2018_CAF_Confederation_Cup
2018 CAF Confederation Cup
International football competition
The 2018 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2018 Total CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 15th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), under the current CAF Confederation Cup title after the merger of CAF Cup and African Cup Winners' Cup.
| 2018 Total CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | 9 February – 2 December 2018 |
| Teams | 54+16 (from 43 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Raja Casablanca (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  AS Vita Club |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 170 |
| Goals scored | 369 (2.17 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Mahmoud Benhalib (9 goals) |
← 2017 2018–19 → | |
Raja Casablanca won the title for the first time, defeating AS Vita Club in the final, and earned the right to play against the winners of the 2018 CAF Champions League in the 2019 CAF Super Cup.[2]
TP Mazembe were the two-time defending champions, but as they qualified for the 2018 CAF Champions League and reached the group stage, they were not able to defend their title.
All 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Confederation Cup, 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 (plus 16 teams eliminated from the CAF Champions League which enter the play-off round) – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup, the CAF uses the 2012–2016 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]
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Winners | 5 points | 4 points |
| Runners-up | 4 points | 3 points |
| Losing semi-finalists | 3 points | 2 points |
| 3rd place in groups | 2 points | 1 point |
| 4th place in groups | 1 point | 1 point |
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
- 2016 – 5
- 2015 – 4
- 2014 – 3
- 2013 – 2
- 2012 – 1
The following 54 teams from 42 associations entered the competition.[4]
- Teams in bold received a bye to the first round.
- The other teams entered the preliminary round.
Associations are shown according to their 2012–2016 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.
| Association | Team | Qualifying method |
|---|---|---|
 Cameroon (13th – 12 pts) |
New Star | 2017 Cameroonian Cup winners |
 Libya (14th – 8 pts) |
Al-Ittihad Tripoli | 2017 Libyan Premier League CAF competition playoff runners-up |
 Ghana (15th – 7 pts) |
Asante Kotoko | 2017 Ghanaian FA Cup winners |
 Tanzania (16th – 5 pts) |
Simba | 2016–17 Tanzania FA Cup winners |
 Angola (17th – 3 pts) |
Petro de Luanda | 2017 Taça de Angola winners |
 Ethiopia (18th – 2 pts) |
Welayta Dicha | 2017 Ethiopian Cup winners |
 Benin |
Energie | 2017 Benin Premier League runners-up |
 Botswana |
Jwaneng Galaxy | 2016–17 Mascom Top 8 Cup winners |
 Burkina Faso |
Étoile Filante | 2017 Coupe du Faso winners |
 Burundi |
Olympique Star | 2017 Burundian Cup winners |
 Comoros |
Ngazi Sport | 2017 Comoros Cup winners |
 Djibouti |
Gendarmerie Nationale | 2017 Djibouti Cup winners |
 Equatorial Guinea |
Deportivo Niefang | 2017 Equatoguinean Cup winners |
 Gabon |
AS Mangasport | 2016–17 Gabon Championnat National D1 runners-up |
 Gambia |
Banjul Hawks | 2017 Gambian Cup winners |
 Guinea |
Hafia | 2017 Guinée Coupe Nationale winners |
 Kenya |
AFC Leopards | 2017 FKF President's Cup winners |
 Liberia |
ELWA United | 2017 Liberian Cup runners-up |
 Madagascar |
Fosa Juniors | 2017 Coupe de Madagascar winners |
 Malawi |
Masters Security | 2017 Malawi FAM Cup losing semi-finalists |
 Mauritania |
FC Nouadhibou | 2017 Coupe du Président de la République winners |
 Mauritius |
AS Port-Louis 2000 | 2017 Mauritian Cup winners |
 Mozambique |
Costa do Sol | 2017 Taça de Moçambique winners |
 Niger |
Sahel | 2017 Niger Cup winners |
 Rwanda |
APR | 2017 Rwandan Cup winners |
 Senegal |
Mbour Petite-Côte | 2017 Senegal FA Cup winners |
 Seychelles |
Anse Réunion | 2017 Seychelles FA Cup runners-up |
 South Sudan |
Al-Hilal Juba | 2017 South Sudan National Cup runners-up |
 Swaziland |
Young Buffaloes | 2017 Swazi Cup winners |
 Zanzibar |
Zimamoto | 2016–17 Zanzibar Premier League runners-up |
- Notes
- ^ Mali (MLI): Mali were represented by Djoliba and Onze Créateurs, the 2016 Malian Première Division third place and 2016 Malian Cup winners, as the 2017 Malian Première Division and 2017 Malian Cup were not completed by the end of the year.[5]
A further 16 teams eliminated from the 2018 CAF Champions League entered the play-off round.
- Associations which did not enter a team
USM Alger
BelouizdadLemboumbi-Leyou teams
Mangasport MounanaBamako teams
Djoliba Onze CréateursKinshasa teams
Motema Pembe
Vita ClubLusaka teams
Green Buffaloes ZanacoAbidjan teams
Africa Sports Williamsville ASEC Mimosas SuperSport United Bidvest WitsKigali teams
APR Rayon SportsNairobi teams
Leopards Gor MahiaDar es Salaam teams
Simba Young AfricansItalics: Teams transferred from the 2018 CAF Champions League
Red: Preliminary round; Green: First Round; Purple: Play-off Round; Brown: Group A; 
Orange: Group B; Yellow: Group C; Blue: Group D.The schedule of the competition was as follows (matches scheduled in midweek in italics).[6] The regulations were modified with an additional draw before the quarter-finals.[7] Effective from the Confederation Cup group stage, weekend matches were played on Sundays while midweek matches were played on Wednesdays, with some exceptions. Kick-off times were also fixed at 13:00, 16:00 and 19:00 GMT.[8]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | Preliminary round | 13 December 2017 (Cairo, Egypt)[4] |
9–11 February 2018 | 20–21 February 2018 |
| First round | 6–7 March 2018 | 16–18 March 2018 | ||
| Play-off round | 21 March 2018 (Cairo, Egypt)[9] |
6–8 April 2018 | 17–18 April 2018 | |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 21 April 2018 (Cairo, Egypt)[10] |
6 May 2018 | |
| Matchday 2 | 16 May 2018 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 18 July 2018 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 29 July 2018 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 19 August 2018 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 29 August 2018 | |||
| Knockout stage | Quarter-finals | 3 September 2018 (Cairo, Egypt)[11] |
16 September 2018 | 23 September 2018 |
| Semi-finals | 3 October 2018 | 24 October 2018 | ||
| Final | 25 November 2018 | 2 December 2018 | ||
The draw for the preliminary round and first round was held on 13 December 2017 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[12][13] 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 would be applied, and if still tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14).[2]
Preliminary round
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petro de Luanda |
5–0 | Masters Security |
5–0 | 0–0 |
| Young Buffaloes |
0–2 |  Cape Town City |
0–1 | 0–1 |
| Costa do Sol |
2–0 | Jwaneng Galaxy |
1–0 | 1–0 |
| Energie |
2–1 | Hafia |
1–0 | 1–1 |
| APR |
6–1 | Anse Réunion |
4–0 | 2–1 |
Djoliba  |
w/o[w/o 1] | ELWA United |
— | — |
| AFC Leopards |
1–1 (a) | Fosa Juniors |
1–1 | 0–0 |
| Ngazi Sport |
2–5 | AS Port-Louis 2000 |
1–1 | 1–4 |
| AS Mangasport |
1–2 | AS Maniema Union |
0–1 | 1–1 |
| Olympique Star |
1–0 | Étoile Filante |
0–0 | 1–0 |
| New Star |
2–2 (a) | Deportivo Niefang |
2–1 | 0–1 |
AS Tanda  |
0–1 |  CS La Mancha |
0–0 | 0–1 |
Akwa United  |
3–2 | Banjul Hawks |
1–2 | 2–0 |
| Al-Ittihad Tripoli |
4–0 | Sahel |
1–0 | 3–0 |
US Ben Guerdane  |
w/o[w/o 2] | Al-Hilal Juba |
— | — |
| Asante Kotoko |
1–1 (6–7 p) | CARA Brazzaville |
1–0 | 0–1 |
| Onze Créateurs |
1–3 |  CR Belouizdad |
1–1 | 0–2 |
Al-Masry  |
5–2 |  Green Buffaloes |
4–0 | 1–2 |
| Simba |
5–0 | Gendarmerie Nationale |
4–0 | 1–0 |
| RS Berkane |
3–2 | Mbour Petite-Côte |
2–1 | 1–1 |
| Africa Sports |
1–2 | FC Nouadhibou |
1–1 | 0–1 |
| Zimamoto |
1–2 | Welayta Dicha |
1–1 | 0–1 |
Notes:
First round
The 16 winners of the first round advanced to the play-off round, where they were joined by the 16 losers of the Champions League first round.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petro de Luanda |
1–2 | SuperSport United |
0–0 | 1–2 |
| Costa do Sol |
2–2 (a) | Cape Town City |
0–1 | 2–1 |
| Energie |
2–5 | Enyimba |
0–2 | 2–3 |
| Djoliba |
2–2 (a) | APR |
1–0 | 1–2 |
| AS Port-Louis 2000 |
0–3 | Fosa Juniors |
0–2 | 0–1 |
| AS Maniema Union |
3–3 (a) | USM Alger |
2–2 | 1–1 |
| Olympique Star |
0–6 |  Al-Hilal Al-Ubayyid |
0–0 | 0–6 |
| DC Motema Pembe |
1–2 | Deportivo Niefang |
1–1 | 0–1 |
| CS La Mancha |
4–2 | Al-Ahly Shendi |
3–0 | 1–2 |
| Al-Ittihad Tripoli |
1–1 (2–3 p) | Akwa United |
1–0 | 0–1 |
| CARA Brazzaville |
4–3 | US Ben Guerdane |
3–0 | 1–3 |
| CR Belouizdad |
3–1 | Nkana |
3–0 | 0–1 |
| Simba |
2–2 (a) | Al-Masry |
2–2 | 0–0 |
| RS Berkane |
4–1 | Club Africain |
3–1 | 1–0 |
| Raja Casablanca |
5–3 | FC Nouadhibou |
1–1 | 4–2 |
| Welayta Dicha |
3–3 (4–3 p) | Zamalek |
2–1 | 1–2 |
Play-off round
The draw for the play-off round was held on 21 March 2018, 19:00 EET (UTC+2), at the Ritz Carlton in Cairo, Egypt.[16][17] The winners of the Confederation Cup first round were drawn against the losers of the Champions League first round, with the teams from the Confederation Cup hosting the second leg.
The 16 winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zanaco |
0–5 | Raja Casablanca |
0–2 | 0–3 |
| AS Vita Club |
6–1 | CS La Mancha |
1–0 | 5–1 |
| Saint George |
1–1 (3–4 p) | CARA Brazzaville |
1–0 | 0–1 |
| Al-Hilal |
3–3 (a) | Akwa United |
2–0 | 1–3 |
| Gor Mahia |
2–2 (a) | SuperSport United |
1–0 | 1–2 |
| UD Songo |
4–3 | Al-Hilal Al-Ubayyid |
3–1 | 1–2 |
| Plateau United |
2–5 | USM Alger |
2–1 | 0–4 |
| Bidvest Wits |
1–1 (a) | Enyimba |
1–1 | 0–0 |
| Aduana Stars |
7–3 | Fosa Juniors |
6–1 | 1–2 |
| Young Africans |
2–1 | Welayta Dicha |
2–0 | 0–1 |
| Génération Foot |
3–3 (a) | RS Berkane |
3–1 | 0–2 |
| CF Mounana |
2–3 | Al-Masry |
1–1 | 1–2 |
| ASEC Mimosas |
1–0 | CR Belouizdad |
1–0 | 0–0 |
| Williamsville AC |
3–2 | Deportivo Niefang |
2–0 | 1–2 |
| MFM |
0–1 | Djoliba |
0–1 | 0–0 |
| Rayon Sports |
3–2 | Costa do Sol |
3–0 | 0–2 |
The draw for the group stage was held on 21 April 2018, 14:00 EET (UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[18][19] The 16 teams, all winners of the play-off round of qualifying, were 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 in parentheses).[20] Each group contained one team from Pot 1 and three teams from Pot 2, and each team was drawn into one of the positions in their group.[21]
| Pot | Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Teams |
|
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.
| Tiebreakers |
|---|
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations III. 20 & 21):[2]
|
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RCA | VIT | ASE | ADU | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raja Casablanca |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 11 | Quarter-finals | — | 0–0 | 4–0 | 6–0 | |
| 2 | AS Vita Club |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 10 | 2–0 | — | 3–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | ASEC Mimosas |
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 9 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 4 | Aduana Stars |
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 4 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | — |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RSB | MAS | SON | HIL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RS Berkane |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 13 | Quarter-finals | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Al-Masry |
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 12 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | UD Songo |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | Al-Hilal |
6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — |
Notes:
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ENY | CAR | WAC | DJO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enyimba |
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 12 | Quarter-finals | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| 2 | CARA Brazzaville |
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 9 | 3–0 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Williamsville AC |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | ||
| 4 | Djoliba |
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 5 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — |
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | USM | RAY | GOR | YAN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USM Alger |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 11 | Quarter-finals | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Rayon Sports |
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 9 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Gor Mahia |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 8 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 4–0 | ||
| 4 | Young Africans |
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 4 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | — |
In the knockout stage, the eight teams played a single-elimination tournament. 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 would be applied, and if still tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 26 & 27).[2]
Bracket
The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals and semi-finals), which was held on 3 September 2018, 19:00 EET (UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[22][23][24]
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| Rayon Sports
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Enyimba
| 0 | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| Enyimba
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Raja Casablanca
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| CARA Brazzaville
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Raja Casablanca
| 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Raja Casablanca
| 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| AS Vita Club
| 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Al-Masry
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| USM Alger
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Al-Masry
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| AS Vita Club
| 0 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| AS Vita Club
| 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| RS Berkane
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
In the quarter-finals, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group (teams from same group could not play each other), with the group winners hosting the second leg, and the matchups decided by draw.[22]
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rayon Sports |
1–5 | Enyimba |
0–0 | 1–5 |
| CARA Brazzaville |
1–3 | Raja Casablanca |
1–2 | 0–1 |
| Al-Masry |
2–0 | USM Alger |
1–0 | 1–0 |
| AS Vita Club |
4–2 | RS Berkane |
3–1 | 1–1 |
Semi-finals
In the semi-finals, the four quarter-final winners played in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw.[22]
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enyimba |
1–3 | Raja Casablanca |
0–1 | 1–2 |
| Al-Masry |
0–4 | AS Vita Club |
0–0 | 0–4 |
Final
In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the order of legs determined by the semi-final draw.[22]
Raja Casablanca won 4–3 on aggregate.
| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F1 | F2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mahmoud Benhalib |
Raja Casablanca |
2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||||||
| 2 | Jean-Marc Makusu Mundele |
AS Vita Club |
2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||||||
| 3 | Zakaria Hadraf |
Raja Casablanca |
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| Soufiane Rahimi |
Raja Casablanca |
1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Bonfilscaleb Bimenyimana |
Rayon Sports |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| Mouhcine Iajour |
Raja Casablanca |
2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Cabwey Kivutuka |
CARA Brazzaville |
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Fabrice Luamba Ngoma |
AS Vita Club |
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Alain Traoré |
RS Berkane |
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Jacques Tuyisenge |
Gor Mahia |
1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
- "CAF Confederation Cup regulations" (PDF). CAF.
- "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Zambia will have two entrants in both Caf Club competitions". BBC Sport. 9 December 2017.
- "Compétitions Africaines: Le Stade en Ligue des champions, le Djoliba en Coupe CAF". footmali.com. 29 November 2017.
- "DATES FOR CAF INTERCLUBS COMPETITIONS 2018" (PDF). CAF.
- "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee – 10 January 2018". CAF. 10 January 2018.
- "Friday & Saturday for Champions League, Sunday for Confederation Cup". CAF. 17 April 2018.
- "Accreditation for interclubs group phase draw". CAF. 28 February 2018.
- "Accreditation for draw of Group Phase". CAF. 10 April 2018.
- "Accreditation for Interclubs quarter finals 2018". CAF. 6 August 2018.
- "Draw results of Interclubs 2018 prelims". CAF. 13 December 2017.
- "FORFAIT DU CLUB ELWA UNITED". CAF. 8 February 2018.
- "South Sudanese clubs Al Salam Wau, Hilal Juba eliminated". CAF. 15 February 2018.
- "Draw for the Champions League & Confederation Cup 2018". YouTube. 21 March 2018.
- "Results of draw of 2nd 1/16th round". CAF. 21 March 2018.
- "Draw for the Confederation Cup 2018". YouTube. 21 April 2018.
- "Regional rivalries echoed, giants draw each other". CAF. 21 April 2018.
- "Draw procedure for group phase". CAF. 20 April 2018.
- "Draw Procedure of the 15TH Edition of Total CAF CONFEDERATION CUP, CC 2018" (PDF). CAF. 2 September 2018.
- "CAF Confederation Cup 2018 DRAW". YouTube. 3 September 2018.
- "Total CAF Confederation Cup 2018 Draw" (PDF). CAF.
- Total CAF Confederation Cup 2018, CAFonline.com