The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) has announced the procedures that will determine the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2025/26 and TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup 2025/26, ahead of Tuesday’s draws. Fans across the continent are eagerly waiting to see the high-stakes matchups.
For the Champions League quarter-finals, CAF will use a multi-pot system. Pot 1 contains the four group runners-up: RS Berkane and AS FAR from Morocco, Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa, and Espérance Sportive de Tunis from Tunisia. The four group winners are placed in separate pots according to their groups: Pyramids FC (Egypt, Group A), Al Ahly FC (Egypt, Group B), Al Hilal SC (Sudan, Group C), and Stade Malien (Mali, Group D).
The draw begins by selecting a team from the runners-up pot. CAF then picks one team from the three remaining group-winner pots, excluding the group of the runner-up, to ensure clubs from the same group cannot meet. These three potential opponents are placed in a separate pot, and one is drawn to finalize the quarter-final pairing. This process continues until all four matchups are determined. Notably, runners-up will host the first leg of their quarter-finals.
For the semi-finals, all four quarter-final winners are placed in a single pot. The first two balls drawn will meet in Semi-final 1, with the first drawn team hosting the first leg. The remaining two teams will face each other in Semi-final 2 under the same home-leg rule.
The Confederation Cup follows an identical procedure. Pot 1 holds the four group runners-up: Olympique Club de Safi (Morocco), AS Maniema Union (DR Congo), AS Otoho (Congo), and Al Masry SC (Egypt). Each group winner is placed in its own pot: USM Alger (Algeria, Group A), Wydad AC (Morocco, Group B), CR Belouizdad (Algeria, Group C), and Zamalek SC (Egypt, Group D).
CAF’s structured draw ensures fair and balanced matchups while maintaining the competitiveness of Africa’s premier club competitions. With the procedures now confirmed, fans and clubs alike are preparing for thrilling encounters in both tournaments’ knockout stages.
