Draw Day Drama: CAF Reveals Dates for Africa's Premier Club Showdowns

Draw dates confirmed for CAF competitions

CAF, the African football governing body, has officially announced the dates for the group-stage draws of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup for the current season. Last year’s champions—Pyramids FC from Egypt capturing the Champions League and Renaissance Berkane from Morocco lifting the Confederation Cup—set the stage for a fresh continental journey, while the recent Super Cup win by Pyramids over Berkane added extra drama to the lead-up.

The draws are scheduled for Monday, November 3, and will take place at the SuperSport Studios in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Confederation Cup draw is slated to begin at 1:00 PM local time (Mecca time), followed by the Champions League draw at 2:00 PM Mecca time. CAF has confirmed that the event will be streamed on its official digital platforms, so fans around the world can follow every suspenseful moment as teams learn their fate.

Format, dates and the road to the group stage

CAF also published the calendar for the knockout rounds of both competitions, starting with the Round of 32 second legs, which will be played over the upcoming weekend across several venues. The schedule is set to feature a wide array of clubs from across the continent, with ties spanning Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, and beyond.

Each competition’s group stage will consist of 16 teams divided into four groups of four. Teams will be assigned to four pots based on CAF coefficients, and the group fixtures will be decided once the draws conclude. The top two clubs from each group advance to the knockout rounds, where further draws will determine the matchups for the quarterfinals and beyond. The Champions League remains Africa’s flagship club competition, a lineage dating back to 1964 when it began as Africa Clubs’ Championship, while the Confederation Cup, launched in 2004 after a merger, acts as the continent’s secondary elite tournament.

The winners of each competition earn a place in the CAF Super Cup, which pits the champions of the two tournaments against each other to crown Africa’s overall club champion for the season. CAF’s announcement underscores the growing appeal and competitive depth of African club football as domestic leagues align with the continental calendar.

In terms of fan entertainment, the draw ceremony promises a day of anticipation, with clubs hoping for favorable group placements that can shape their route to continental glory. The organization of the event—with a live broadcast and a structured draw process—emphasizes the professionalization and enhanced reach of Africa’s premier club competitions.

As a quick recap: the group-stage format allocates four groups of four per competition, with standings and seedings guiding the pairings. The knockout phase will unfold after the group stage concludes, with an additional draw to map out the quarterfinals and beyond. The narrative remains one of opportunity, as clubs chase prestigious silverware and the chance to represent Africa on the global stage.

Humor break (sniper-style punchline): If the group-stage draw were a sniper season, it would be all about precision—except the ball keeps moving the goalposts. Punchline 1: The only thing more unpredictable than the group placements is my coffee order on match day—still hot, still questionable. Punchline 2: They say football is a game of inches; with these draws, a few more inches might decide who gets the dream group and who gets stuck in the “group of life admin duties.”