How USM Alger reached the 2026 TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup
South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns hosts Algeria’s USM Alger this Sunday, 8 November at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria as the TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup 2026 takes place.
The match will kick-off at 15h00 local time (13h00 GMT).
After emerging victorious in the 2025-26 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup, USM Alger are eyeing their second TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup trophy in 3 years, having won the annual competition in 2023, with a memorable 1-0 victory over Egyptian giants Al Ahly.
Road to the title
USM Alger started their 2025-26 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup campaign from the 2nd Preliminary Round where they overcame Cote d’Ivoire’s AF Amadou Dialo.
After a 1-0 defeat in Abidjan, USMA secured their path to the group stage with a home 3-0 victory in Algiers, with Houssam Eddine Ghacha scoring a brace and Brahim Benzaza adding another, as USMA won 3-1 on aggregate.
The Algerians were drawn in Group A besides Morocco’s Olympic Safi, Cote d’Ivoire’s FC San Pedro and Mali’s Djoliba. USMA started their group campaign with a home 3-2 win over San Pedro with Ghacha, Adem Alilet and Saadi Radouani finding the net. They went to best Olympic Safi at their own ground, thanks to Zakaria Draoui late strike.
It was three wins in a row, emerging 2-0 victorious at home over Djoliba, with Draoui and Ahmed Khaldi on the scoresheet. A goalless draw in the reverse fixture meant they guaranteed their quarterfinals spot with two games to play.
An injury time winner from Mohamed Bouderbala ensured an away 3-2 over San Pedro, after Che Malone and Glody Likonza have found the net earlier. USMA ended their group on top with 14 points after a home goalless draw with Olympic Safi that saw both teams reaching the last eight together.
In the quarterfinals, USMA faced DR Congo’s AS Maniema. They suffered a 2-1 defeat in Kinshasa, but with Khaldi scoring an away precious goal from the spot, that proved to be priceless after they emerged 1-0 victorious in the reverse fixture at home, thanks to Benzaza first half strike as they qualified on away goals rule.
It was the same rule that USMA followed in the semis, when they faced their group opponents Olympic Safi once again. A goalless home draw was followed by an away 1-1 stalemate in Safi, when Khaldi again scored from the spot to send USMA to the final.
The final saw USMA facing Egyptian giants Zamalek, with the first leg taking place in Algiers. It witnessed a dramatic ending when Khaldi scored from the spot again 8 minutes into second half injury time. Zamalek levelled the aggregate score from the spot early in the return leg in Cairo but couldn’t add another goal to see the fixture decided by a penalty shootout.
After each side scored their respective first seven penalties, Zamalek captain on the night Mohamed Shehata missed his kick, only for Glody Likonza to step and score USMA’s eighth kick and handle his side the trophy for the second time in their history.
They will look now to add another TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup to their cabinet, which would also be their historical second.