2022–23 CAF Champions League
| 2022–23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | Qualification: 10 September – 20 October 2022
|
| Teams | Main Competition: 16 Total: 58 (from 46 associations) |
The 2022–23 CAF Champions League (officially the 2022–23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship purposes)[2] is the 59th season of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the 27th edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
Unlike the last 3 previous seasons, the final of this edition will be played in a two-legged format as the CAF decided at the executive committee meeting on July 3 at Rabat after the conflict between Al Ahly and the CAF after choosing the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca as a place for the 2022 final to be played which wasn't a neutral venue as it was the home of the opponent Wydad AC as Al Ahly allege.[3]
The winners of the 2022–23 CAF Champions League will automatically qualify for the 2023–24 CAF Champions League and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2022–23 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2023 CAF Super Cup.[4]
Wydad AC are the defending champions after beating Al Ahly in the 2022 final to claim their 3rd title and first since 2017.
Association team allocation
All 54 CAF member associations are expected to enter their league champions into this season of the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-Year Ranking eligible to enter two teams in this season.[4] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For this season of the tournament, CAF will the use the 2018–2022 CAF 5-Year Ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over those 5 years in CAF club competitions. The criteria for points are as follows:[5][6][7]
| 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:
- 2021–22: x 5
- 2020–21: × 4
- 2019–20: × 3
- 2018–19: × 2
- 2018: × 1
Teams
The following 58 teams from 46 associations participated in this edition of 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 2018–2022 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score (in parentheses) indicated.
- Associations which did not enter a team
Notes:
- ^ Egypt (EGY):The 2021–22 Egyptian Premier League was not finished by the CAF deadline. As a result, the Egyptian Football Association announced that Zamalek and Al Ahly, who were at first and second place after 24 rounds respectively, represented Egypt in the 2022–23 CAF Champions League. Meanwhile, Future and Pyramids FC, who were at third and fourth place after 24 rounds respectively, represented Egypt in the 2022–23 CAF Confederation Cup.
Schedule
The official competition schedule was released on 24 June 2022 on their website to prepare the qualified teams for the upcoming season.[1]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification | First round | 9 August 2022 | 9–11 September 2022 | 16–18 September 2022 |
| Second round | 7–9 October 2022 | 14–16 October 2022 | ||
| Group Stage | Matchday 1 | 16 November 2022 | 10–11 February 2023 | |
| Matchday 2 | 17–18 February 2023 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 24–25 February 2023 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 7–8 March 2023 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 17–18 March 2023 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 31 March – 1 April 2023 | |||
| Knockout Stage | Quarter-finals | April 2023 | 21–22 April 2023 | 28–29 April 2023 |
| Semi-finals | 12–13 May 2023 | 19–20 May 2023 | ||
| Final | June 2023 | |||
Qualifying rounds
The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 9 August 2022 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[8][9][10]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rivers United 
|
3–1 |  Watanga
|
3–0 | 0–1 |
AS Stade Mandji 
|
2–3 | Plateau United
|
2–2 | 0–1 |
ASN Nigelec 
|
2–1 |  SOA Renaissante
|
2–1 | 0–0 |
APR 
|
1–3 |  US Monastir
|
1–0 | 0–3 |
Olympic Real de Bangui 
|
0–4 |  Vipers
|
0–3 | 0–1 |
Volcan Club 
|
w/o[A] |  La Passe
|
1–0 | — |
Coton Sport Benin 
|
1–4 |  ASEC Mimosas
|
1–2 | 0–2 |
Hawks 
|
w/o[B] | Horoya
|
— | — |
ASKO Kara 
|
2–1 |  FC Nouadhibou
|
1–1 | 1–0 |
Casa Sports 
|
1–3 |  JS Kabylie
|
1–0 | 0–3 |
Deportivo Mongomo 
|
2–5 |  Djoliba
|
2–0 | 0–5 |
Bo Rangers 
|
0–3 | CR Belouizdad
|
0–0 | 0–3 |
Zalan 
|
0–9 |  Young Africans
|
0–4 | 0–5 |
Saint George 
|
2–2 (a) |  Al Hilal
|
2–1 | 0–1 |
Arta Solar 
|
1–2 | Al Merrikh
|
1–2 | 0–0 |
KMKM 
|
0–6 |  Al Ahli Tripoli
|
0–2 | 0–4 |
Flambeau du Centre 
|
2–2 (a) | Al Ittihad
|
1–0 | 1–2 |
Elect Sport 
|
0–4 |  Zamalek
|
0–2 | 0–2 |
Cape Town City 
|
2–0 |  AS Otohô
|
2–0 | 0–0 |
Black Bulls 
|
1–5 |  Petro de Luanda
|
0–3 | 1–2 |
Red Arrows 
|
1–2 | 1º de Agosto
|
0–1 | 1–1 |
Nyasa Big Bullets 
|
0–4 | Simba
|
0–2 | 0–2 |
CFFA 
|
3–5 |  Royal Leopards
|
2–3 | 1–2 |
Matlama 
|
0–4 |  Coton Sport
|
0–3 | 0–1 |
Rail Club du Kadiogo 
|
1–1 (3–1 p) |  Asante Kotoko
|
0–1 | 1–0 |
Gaborone United 
|
2–3 |  AS Vita Club
|
1–0 | 1–3 |
Notes:
Second round
The 16 winners of the second round advanced to the group stage, while the 16 losers of the second round entered the Confederation Cup play-off round.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rivers United
|
2–7 |  Wydad AC
|
2–1 | 0–6 |
| Plateau United
|
2–2 (a) | Espérance de Tunis
|
2–1 | 0–1 |
| ASN Nigelec
|
0–3 | Raja Casablanca
|
0–2 | 0–1 |
| US Monastir
|
0–4 | Al Ahly
|
0–1 | 0–3 |
| Vipers
|
0–0 (4–2 p) | TP Mazembe
|
0–0 | 0–0 |
| La Passe
|
1–15 | Mamelodi Sundowns
|
0–7 | 1–8 |
| ASEC Mimosas
|
1–2 | Horoya
|
0–1 | 1–1 |
| ASKO Kara
|
2–3 | JS Kabylie
|
1–2 | 1–1 |
| Djoliba
|
2–3 | CR Belouizdad
|
2–1 | 0–2 |
| Young Africans
|
1–2 | Al Hilal
|
1–1 | 0–1 |
| Al Merrikh
|
3–3 (a) | Al Ahli Tripoli
|
2–0 | 1–3 |
| Flambeau du Centre
|
1–6 | Zamalek
|
0–1 | 1–5 |
| Cape Town City
|
0–4 | Petro de Luanda
|
0–3 | 0–1 |
| 1º de Agosto
|
1–4 | Simba
|
1–3 | 0–1 |
| Royal Leopards
|
2–3 | Coton Sport
|
1–1 | 1–2 |
| Rail Club du Kadiogo
|
0–0 (3–4 p) | AS Vita Club
|
0–0 | 0–0 |
Group stage
The draw for the group stage will be held on 16 November 2022, 12:00 GMT (14:00 local time, UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The 16 winners of the second round of qualifying will be drawn into four groups of four.
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.
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See also
References
- ^ a b "Media Statement on CAF Interclub 2022/23 season" (Press release). CAFOnline.com. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
- ^ "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAFOnline.com. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ "TotalEnergies Champions League final to be held over two legs". CAFOnline.com.
- ^ a b "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ "16 Clubs for Group Phase of CC and CL effective 2017". CAFOnline.com. 11 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAFOnline.com. 30 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ^ "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". CAFOnline.com. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- ^ "The new CAF interclub season is on!". CAF. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "2022-23 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League First Preliminary Round - First Leg Fixtures". CAF. 6 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ ""CL Fixtures - 1st & 2nd Round"" (PDF). CAF. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ "Volcan Club de Moroni disqualified from TotalEnergies Champions League". cafonline.com. 26 September 2022.
- ^ "Le Horoya AC passe au tour suivant après le retrait du Hawks FC". mosaiqueguinee.com (in French). 29 August 2022.