African pedigree runs deep in TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup 2026/27
The TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup has a touch of African club football royalty this season with no less than nine of the competing teams having reached the final of the elite TotalEnergies CAF Champions League in the past, representing arguably the strongest field for the competition.
The TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup will kick-off on Friday with the preliminary round first legs, and there will be much anticipation from fans across the continent as the 56 teams go in search of the USD 4-million first prize.
Four of them have gone all the way and been crowned champions of Africa, while others have come agonisingly close on the biggest stage.
It gives this season’s Confederation Cup a rich historical flavour, with some of the continent’s most famous names once again chasing continental silverware.
No club in African football carries a greater continental pedigree than Al Ahly.
The Egyptian giants are record 12-time champions of Africa and return to the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup after 11 years with a level of experience few can match.
They are joined by Raja Casablanca, three-time winners of Africa’s premier club competition in 1989, 1997 and 1999, while the Moroccan giants also reached the final again in 2002.
Guinea’s Hafia FC bring another proud history to the competition. They were one of the dominant forces in African club football during the 1970s, lifting the continental crown in 1972, 1975 and 1977 and finishing runners-up in 1976 and 1978.
AS FAR complete the quartet of former African champions in this season’s Confederation Cup field.
The Moroccan side were crowned champions in 1985 and added another major chapter to their continental story when they reached the 2026 final, where they were edged 2-1 on aggregate by Mamelodi Sundowns.
Nigeria’s Shooting Stars twice came within one match of being crowned African champions, finishing runners-up in 1984 and again in 1996.
AS Real Bamako were among the early pioneers of Malian club football on the continental stage, reaching the final of the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1966.
CS Sfaxien of Tunisia advanced to the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final in 2006, only to be denied by Al Ahly.
USM Alger also know what it is like to reach the biggest club match on the continent. The Algerian side were runners-up in 2015 and have since added major CAF silverware to their collection in other competitions.
South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs are the most recent of the former finalists outside the current Champions League elite to have reached the decider, doing so in 2021 before losing to Al Ahly.