The teams have been confirmed for the CAF Champions League, in which only one team from Nigeria qualified for the group stage. North African teams have long been the dominant force in the competition, but Nigerian club Enyimba won their first two titles back-to-back in 2003 and 2004. Here is the list of confirmed teams.
• Al Ahly 🇪🇬
• Power Dynamos 🇿🇲
• Al Hilal SC 🇸🇩
• St Eloi Lupopo 🇨🇩
• Yanga 🇹🇿
• Rivers United 🇳🇬
• Petro Luanda 🇦🇴
• JS Kabylie 🇩🇿
• AS FAR 🇲🇦
• Simba SC 🇹🇿
• Mamelodi Sundowns 🇿🇦
• Esperance Sportive de Tunis 🇹🇳
• Stade Malien 🇲🇱
• MC Alger 🇩🇿
Awaiting qualification:
• Winner of Pyramids FC (1) 🇪🇬 vs Ethiopian Insurance (1) 🇪🇹
• Winner of RS Berkane (1) 🇲🇦 vs Al Ahli Tripoli (1) 🇱🇾
How the competition works
General reference: the CAF Champions League is Africa’s premier club competition, bringing together the champions and leading sides from leagues across the continent. After the qualifying rounds, the confirmed clubs enter the group stage, where they are drawn into groups and play home and away. The leading teams from each group then advance to the knockout rounds, which run through to a two-legged final.
A continent-wide field
The confirmed list reflects the geographic spread of African club football. North Africa is strongly represented through sides such as Al Ahly, Esperance Sportive de Tunis, AS FAR, JS Kabylie and MC Alger, while Southern and East Africa bring the likes of Mamelodi Sundowns, Petro Luanda, Simba SC and Yanga. Central Africa is represented by St Eloi Lupopo, and West Africa by Stade Malien and Nigeria’s Rivers United.
Nigeria’s lone representative
With only one Nigerian club in the group stage, Rivers United carry the country’s hopes in this edition. Nigerian football has a proud history in the competition — Enyimba’s back-to-back triumphs in 2003 and 2004 remain a benchmark — and a strong run would be a welcome reminder of that pedigree against the traditionally dominant North African clubs.
Two further group-stage places remained to be settled through the qualifying ties listed above. This piece serves as a reference to the confirmed line-up as announced; keep an eye on avgsports for more African club football coverage.