Three former African champions have been drawn together in this year’s CAF Confederation Cup as the group stage draw has officially been completed for 2021.
Orlando Pirates, Entente Setif and Enyimba will square off in Group A, which can now be considered the Group of Death. South Africa‘s Orlando Pirates won the continental cup way back in 1995 while Algeria’s Entente Setif and Nigeria’s Enyimba are both 2-time champions.
The 3 champions will be joined by strong Libyan side Al Ahly Benghazi in Africa’s second-tier club competition.
The top 2 teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals, which means that one of the former champions from Group A, will certainly be knocked out in the last 16.
Here are the groups that have been drawn up.
Group A
- Al Ahly Benghazi (Libya)
- Entente Setif (Algeria)
- Enyimba (Nigeria)
- Orlando Pirates (South Africa)
Group B
- Coton Sport (Cameroon)
- JS Kabylie (Algeria)
- Napsa Stars (Zambia)
- RS Berkane (Morocco) – current holders of the trophy
Group C
- CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)
- Winner of Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) vs Young Buffaloes (Eswatini)
- Jaaraf (Senegal)
- Salitas (Burkina Faso)
Group D
- Winner of Namungo (Tanzania) vs Primeiro de Agosto (Angola)
- Nkana FC (Zambia)
- Pyramids (Egypt)
- Raja Casablanca (Morocco)
Morocco’s Rennaisance Berkane who are the current holders of the CAF Confederation Cup, have been pitted against Zambia’s Napsa Stars, Cameroon’s Coton Sport and JS Kabylie from Algeria in Group B. Kabylie are also 2-time winners of the competition so this is sure to be an exciting group as well and the champions will not have it easy in the group stage.
The most successful club in the competition – CS Sfaxien from Tunisia (3-time winners) will feature in Group C alongside Senegal’s Jaaraf, Burkina Faso’s Salitas and the winner of Etoile du Sahel and Young Buffaloes, with Etoile du Sahel as favourites to go through with a 2-1 advantage after the first leg and 2 away goals to their name.
Group D will feature the winner between Tanzania‘s Namungo and Angola’s Primeiro de Agosto, which is almost certain to be Namungo given the huge advantage after the first leg finished 6-2 with the Tanzanian side overpowering the club from Angola. Namungo is likely to join Zambia’s Nkana FC, Egypt’s Pyramids and Morocco’s Raja Casablanca, in the last 16.
Here is a roundup of the results from the qualifiers.
US Monastir (Tunisia) 1-0 Raja Casablanca (Morocco)
Raja Casablanca qualify on penalties (6-5) after the tie ended 1-1 on aggregate
- Napsa Stars (Zambia) 2-2 Gor Mahia (Kenya)
Napsa Stars qualify 3-2 on aggregate
- DC Motema Pembe (DR Congo) 1-1 Al Ahly Benghazi (Libya)
Al Ahly Benghazi qualify on penalties (8-7) after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate
- Coton Sport (Cameroon) 1-0 Sonidep (Niger)
Coton Sport qualify 2-0 on aggregate
- Rivers Utd (Nigeria) 1-0 Enyimba (Nigeria)
Enyimba qualify on penalties (5-4) after the tie ended 1-1 on aggregate
- Orlando Pirates (South Africa) 1-0 Jwaneng Galaxy (Botswana)
Orlando Pirates qualify 4-0 on aggregate
- JS Kabylie (Algeria) 1-0 Stade Malien (Mali)
JS Kabylie progress on away goals after the tie ended 2-2 on aggregate
- Pyramids (Egypt) 2-0 Racing Abidjan (Ivory Coast)
Pyramids qualify 4-0 on aggregate
- Jaraaf (Senegal) 1-0 Platinum (Zimbabwe)
Jaraaf qualify 2-0 on aggregate
- Entente Setif (Algeria) 0-0 Asante Kotoko (Ghana)
Entente Setif qualify 2-1 on aggregate
- Salitas (Burkina Faso) 3-1 Bouenguidi (Gabon)
Salitas qualify 3-2 on aggregate
- Tihad Casablanca (Morocco) 2-1 Nkana (Zambia)
Nkana qualify 3-2 on aggregate
- AS Kigali (Rwanda) 1-1 CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)
CS Sfaxien qualify 5-2 on aggregate
- RS Berkane
RS Berkane qualify via a bye for being the current holders of the cup
Legs to be decided
- Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) vs Young Buffaloes (Eswatini)
Etoile favourites to go through following an away win in the first leg (2-1)
- Namungo (Tanzania) vs Primeiro de Agosto (Angola)
Namungo favourites to go through following an away win in the first leg (6-2)