AS FAR make history with third African women's title after beating Sundowns in final
Morocco’s AS FAR have become the first club to successfully defend the CAF Women’s Champions League, beating Mamelodi Sundowns 3-1 in Sunday’s final in Ismailia to claim a record third African title.
Imane Touriss scored twice and Hiba Youssifi added another at the Suez Canal Stadium as the Moroccan champions followed their 2025 triumph with another continental crown.
Refilwe Tholakele scored for Sundowns, but the South African side could not prevent AS FAR from moving ahead of them as the most successful team since the competition was launched in 2021.
Both clubs entered the final with two titles each, meaning Sunday’s meeting was effectively a contest to become the first three-time champions.
AS FAR had previously lifted the trophy in 2022 and 2025, while Sundowns were champions in 2021 and 2023. No team had successfully retained the title in the competition’s first five editions.
Touriss gave AS FAR the lead in the 23rd minute before Tholakele responded two minutes later to bring Sundowns level.
Youssifi restored the Moroccan side’s advantage in the 38th minute, ensuring AS FAR went into the break ahead.
Sundowns pushed for another equaliser after the interval, but Touriss struck again in the 77th minute to give the defending champions a two-goal cushion and put the match beyond the South Africans.
The victory completes another impressive campaign for AS FAR, who reached the final after edging Cameroon’s Lekié Football Filles 1-0 in the semi-finals.
Sundowns had arrived in the decider in formidable form, having beaten Uganda’s Kawempe Muslim Ladies 4-1 in their semi-final, with Ronnel Donnelly scoring a first-half hat-trick.
Sunday’s match was also a repeat of the 2022 final, when AS FAR defeated Sundowns 4-0 in Rabat to win their first continental title.
The two clubs have established themselves as the dominant forces in the competition. At least one of AS FAR or Sundowns has appeared in every CAF Women’s Champions League final since the tournament began, underlining their growing rivalry at the top of African women’s club football.
AS FAR’s latest success also represents a remarkable turnaround from 2024, when they finished runners-up after losing 1-0 to TP Mazembe.
They returned to the summit in 2025 with a 2-1 victory over ASEC Mimosas before becoming the first team to defend the trophy a year later.
The Moroccan side will also receive $600,000 in prize money and qualify for the second round of the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2027.
They are scheduled to face DPR Korea’s Naegohyang WFC in December 2026, with the final phase of FIFA’s competition taking place in Miami in January 2027.
For Sundowns, defeat means they miss out on a third continental crown despite reaching their fourth final.
For AS FAR, however, victory confirms a new benchmark in the competition: three titles in six editions and the first successful title defence in CAF Women’s Champions League history.
CAF Women’s Champions League winners
2026: AS FAR (Morocco)
2025: AS FAR (Morocco)
2024: TP Mazembe (DR Congo)
2023: Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
2022: AS FAR (Morocco)
2021: Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
