The draw for the two preliminary rounds of the 2026-27 CAF Champions League will take place on Thursday, with Mamelodi Sundowns, Esperance Tunis and RS Berkane expected to be exempted from the opening round.
The ceremony will be held at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) headquarters in Cairo and is scheduled to begin at 15:00 local time. That is 12:00 GMT and 14:00 in France. It will be broadcast live on CAF TV.
The draw will establish the route to the group stage and officially launch a campaign that could be more open than usual, with several of the competition’s most familiar names absent.
For the first time in 23 years, record 12-time winners Al Ahly will not take part in the CAF Champions League. AS FAR Rabat, runners-up in the previous edition, also failed to qualify, while Wydad Casablanca and Raja Casablanca will likewise be missing after falling short through their respective domestic championships.
Despite those absences, a number of leading African clubs remain in contention.
TP Mazembe, five-time winners of the competition, return to the continental stage after missing out last season. The club will be aiming to re-establish itself among Africa’s elite.
Defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns will begin the campaign looking to retain their crown. RS Berkane and Esperance Tunis, both semi-finalists last season, are also expected to be among the strongest teams in the field.
Pyramids FC, African champions in 2025, will be seeking a response after being knocked out in the quarter-finals of the previous campaign. ASEC Mimosas, quarter-finalists in 2024, will also enter the competition hoping to recover from last season’s first-round preliminary exit.
According to the latest projections, only three clubs are likely to receive a bye into the second preliminary round. Mamelodi Sundowns, Esperance Tunis and RS Berkane are the leading candidates, although CAF must formally confirm the allocation before the draw begins.
All other participating teams will have to negotiate two knockout rounds to reach the group stage. The winners of those ties will make up the 16-team group-stage line-up.
The competition also carries significant financial rewards. The eventual CAF Champions League winners will receive $6m (£4.5m), while clubs eliminated in the preliminary rounds will be paid a $100,000 solidarity allowance.
CAF introduced that payment to provide financial support to teams involved in its inter-club competitions, many of whom face considerable costs while travelling and competing in the early stages.
The draw therefore represents more than the first step in determining the sporting route to the title. It will also reveal which clubs face the toughest opening assignments, and which of the leading contenders are given a potentially valuable advantage by avoiding the first preliminary round.
