2023 African Football League
Tournament details
Dates20 October – 12 November 2023
Teams8 (from 8 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsSouth Africa Mamelodi Sundowns (1st title)
Runners-upMorocco Wydad AC
Tournament statistics
Matches played14
Goals scored24 (1.71 per match)
Attendance547,000 (39,071 per match)
Top scorer(s)South Africa Thapelo Maseko
Egypt Mahmoud Kahraba
Mali Sadio Kanouté
(2 goals each)
Best player(s)South Africa Thapelo Maseko
Best goalkeeperSouth Africa Ronwen Williams

The 2023 African Football League was the first edition of Africa's newest club football tournament, the African Football League, organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

This season was meant to be a precursor tournament to the full fledged version, which will start in the 2024–25 season, after being delayed a year.

Background

The competition, initially announced in 2022 as the Africa Super League, was to involve 24 teams divided into three geographical regions and have a promotion-relegation system. The competition was delayed from August to October 2023, renamed to the African Football League, and revised into an eight-team knockout format for its inaugural season. This season is meant to be a precursor, as the originally announced format will be introduced starting in 2024–25.

Schedule

The schedule was as follows.[1]

Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Quarter-finals 2 September 2023 20–22 October 2023 24–25 October 2023
Semi-finals 29 October 2023 1 November 2023
Final 5 November 2023 12 November 2023

Format

Each tie was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then extra time was not played and the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Teams

The African Football League involved 8 teams chosen by the CAF to enter the tournament.

Pot 2 Pot 1

Bracket

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals, semi-finals and final), which was held on 2 September 2023, 16:00 GMT (19:00 local time, UTC+3), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[1]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
Nigeria Enyimba 0 0 0
Morocco Wydad AC 1 3 4
Morocco Wydad AC (p) 1 0 1 (5)
Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 0 1 1 (4)
Democratic Republic of the Congo TP Mazembe 1 0 1
Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 0 3 3
Morocco Wydad AC 2 0 2
South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 1 2 3
Angola Petro de Luanda 0 0 0
South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 2 0 2
South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 1 0 1
Egypt Al Ahly 0 0 0
Tanzania Simba 2 1 3
Egypt Al Ahly (a) 2 1 3

Quarter-finals

The first legs were played on 20, 21 and 22 October, and the second legs were played on 24 and 26 October 2023.[1]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Simba Tanzania 3–3 (a) Egypt Al Ahly 2–2 1–1
TP Mazembe Democratic Republic of the Congo 1–3 Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 1–0 0–3
Enyimba Nigeria 0–4 Morocco Wydad AC 0–1 0–3
Petro de Luanda Angola 0–2 South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 0–2 0–0
Simba Tanzania2–2Egypt Al Ahly
  • Denis 53'
  • Kanouté 59'
 Report
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Dahane Beida (Mauritania)
Al Ahly Egypt1–1Tanzania Simba
 Report
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)

3–3 on aggregate. Al Ahly won on away goals.

TP Mazembe Democratic Republic of the Congo1–0Tunisia Espérance de Tunis
  • Fofana 11'
 Report
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Mahmood Ismail (Sudan)
Espérance de Tunis Tunisia3–0Democratic Republic of the Congo TP Mazembe
 Report
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Abongile Tom (South Africa)

Espérance de Tunis won 3–1 on aggregate.

Enyimba Nigeria0–1Morocco Wydad AC
Report
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Alhadi Allaou Mahamat (Chad)
Wydad AC Morocco3–0Nigeria Enyimba
 Report
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: Pierre Atcho (Gabon)

Wydad AC won 4–0 on aggregate.

Petro de Luanda Angola0–2South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns
Report
Attendance: 42,000
Referee: Ibrahim Mutaz (Libya)
Mamelodi Sundowns South Africa0–0Angola Petro de Luanda
Report
Attendance: 25,000

Mamelodi Sundowns won 2–0 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

The first legs were played on 29 October, and the second legs were played on 1 November 2023.[1]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Mamelodi Sundowns South Africa 1–0 Egypt Al Ahly 1–0 0–0
Wydad AC Morocco 1–1 (5–4 p) Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 1–0 0–1
Mamelodi Sundowns South Africa1–0Egypt Al Ahly
 Report
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Djindo Louis Houngnandande (Benin)
Al Ahly Egypt0–0South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns
Report
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Issa Sy (Senegal)

Mamelodi Sundowns won 1–0 on aggregate.

Wydad AC Morocco1–0Tunisia Espérance de Tunis
 Report
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: Amin Omar (Egypt)
Espérance de Tunis Tunisia1–0Morocco Wydad AC
 Report
Penalties
 4–5
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Peter Waweru (Kenya)

1–1 on aggregate. Wydad AC won 5–4 on penalties.

Final

The first leg was played on 5 November, and the second leg was played on 12 November 2023.[1]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Wydad AC Morocco 2–3 South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 2–1 0–2
Wydad AC Morocco2–1South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns
 Report
Attendance: 45,000
Referee: Mahmood Ismail (Sudan)
Mamelodi Sundowns South Africa2–0Morocco Wydad AC
 Report
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)

Mamelodi Sundowns won 3–2 on aggregate.

Top goalscorers

  Team eliminated / inactive for the round.
Rank Player Team QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2 F1 F2 Total
1 South Africa Thapelo Maseko South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 11 2
Egypt Mahmoud Kahraba Egypt Al Ahly 11
Mali Sadio Kanouté Tanzania Simba 11
4 Morocco Yahia Attiyat Allah Morocco Wydad AC 1 1
Morocco Hicham Boussefiane Morocco Wydad AC 1
Morocco Ayoub El Amloud Morocco Wydad AC 1
Morocco Jamal Harkass Morocco Wydad AC 1
Morocco Yahya Jabrane Morocco Wydad AC 1
Morocco Anas Serrhat Morocco Wydad AC 1
Chile Marcelo Allende South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 1
Morocco Abdelmounaim Boutouil South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 1
Namibia Peter Shalulile South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 1
South Africa Aubrey Modiba South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns 1
Morocco Reda Slim Egypt Al Ahly 1
Algeria Mohamed Amine Tougai Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 1
Brazil Rodrigo Rodrigues Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 1
Tunisia Oussama Bouguerra Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 1
Tunisia Ghaith Ouahabi Tunisia Espérance de Tunis 1
Mali Cheick Oumar Abdallah Fofana Democratic Republic of the Congo TP Mazembe 1
Tanzania Kibu Denis Tanzania Simba 1

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "The inaugural African Football League (AFL) kicks off in October 2023 and will be preceded by official draw on Saturday 2 September 2023". Confederation of African Football. 29 August 2023.
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