While every soccer fan knows about the UEFA Champions League, continental competitions in different parts of the world aren’t as well known.
So, it bodes the question – is there a Champions League in Africa?
Here, we introduce you to the CAF Champions League – Africa’s equivalent to the elite competition run by UEFA – and take a look at the teams that regularly stake a claim to be the kings of Africa.
So, is there a Champions League in Africa?
Yes, the CAF Champions League (also known as the TotalEnergies Champions League) is the African continent’s equivalent to the UEFA Champions League.
Top division clubs from across the continent compete for the prize and attempt to become the best club in Africa, and it follows a similar format to its more famous European counterpart.
The winners of the African Champions League qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup, which is the international tournament in which the best teams from all around the world compete for the crown of club world Champions.
So, now that we’ve established its existence let’s take a closer look at how the African Champions League works, as well as a look into the continent’s most successful teams over the years since its inception.
How does the African Champions League work?
Clubs from all CAF-affiliated national leagues across Africa can qualify for the Champions League. In total, 64 teams enter the tournament, beginning with a two-stage qualification round.
Those that qualify are split into groups of four, as is the case in the UEFA Champions League, and the teams compete in a mini-group format.
After the group stage, the top two teams from each group qualify for the knockout rounds of the tournament, which take place over two legs until the final, which is a one-legged affair at a neutral venue.
The competition underwent a significant rebranding in 1997, which brought with it significant changes in terms of sponsorship, branding, and prize money, making the African Champions League more alluring for international viewers as opposed to those within the continent itself.
Which is the most successful team in Africa?
It won’t surprise any fans of African soccer that Al Ahly are the most successful team in Champions League History, with ten titles to their name at the time of writing. They have also been runners-up on five occasions, which also gives them the most second-place finishes out of all the teams in the tournament.
Keen to learn more about Al Ahly’s dominance of African soccer? Check out this article in which we introduce you to Al Ahly, the world’s most successful soccer team.
Interestingly, Al Ahly’s bitter rivals, Zamalek, are the second most successful team in the history of the Champions League, with five titles and three runners-up medals to boast of. However, their last triumph came in 2022, and they haven’t been as successful domestically or internationally as they once were.
The table below shows the top five teams in the history of the African Champions League based on performance:
| Club | Nation | Titles | Seasons won |
| Al Ahly | Egypt | 10 | 1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2020, 2021 |
| Zamalek | Egypt | 5 | 1984, 1986, 1993, 1996, 2002 |
| TP Mazembe | DR Congo | 5 | 1967, 1968, 2009, 2010, 2015 |
| ES Tunis | Tunisia | 4 | 1994, 2011, 2018, 2019 |
| Haifa FC | Guinea | 3 | 1972, 1975, 1977 |
In addition to Guinea’s Haifa FC, three other teams have won the African Champions League on three occasions, including Wydad and Raja, both from Morocco, and Canon Yaounde from Cameroon.
How much does the winning team get paid?
Thanks to lucrative sponsorship deals from the likes of MTN and TotalEnergies, as well as TV packages, the prize money on offer to teams in the African Champions League has increased significantly in recent years.
When the tournament was re-branded in 1997, the winning team was awarded $1,000,000. Today, the Champions of Africa receive $2,500,000 for winning the crown. Simply qualifying for the tournament can also be lucrative, with those finishing third and fourth in the group stages earning $550,000 in prize money.
The teams that are eliminated in the quarter-finals bank $650,000, while the losing semi-finalists make $875,000. Finally, if you finish second in the African Champions League, you will walk away with a cool $1,250,000, softening the blow of defeat somewhat!
How does this compare to the UEFA Champions League?
European soccer fans will know that there’s an awful lot of prize money up for grabs in the Champions League, as it is one of the most widely watched competitions in world soccer, perhaps second only to the World Cup in terms of popularity.
With such coverage and interest comes huge potential financial gains for the teams that participate in the tournament, with the 2022 UEFA Champions League winners set to pocket a cool $22.69 million. This is $20 million more than the winners of the African Champions League stand to win!
By making it to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, each team is awarded $17.74 million, with further prize money awarded for draws and victories.
As such, the champions of Europe stand to make significantly more money than their African counterparts by winning the continent’s premier soccer tournament, due primarily to the huge sponsorship deals and TV rights that are associated with Europe’s leading competition.
How do I watch the African Champions League?
Although the African Champions League isn’t as widely watched as the UEFA Champions League, it is still televised in different parts of the world, with SuperSport having the rights to show the tournament in many African countries.
For soccer fans living in the United States, you can tune into select African Champions League matches if you subscribe to beIN Sports, the Qatari-based news and sports channel.
So, if you’re getting a little tired of watching the same elite European teams on TV all the time, there’s nothing stopping you from tuning into the African Champions League to enjoy a completely different style of soccer from an interesting part of the world!
Recap: Is there a Champions League in Africa?
The African Champions League is hotly contested year after year, as is the case with most continental competitions. Al Ahly are the undisputed kings of Africa, with an impressive ten titles to their name at the time of writing.
So, if you’re keen to broaden your soccer horizons and want to tune into quality soccer from a unique part of the world, there’s absolutely no reason not to start watching the African Champions League, a tournament that is often overlooked by soccer fans.