2015 CAF Confederation Cup

2015 CAF Confederation Cup

2015 Orange CAF Confederation Cup
Tournament details
Dates	13 February – 29 November 2015
Teams	55+8 (from 43 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Étoile du Sahel (2nd title)
Runners-up	Orlando Pirates
Tournament statistics
Matches played	138
Goals scored	341 (2.47 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Baghdad Bounedjah Georges Ambourouet Thamsanqa Gabuza (6 goals each)

The 2015 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2015 Orange CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, Africa's secondary club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The winner earned the right to play in the 2016 CAF Super Cup.^[1]

Étoile du Sahel of Tunisia won the competition for the second time in their history after a 2–1 aggregate victory over Orlando Pirates of South Africa in the final. Al-Ahly were the defending champions, and after qualifying for the 2015 CAF Champions League, they entered the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup after they lost in the Champions League second round, but they were eliminated in the semi-finals.

Association team allocation

All 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Confederation Cup, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-Year Ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition. The title holders can also enter if they have not qualified for the CAF Champions League.^[1] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 69 teams could enter the tournament (plus eight teams eliminated from the CAF Champions League which enter the play-off round) – although this level has never been reached.

For the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup, the CAF uses the 2009–2013 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:^[2]

	CAF Champions League	CAF Confederation Cup
Winner	5 points	4 points
Runner-up	4 points	3 points
Losing semi-finalists	3 points	2 points
3rd place in groups	2 points	1 point
4th place in groups	1 point	1 point

The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:

• 2013 – 5
• 2012 – 4
• 2011 – 3
• 2010 – 2
• 2009 – 1

Teams

The following 63 teams from 43 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 2009–2013 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.^[3]

Association	Team	Qualifying method
Associations eligible to enter two teams (Ranked 1–12)
Tunisia (1st – 106 pts)	Étoile du Sahel	2013–14 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third place
	Club Africain	2013–14 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 fourth place
Egypt (2nd – 80 pts)	Zamalek	2013–14 Egyptian Premier League third place
	Petrojet	2013–14 Egyptian Premier League fourth place
Congo DR (3rd – 46 pts)	AS Vita Club	2013–14 Linafoot third place
	MK Étanchéité	2014 Coupe du Congo winner
Morocco (4th – 44 pts)	FUS Rabat	2013–14 Botola third place
	RS Berkane	2014 Coupe du Trône runner-up
Nigeria (5th – 41 pts)	Warri Wolves	2014 Nigeria Professional Football League third place
	Dolphins	2014 Nigerian FA Cup runner-up
Sudan (6th – 37 pts)	Al-Ahly Shendi	2014 Sudan Premier League third place
	Al-Khartoum	2014 Sudan Premier League fourth place
Algeria (T-7th – 32 pts)	ASO Chlef	2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 eighth place
	MC Alger	2013–14 Algerian Cup winner
Mali (T-7th – 32 pts)	Onze Créateurs	2014 Malian Cup winner
	Djoliba	2014 Malian Cup runner-up
Cameroon (T-9th – 21 pts)	Unisport Bafang	2014 Elite One third place
	Panthère du Ndé	2014 Cameroonian Cup runner-up
Congo (T-9th – 21 pts)	Étoile du Congo	2014 Congo Premier League fifth place before abandoned
	CARA Brazzaville	2014 Coupe du Congo de football runner-up
South Africa (11th – 20 pts)	Bidvest Wits	2013–14 South African Premier Division third place
	Orlando Pirates	2013–14 Nedbank Cup winner
Angola (12th – 17 pts)	Benfica de Luanda	2014 Girabola third place
	Petro de Luanda	2014 Taça de Angola runner-up
Associations eligible to enter one team
Côte d'Ivoire (13th – 13 pts)	ASEC Mimosas	2014 Coupe de Côte d'Ivoire de football winner
Ghana (14th – 8 pts)	Hearts of Oak	2013–14 Ghanaian Premier League third place
Ethiopia (15th – 5 pts)	Dedebit	2014 Ethiopian Cup winner
Libya (T-16th – 4 pts)	Al-Ittihad	2013–14 Libyan Premier League runner-up
Zambia (T-16th – 4 pts)	Power Dynamos	2014 Zambian Premier League runner-up
Zimbabwe (18th – 3 pts)	FC Platinum	2014 Cup of Zimbabwe winner
Niger (19th – 2 pts)	Sahel SC	2014 Niger Cup winner
Benin	AS Police	2014 Benin Cup winner
Botswana	Botswana Defence Force	2013–14 Mascom Top 8 Cup winner
Burkina Faso	RC Bobo	2014 Coupe du Faso winner
Burundi	Le Messager Ngozi	2014 Burundian Cup runner-up
Chad	Elect-Sport	2014 Coupe de Ligue de N'Djaména finalist
Comoros	Volcan Club	2014 Comoros Cup winner
Equatorial Guinea	Leones Vegetarianos	2014 Equatoguinean Cup winner
Gabon	CF Mounana	2013–14 Gabon Championnat National D1 runner-up
Guinea	Horoya	2014 Guinée Coupe Nationale winner
Kenya	Sofapaka	2014 FKF President's Cup winner
Liberia	Fassell	2013–14 Liberian Cup winner
Madagascar	ASSM Elgeco Plus	2014 Coupe de Madagascar winner
Mauritius	Petite Rivière Noire	2014 Mauritian Cup winner
Mozambique	Ferroviário da Beira	2014 Taça de Moçambique winner
Rwanda	Rayon Sports	2013–14 Rwanda National Football League runner-up
Senegal	Olympique de Ngor	2014 Senegal FA Cup runner-up
Seychelles	Côte d'Or	2014 Seychelles FA Cup runner-up
Sierra Leone	Kamboi Eagles	2014 Sierra Leonean FA Cup winner
South Sudan	Al-Ghazal	2014 South Sudan National Cup runner-up
Swaziland	Royal Leopards	2014 Swazi Cup winner
Tanzania	Young Africans	2013–14 Tanzanian Premier League runner-up
Togo	AS Togo-Port	2014 Togolese Championnat National runner-up
Uganda	URA	2013–14 Uganda Cup winner
Zanzibar	Polisi SC	2013–14 Zanzibar Premier League runner-up

Teams entering the play-off round

Team	Qualifying method
AS Kaloum	Losers of the 2015 CAF Champions League second round
SM Sanga Balende
Espérance de Tunis
CS Sfaxien
AC Léopards
Al-Ahly
Raja Casablanca
Stade Malien

Associations that did not enter a team
Cape Verde Central African Republic Djibouti Eritrea Gambia Guinea-Bissau Lesotho Malawi Mauritania Namibia Réunion São Tomé and Príncipe Somalia

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws are held at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt).^[4]

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying	Preliminary round	22 December 2014[5]	13–15 February 2015	27 February–1 March 2015
	First round		13–15 March 2015	3–5 April 2015
	Second round		17–19 April 2015	1–3 May 2015
	Play-off round	5 May 2015[6]	15–17 May 2015	5–7 June 2015
Group stage	Matchday 1		26–28 June 2015
	Matchday 2		10–12 July 2015
	Matchday 3		24–26 July 2015
	Matchday 4		7–9 August 2015
	Matchday 5		21–23 August 2015
	Matchday 6		11–13 September 2015
Knock-out stage	Semi-finals		25–27 September 2015	2–4 October 2015
	Final		20–22 November 2015	27–29 November 2015

Qualifying rounds

The draw for the preliminary, first and second qualifying rounds was held on 22 December 2014.^[7]

Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).^[1]

Preliminary round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
MC Alger	0–2	Sahel SC	0–0	0–2
RS Berkane	2–2 (a)	Onze Créateurs	2–1	0–1
Al-Ittihad	7–1	Elect-Sport	6–1	1–0
Al-Ghazal	1–7	Petrojet	0–1	1–6
Unisport Bafang	2–3	Olympique de Ngor	1–0	1–3
Hearts of Oak	1–0	AS Police	1–0	0–0
ASO Chlef	2–1	Kamboi Eagles	2–0	0–1
Horoya	4–3	Fassell	1–0	3–3
Leones Vegetarianos	1–1 (3–5 p)	Dolphins	1–0	0–1
Côte d'Or	2–5	Dedebit	2–3	0–2
RC Bobo	0–4	Warri Wolves	0–1	0–3
Étoile du Congo	2–3	MK Étanchéité	1–2	1–1
Panthère du Ndé	0–2	Rayon Sports	0–1	0–1
AS Togo-Port	5–3	CARA Brazzaville	2–0	3–3
Al-Khartoum	1–2	Power Dynamos	1–0	0–2
CF Mounana	8–1	Polisi	5–0	3–1
URA	4–2	ASSM Elgeco Plus	3–2	1–0
Sofapaka	2–4	FC Platinum	1–2	1–2
Young Africans	3–2	Botswana Defence Force	2–0	1–2
Benfica de Luanda	3–0	Le Messager Ngozi	2–0	1–0
Volcan Club	0–5	Petro de Luanda	0–1	0–4
Bidvest Wits	3–3 (6–7 p)	Royal Leopards	3–0	0–3
Petite Rivière Noire	3–7	Ferroviário da Beira	1–2	2–5

First round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Onze Créateurs	2–1	Sahel SC	2–1	0–0
ASEC Mimosas	3–2	Al-Ittihad	1–1	2–1
Djoliba	2–1	Petrojet	2–1	0–0
Hearts of Oak	5–3	Olympique de Ngor	2–1	3–2
Horoya	1–1 (3–5 p)	ASO Chlef	1–0	0–1
Club Africain	w/o^[A]	Dolphins	—	—
Warri Wolves	2–0	Dedebit	2–0	0–0
Al-Ahly Shendi	3–6	MK Étanchéité	2–1	1–5
Zamalek	6–1	Rayon Sports	3–1	3–0
FUS Rabat	4–2	AS Togo-Port	3–0	1–2
CF Mounana	4–3	Power Dynamos	4–0	0–3
Orlando Pirates	4–3	URA	2–1	2–2
Young Africans	5–2	FC Platinum	5–1	0–1
Étoile du Sahel	2–1	Benfica de Luanda	1–0	1–1
Royal Leopards	3–2	Petro de Luanda	2–2	1–0
AS Vita Club	3–1	Ferroviário da Beira	3–0	0–1

Notes

1. ^ Club Africain won on walkover after Dolphins did not arrive on time for the first leg.^[8][9]

Second round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Onze Créateurs	0–3	ASEC Mimosas	0–1	0–2
Djoliba	2–2 (a)	Hearts of Oak	1–2	1–0
ASO Chlef	1–2	Club Africain	1–1	0–1
Warri Wolves	3–1	MK Étanchéité	2–1	1–0
Zamalek	3–2	FUS Rabat	0–0	3–2
CF Mounana	2–5	Orlando Pirates	2–2	0–3
Young Africans	1–2	Étoile du Sahel	1–1	0–1
Royal Leopards	2–4	AS Vita Club	1–0	1–4

Play-off round

The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 May 2015.^[10] The winners of the Confederation Cup second round were drawn against the losers of the Champions League second round, with the former hosting the second leg.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Ahly	3–3 (5–4 p)	Club Africain	2–1	1–2
Espérance de Tunis	5–1	Hearts of Oak	4–0	1–1
AC Léopards	4–3	Warri Wolves	3–0	1–3
CS Sfaxien	3–1	ASEC Mimosas	2–0	1–1
Stade Malien	4–3	AS Vita Club	2–0	2–3
AS Kaloum	1–6	Orlando Pirates	0–2	1–4
SM Sanga Balende	2–3	Zamalek	1–0	1–3
Raja Casablanca	2–3	Étoile du Sahel	2–0	0–3

Group stage

Léopards

Al-Ahly

Zamalek

Stade M.

Orlando P.

Espérance

Étoile

CS Sfaxien

Location of teams of the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup group stage.
Group A.
Group B.

The draw for the group stage was held on 5 May 2015.^[10] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four. Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order:^[1]

1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
4. Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
5. If, after applying criteria 1 to 4 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 9 apply;
6. Goal difference in all games;
7. Goals scored in all games;
8. Away goals scored in all games;
9. Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AHL	ESS	STA	EST
1	Al-Ahly	6	4	1	1	6	1	+5	13	Advance to knock-out stage		—	1–0	1–0	3–0
2	Étoile du Sahel	6	4	1	1	6	3	+3	13			1–0	—	1–0	2–1
3	Stade Malien	6	1	2	3	3	5	−2	5			0–0	1–1	—	0–1
4	Espérance de Tunis	6	1	0	5	3	9	−6	3			0–1	0–1	1–2	—

Source: CAF

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZAM	ORL	LEO	CSS
1	Zamalek	6	5	0	1	12	4	+8	15	Advance to knock-out stage		—	4–1	2–0	1–0
2	Orlando Pirates	6	4	0	2	8	6	+2	12			1–2	—	2–0	2–0
3	AC Léopards	6	1	2	3	2	6	−4	5			1–0	0–1	—	0–0
4	CS Sfaxien	6	0	2	4	2	8	−6	2			1–3	0–1	1–1	—

Source: CAF

Knock-out stage

Knock-out ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).^[1]

Bracket

	Semi-finals							Final
	Orlando Pirates		1	4	5
	Al-Ahly		0	3	3
								Orlando Pirates		1	0	1
								Étoile du Sahel		1	1	2
	Étoile du Sahel		5	0	5
	Zamalek		1	3	4

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the group A winners played the group B runners-up, and the group B winners played the group A runners-up, with the group winners hosting the second leg.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Orlando Pirates	5–3	Al-Ahly	1–0	4–3
Étoile du Sahel	5–4	Zamalek	5–1	0–3

Final

In the final, the order of legs was determined by a draw, held after the group stage draw.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Orlando Pirates	1–2	Étoile du Sahel	1–1	0–1

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Georges Ambourouet	CF Mounana	6
	Thamsanqa Gabuza	Orlando Pirates	6
	Baghdad Bounedjah	Étoile du Sahel	6
4	Firmin Ndombe Mubele	AS Vita Club	5
	Gbolahan Salami	Warri Wolves	5
	Kermit Erasmus	Orlando Pirates	5
	Ammar Jemal	Étoile du Sahel	5
8	Kabangu Kadima	MK Étanchéité	4
	Kahraba	Zamalek	4
	Oupa Manyisa	Orlando Pirates	4
	Thabo Rakhale	Orlando Pirates	4

See also

• 2015 CAF Champions League
• 2016 CAF Super Cup

References

1. "Regulations of the CAF Confederation Cup" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
2. "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
3. "Two South African clubs for each Interclub Competition". CAF. 29 November 2014.
4. "CAF Full Calendar". CAFonline.com. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
5. "Draws made for 2015 Orange Champions League, Confederations Cup". CAF. 22 December 2014.
6. "Twitter @CAF_Online". CAF. 30 April 2015.
7. "12th Edition of CAF Confederation Cup CC 2015" (PDF). CAF.
8. "Dolphins bundled out of Caf Confederation Cup". Goal.com. 14 March 2015.
9. "Dolphins Eliminated". CAF. 19 March 2015.
10. "Live report: CAF Interclubs draw". CAFonline.com. 5 May 2015.

External links

• Orange CAF Confederation Cup 2015, CAFonline.com