ "16 Clubs for Group Phase of CC and CL effective 2017". CAF. 11 May 2016.
- ^ "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAF. 30 May 2016.
- ^ "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- ^ "TotalEnergies CAF Champions League, Confederation Cup Preliminary Draw on Tuesday". Confederation of African Football. 23 July 2023.
- ^ "Désistement de nos représentants en compétitions interclubs Ligue des Champions et Coupe de la Confédération 2023-2024". Nigerien Football Federation (in French). 23 August 2023.
- ^ "TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup Group Stage Draw to be conducted on Friday". Confederation of African Football. 6 October 2023.