The TotalEnergies CAF Champions League is CAF’s African club competition. The 2026/27 edition used preliminary rounds to fill 16 group places. Four groups of four play six matchdays, with two from each group advancing to the quarter-finals.
Find the stage at which a club enters
CAF’s draw explainer describes first- and second-preliminary-round routes, with byes for specified clubs. The 16 winners of the second preliminary ties go to the group stage. If a team appears in the second round after no first-round result, check its entry route in the draw information.
The preliminary schedule describes ties and individual legs. The group draw names the opponents that qualified after those ties. For example, a preliminary win can settle a club’s qualification, and the later draw then supplies its group. The opponent list comes from that later document.
Read the four-team group as a table
The 2026/27 group draw puts Zamalek, Young Africans, MC Alger and Club Africain in Group B. The club list identifies the four teams in the group. Use the matchday schedule for the order and location of their meetings, then use the table for the race for two quarter-final places.
Across the four groups, two qualifying places each produce eight quarter-finalists. If you are checking an individual club, find its group position after the relevant games and the official qualification outcome. A group letter or initial draw list tells you which opponents are in the group, while completed results tell you who advances. When saving a club’s route, keep its qualifying tie and group matchdays in separate rows. That makes it clear which result put it into the group and which result decided a place in the quarter-finals.
Use the correct competition name in the next fixture search
CAF issues interclub material for the Champions League and Confederation Cup. They have separate draws and group tables. To look up a club’s next match, use the competition, edition, group or knockout stage and opponent together. Once qualification is confirmed, follow the Champions League quarter-final fixture notice for the next pairing and individual match details.