The 2022-2023 edition of the CAF Champions League will kicked off on Friday with the first preliminary round first leg matches. 25 matches will be held until Sunday, before the return legs the following weekend. Discover the program.
CAF's highest rated interclub competition is back in action and will be back for another season, which will be its last before the advent of the African Super League that will replace it in 2023. For this first preliminary round, 50 clubs are in the running and will try to take an option for the qualification for the 2nd round.
This will be the case of Petro Atletico. Sensation of the last edition in CAF LDC with a qualification in semi-final, the Angolan club intends to repeat the same performance and even do better. They will have to negotiate well their trip to Mozambique at Black Bulls. Al-Hilal, Al Merreikh, JS Kabylie, ASEC Mimosas, Vita Club and Coton Sport will all be on the road and will have to make their status known to avoid a bad surprise before the return legs.
Note that six clubs are exempted from this first preliminary round of CAF Champions League: TP Mazembe, Al Ahly, Wydad Casablanca, Raja Casablanca, Mamelodi Sundowns and Esperance Tunis. They will enter the competition in the next round. Horoya AC is also the first team to qualify since its opponent Hawks of Gambia withdraws from the competition.
The program of the first preliminary round
Friday, September 9
Kadiogo (Burkina Faso) - Asante Kotoko (Ghana)
Saturday, September 10
Volcan Club (Comoros) 1-0 La Passe (Seychelles)
APR (Rwanda) 1-0 US Monastir (Tunisia)
Big Bullets (Malawi) 0-2 Simba SC (Tanzania)
Cape Town City (South Africa) 2-0 AS Otôho d'Oyo (Congo)
Hawks (Gambia) - Horoya (Guinea) qualified
KMKM (Zanzibar) 0-2 A Ahly Tripoli (Libya)
Red Arrows (Zambia) 0-1 Primeiro de Agosto (Angola)
Zalan (South Sudan) 0-4 Young Africans (Tanzania)
Matlama (Lesotho) 0-3 Coton Sport (Cameroon)
Stade Mandji (Gabon) 2-2 Plateau (Nigeria)
Deportivo Mongomo (Guinea Eq) v Djoliba (Mali)
Olympic Real de Bangui (Central African Republic) v Vipers (Uganda)
AS Nigelec (Niger) v SOAR (Guinea)
BO Rangers (Sierra Leone) - CR Belouizdad (Algeria)
Sunday, September 11
CFFA (Madagascar) - Royal Leopards (Eswatini)
Black Bulls (Mozambique) - Petro Atletico (Angola)
Flambeau du Centre (Burkina Faso) v Al Ittihad (Libya)
Saint George (Ethiopia) v Al-Hilal (Sudan)
Arta Solal 7 (Djibouti) v Al Merreikh (Sudan)
Rivers United (Nigeria) v Watanga (Liberia)
Coton FC (Benin) v ASEC Mimosas (Ivory Coast)
Gaborone United (Botswana) v AS Vita Club (DR Congo)
Kara (Togo) v Nouadhibou (Mauritania)
Casa Sports (Senegal) v JS Kabylie (Algeria)
