Stat attack: TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup
Numbers you might not know. This week we turn the spotlight onto the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup.
3 – The number of times Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien have won the competition, more than any other club. They had back-to-back success in 2007 and 2008 and again in 2013. The Swiss coach Michel Decastel was in charge in 2008, Ghazi Ghrairi in 2008 and former Netherlands FIFA World Cup captain Ruud Krol in 2013. They were runners-up in 2010. This season Sfaxien are back in the competition but have lost their opening three Group A matches.
5 – The number of different clubs from Morocco to win the competition, which is a record. The first was FAR Rabat in the second edition in 2005, followed by FUS Rabat in 2010 and Maghreb Fes the following year. Raja Casablanca won in both 2018 and 2021 and Renaissance Berkane in 2020 and 2022. This season, RS Berkane are leaders at the halfway stage of the group competition.
16 - The most goals scored in a single edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup came in 2009 when Abdelmalek Ziaya netted in every round of the competition, including two in the final, as ES Setif finished runners-up to Stade Malien. Ziaya scored both semi-final goals against Bayelsa United of Nigeria, seven in the group stage and another five in the three preliminary rounds.
22 – This season’s competition is the 22nd in the history of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup, introduced in 2004 as a merger of the African Cup Winners’ Cup and the Confédération Africaine de Football Cup. CAF invited a wide range of experts to consult about the annual club competition and eventually settled on two competitions instead of three. Entry to the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup is first for cup winners and then runners-up in the domestic championship.
24 – The record for the number of different clubs from a single country to have competed in the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup is held by Nigeria, with 24 representatives since 2004. Enugu Rangers and Enyimba have participated six times with both going onto reach the group stage. Bayelsa United, Dolphins, Kaduna United, Kwara United, Rivers United and Sunshine Stars have also all progressed to the group stage. Nigeria’s best performance came in 2005 when Dolphins were runners-up. The club has since merged to form Rivers United.