2021–22 CAF Champions League
The 2021–22 CAF Champions League (officially the 2021–22 Total CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)[1] is the 57th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 25th edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
| 2021–22 Total CAF Champions League | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | Qualifying: Competition proper: |
| Teams | Competition proper: 16 Total: 54 (from 42 associations) |
The winners of the 2021–22 CAF Champions League will qualify and earn the right to play against the winners of the 2021–22 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2022–23 CAF Super Cup.[2]
Association team allocation
All 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-Year Ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition.[2] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2020–21 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2016–2020 CAF 5-Year Ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over those 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup. The criteria for points are the following:[3][4][5]
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Winners | 6 points | 5 points |
| Runners-up | 5 points | 4 points |
| Losing semi-finalists | 4 points | 3 points |
| Losing quarter-finalists (from 2017) | 3 points | 2 points |
| 3rd place in groups | 2 points | 1 point |
| 4th place in groups | 1 point | 0.5 point |
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
- 2020–21: x 6
- 2019–20: × 5
- 2018–19: × 4
- 2018: × 3
- 2017: × 2
- 2016: × 1
Teams
The following 54 teams from 42 associations entered the competition.
- Teams in bold received a bye to the first round.
- The other teams entered the preliminary round.
Associations are shown according to their 2016–2020 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score (in parentheses) indicated.
| Association | Rank (Pts) | Team | Qualifying method |
|---|---|---|---|
 Morocco |
1 (190) | 2020–21 Botola champions | |
| 2020–21 Botola runners-up | |||
 Egypt |
2 (167) | 2020–21 Egyptian Premier League champions | |
| 2020–21 Egyptian Premier League runners-up | |||
 Tunisia |
3 (140) | 2020–21 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions | |
| 2020–21 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up | |||
 DR Congo |
4 (83) | 2020–21 Linafoot champions | |
| 2020–21 Linafoot runners-up | |||
 Algeria |
5 (81) | 2020–21 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions | |
| 2020–21 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up | |||
 South Africa |
6 (68.5) | 2020–21 South African Premier Division champions | |
| 2020–21 South African Premier Division runners-up | |||
 Zambia |
7 (43) | 2020–21 Zambian Super League champions | |
| 2020–21 Zambian Super League runners-up | |||
 Nigeria |
8 (39) | 2020–21 Nigeria Professional Football League champions | |
| 2020–21 Nigeria Professional Football League runners-up | |||
 Guinea |
9 (38) | 2020–21 Guinée Championnat National champions | |
| 2020–21 Guinée Championnat National runners-up | |||
 Angola |
10 (36) | 2020–21 Girabola champions | |
| 2020–21 Girabola runners-up | |||
 Sudan |
11 (29.5) | 2020–21 Sudan Premier League champions | |
| 2020–21 Sudan Premier League runners-up | |||
 Libya |
12 (16.5) | 2020–21 Libyan Premier League champions | |
| 2021–21 Libyan Premier League runners-up |
| Association | Rank (Pts) | Team | Qualifying method |
|---|---|---|---|
 Tanzania |
13 (14) | 2020–21 Tanzanian Premier League champions | |
 Ivory Coast |
14 (13) | 2020–21 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 champions[Note CIV] | |
 Kenya |
15 (11) | 2020–21 FKF Premier League champions[Note KEN] | |
 Zimbabwe |
15 (11) | 2020 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League champions | |
 Mozambique |
17 (9) | 2020 Moçambola champions | |
 Congo |
18 (8) | 2020–21 Congo Ligue 1 champions[Note CGO] | |
 Uganda |
18 (8) | 2020–21 Uganda Premier League champions[Note UGA] | |
 Ghana |
20 (6.5) | 2020 GFA Normalization Committee Special Competition Tier 1 winners[Note GHA] | |
 Mali |
20 (6.5) | 2020–21 Malian Première Division champions | |
 Rwanda |
22 (6) | 2020–21 Rwanda Premier League champions | |
 Eswatini |
23 (5) | 2020–21 Eswatini Premier League champions | |
 Ethiopia |
24 (4) | 2020–21 Ethiopian Premier League champions | |
 Botswana |
25 (3) | 2020–21 Botswana Premier League champions | |
 Togo |
25 (3) | 2020–21 Togolese Championnat National champions | |
 Benin |
27 (2.5) | 2020–21 Benin Premier League champions | |
 Mauritania |
27 (2.5) | 2020–21 Ligue 1 Mauritania champions | |
 Burkina Faso |
29 (2) | 2020–21 Burkinabé Premier League champions | |
 Cameroon |
29 (2) | 2020–21 Elite One champions | |
 Gabon |
31 (1) | ||
 Burundi |
— | 2020–21 Burundi Premier League champions | |
 Chad |
— | 2021 Chad Premier League champions | |
 Comoros |
— | 2021 Comoros Premier League champions | |
 Djibouti |
— | 2020–21 Djibouti Premier League champions | |
 Equatorial Guinea |
— | 2020–21 Equatoguinean Primera División champions | |
 Gambia |
— | 2020–21 GFA League First Division champions | |
 Lesotho |
— | 2020–21 Lesotho Premier League champions | |
 Niger |
— | 2020–21 Niger Premier League champions | |
 Senegal |
— | 2020–21 Senegal Premier League champions | |
 Somalia |
— | 2020–21 Somali First Division champions | |
 Zanzibar |
— | 2020–21 Zanzibar Premier League champions |
- "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAF. 21 July 2016.
- "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
- "16 Clubs for Group Phase of CC and CL effective 2017". CAF. 11 May 2016.
- "New adopted format for Club Competitions". CAF. 30 May 2016.
- "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.