Ten top clubs who are yet to lift a TotalEnergies CAF Interclub trophy

As we build up to the start of the TotalEnergies CAF Interclub season for 2026/27 next month, it will be another chance for clubs across the continent to lift a prestigious piece of silverware.

With greater participation than ever thanks to CAF’s USD 100,000 solidarity payment to clubs that exit before the group stage in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup, there could be history made.

There will be many newcomers hoping to write their names on the trophies, but we look back at 10 leading clubs from history who are yet to lift a major CAF trophy despite having come close in the past.  

AL HILAL (SUDAN)
Best CAF finish: Runners-up, 1987 and 1992
There is a strong argument that Al Hilal are the among the biggest African clubs never to win a continental trophy.
The Omdurman giants have reached the final of Africa’s premier club competition twice. They drew 0-0 at home to Al Ahly in the first leg of the 1987 final before losing 2-0 in Cairo, and five years later were beaten by Wydad Casablanca.
Al Hilal have also reached Champions League semi-finals in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015, while they were back in the quarter-finals in 2025/26. Few clubs have knocked on the door quite so often without entering.

SIMBA SC (TANZANIA)
Best CAF finish: Runners-up, 1993 CAF Cup and 2025 Confederation Cup
Simba have twice come within one tie of ending their long wait for continental silverware – more than three decades apart.
The Dar es Salaam giants reached the CAF Cup final in 1993 but lost to Stella Club d’Adjamé of Côte d’Ivoire. They finally returned to a CAF final in 2025, only for Morocco’s RS Berkane to defeat them 3-1 on aggregate in the Confederation Cup decider.
They also reached the semi-finals of the African Cup of Champions Clubs as far back as 1974.

YOUNG AFRICANS (TANZANIA)
Best CAF finish: Runners-up, 2023 Confederation Cup
If Simba have suffered a long continental wait, their great Dar es Salaam rivals Young Africans know the feeling just as well.
Yanga’s greatest opportunity in Africa came in 2023. They lost the first leg of the Confederation Cup final 2-1 at home to USM Alger, then produced a superb performance to win 1-0 in Algeria. It was not quite enough, with USMA taking the trophy on the away-goals rule after a 2-2 aggregate draw. It remains Yanga’s only senior CAF final.

CR BELOUIZDAD (ALGERIA)
Best CAF finish: Semi-finals, 1996 CAF Cup Winners’ Cup and 2025-26 CAF Confederation Cup
Algeria has produced several African champions, which makes CR Belouizdad’s absence from the continental honours list particularly conspicuous.
They reached the African Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals in 1996 and then waited 30 years to return to a continental last four. That finally happened in the 2025/26 Confederation Cup, only for Zamalek to edge them 1-0 on aggregate after a 1-0 victory in Algiers and goalless second leg in Cairo.

COTON SPORT (CAMEROON)
Best CAF finish: Runners-up, 2003 CAF Cup and 2008 Champions League
Few clubs have dominated their domestic competition as emphatically as Coton Sport, whose 18 Cameroonian league crowns are a national record. Yet continental glory has twice slipped through their fingers.
They reached the CAF Cup final in 2003 before losing to Raja Casablanca, then went one step from the biggest prize of all five years later.
Coton Sport reached the 2008 CAF Champions League final but were beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Al Ahly, losing 2-0 in Cairo before drawing 2-2 in Garoua.
They returned to the Champions League semi-finals in 2013 and the Confederation Cup last four in 2021.

PETRO DE LUANDA (ANGOLA)
Best CAF finish: Runners-up, 1997 CAF Cup
Petro are the dominant force in Angolan league history and their grip has tightened considerably in recent seasons.
They completed a fifth successive championship in 2025/26 to take their Girabola tally to 20. Continental football has provided far greater frustration. Their best opportunity came in the 1997 CAF Cup, when they reached the final but were beaten by Tunisia’s Esperance.
Petro subsequently reached the CAF Champions League semi-finals in 2001 and returned to the last four in 2022, where Wydad Casablanca ended their hopes.
They remain regular Champions League contenders, but the first continental trophy is still missing from an increasingly impressive cabinet.

DYNAMOS (ZIMBABWE)
Best CAF finish: Runners-up, 1998 Champions League
Dynamos have long been one of the giants of Southern African football and are Zimbabwe’s most successful league club, though sources differ between 21 and 22 championships in their historical count.
Their great continental opportunity arrived in 1998. Dynamos held ASEC Mimosas to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the CAF Champions League final in Harare, but the Ivorian side prevailed 4-2 in a dramatic return in Abidjan.
A decade later, Dynamos mounted another extraordinary run and reached the 2008 Champions League semi-finals before Coton Sport stopped them.

HEARTLAND (NIGERIA)
Best CAF finish: Runners-up, 1988 and 2009
Heartland, formerly known as Iwuanyanwu Nationale, have been African championship runners-up twice, 21 years apart. They won the first leg of the 1988 African Cup of Champions Clubs final 1-0 against ES Sétif, only to collapse to a 4-0 defeat in Algeria.
In 2009, now playing as Heartland, they again won the home leg of the Champions League final, beating TP Mazembe 2-1.
A 1-0 defeat in Lubumbashi meant Mazembe took the crown on away goals. Heartland have five Nigerian league titles, but those two agonising near-misses define their continental history.

NKANA FC (ZAMBIA)
Best CAF finish: Runners-up, 1990 African Cup of Champions Clubs
Zambia has produced many outstanding teams, but none has yet won Africa’s premier club competition.
Nkana came closer than any of them. The Kitwe giants reached the 1990 African Cup of Champions Clubs final against JS Kabylie. Both sides won their home leg 1-0, taking the contest to penalties in Kitwe, but the Algerians held their nerve to win the shoot-out 5-3. Nkana were a major continental force through the 1980s and early 1990s and for years built an imposing home record in African competition, but that elusive first CAF trophy has never arrived.

MC ORAN (ALGERIA)
Best CAF finish: Runners-up, 1989 African Cup of Champions Clubs
MC Oran’s domestic trophy haul may not match some others on this list, but they remain one of Algeria’s historic clubs and once stood a penalty shoot-out away from becoming champions of Africa.
Raja Casablanca defeated them 1-0 in Morocco in the first leg of the 1989 African Cup of Champions Clubs final before MC Oran produced a 1-0 victory in the return at home. The title therefore went to penalties, where Raja prevailed 4-2.