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).
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 20 October – 12 November 2023 |
| Teams | 8 (from 8 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Mamelodi Sundowns (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Wydad AC |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 14 |
| Goals scored | 24 (1.71 per match) |
| Attendance | 547,000 (39,071 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Thapelo Maseko Mahmoud Kahraba Sadio Kanouté(2 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Thapelo Maseko |
| Best goalkeeper | Ronwen Williams |
2024–25 → | |
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
editThe 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
editThe 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
editEach 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
editThe African Football League involved 8 teams chosen by the CAF[how?] to enter the tournament.
| Pot 2 | Pot 1 |
|---|---|
Bracket
editThe 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 | |||||||||||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | 0 | 1 (5) | |||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 1 (4) | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| 0 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
editThe 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. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simba |
3–3 (a) | 2–2 | 1–1 | |
| TP Mazembe |
1–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | |
| Enyimba |
0–4 | 0–1 | 0–3 | |
| Petro de Luanda |
0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 |
3–3 on aggregate. Al Ahly won on away goals.
| TP Mazembe | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Espérance de Tunis | 3–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Espérance de Tunis won 3–1 on aggregate.
| Wydad AC | 3–0 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Wydad AC won 4–0 on aggregate.
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Mamelodi Sundowns won 2–0 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
editThe first legs were played on 29 October, and the second legs were played on 1 November 2023.[1]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mamelodi Sundowns |
1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Wydad AC |
1–1 (5–4 p) | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
| Al Ahly | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Mamelodi Sundowns won 1–0 on aggregate.
| Wydad AC | 1–0 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
1–1 on aggregate. Wydad AC won 5–4 on penalties.
Final
editThe first leg was played on 5 November, and the second leg was played on 12 November 2023.[1]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wydad AC |
2–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 2–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Mamelodi Sundowns won 3–2 on aggregate.
Top goalscorers
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
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