CAFCL: Coton Sport Drawn In The Same Group With Al Ahly & Sundowns.

Cameroon champions Coton Sport of Garoua have been drawn in group B of the CAF champions league group stage draw – alongside 10-time African champions Al Ahly, South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Hilal of Omdurman.

The 17-time Cameroon champions are making their return to the CAF champions league after five years. That year, their adventure at the group stage ended in a fiasco as they finished bottom in a group that had Zanaco, Wydad, and Al Ahly.

Their best performance in the competition was in 2008 when there were runners-up to Al Ahly – but their last impact in a Caf interclub competition was in the Caf Confed Cup where they finished in the final four.

Al Ahly of Egypt has always been a favourite in the competition – having won it a record 10 times but could have won their 11th title last term – suffered a defeat to Wydad Athletic Club – which led to former coach Pitso Mosimane parting ways with the club.

Mamelodi Sundowns are also a top seed in the group as they last won the competition six years ago. The 12-time South African champions had a sublime performance in last season’s group stage as they were unbeaten in the same group with Al Ahly – but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Petro de Luanda.

Al Hilal of Sudan is a historic name in African football – having won the competition twice in 1987 and 1992 but have never crossed the group stage since the 2018/19 season.

Complete Group Stage Draw

Group A:

🇲🇦 Wydad AC
🇦🇴 Petro de Luanda
🇩🇿 JS Kabylie
🇨🇩 AS Vita Club

Group B:

🇪🇬 Al Ahly
🇿🇦 Mamelodi Sundowns
🇸🇩 Al Hilal
🇨🇲 Coton Sport

Group C:

🇲🇦 Raja CA
🇬🇳 Horoya
🇹🇿 Simba SC
🇺🇬 Vipers SC

Group D:

🇹🇳 Esperance
🇪🇬 Zamalek
🇩🇿 CR Belouizdad
🇸🇩 Al Merrikh SC

#TotalEnergiesCAFCL

It should be noted that the group stage will be played on a home-and-away basis and the first-leg matches are expected to start on February 10 and run till April 2023.