The 2018–19 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2018–19 Total CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 16th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), under the current CAF Confederation Cup title after the merger of CAF Cup and African Cup Winners' Cup.
This season follows a transitional calendar which allows the CAF club competitions to switch from a February-to-November schedule to an August–to-May schedule, as per the decision of the CAF Executive Committee on 20 July 2017. It started in December 2018, right after the 2018 season has finished, and concluded in May 2019, before the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (which has been switched from January/February to June/July).
Zamalek won the title for the first time, defeating RS Berkane in the final 5–3 on penalties after being tied 1–1 on aggregate, and earned the right to play against the winners of the 2018–19 CAF Champions League in the 2020 CAF Super Cup.
Raja Casablanca were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.
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. As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament (plus 16 teams eliminated from the CAF Champions League which enter the play-off round) – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2018–19 CAF Confederation Cup, the CAF uses the 2013–2017 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:
CAF Champions LeagueCAF Confederation CupWinners6 points5 pointsRunners-up5 points4 pointsLosing semi-finalists4 points3 pointsLosing quarter-finalists (from 2017)3 points2 points3rd place in groups2 points1 point4th place in groups1 point0.5 point
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows: 2017 – 5 2016 – 4 2015 – 3 2014 – 2 2013 – 1
Teams The following 55 teams from 43 associations entered the competition. Nine teams (in bold) received a bye to the first round. The other 46 teams entered the preliminary round.
Associations are shown according to their 2013–2017 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.
+Associations eligible to enter two teams (Ranked 1–12)AssociationTeamQualifying method Étoile du Sahel2017–18 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third placeCS Sfaxien2017–18 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 fourth place Al-Masry2017–18 Egyptian Premier League third placeZamalek2017–18 Egypt Cup winners DC Motema Pembe2017–18 Linafoot third placeAS Nyuki2018 Coupe du Congo DR winners Hassania Agadir2017–18 Botola third placeRS Berkane2018 Moroccan Throne Cup winnersRaja CasablancaTitle holders (2018 CAF Confederation Cup winners) NA Hussein Dey2017–18 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third placeUSM Bel Abbès2017–18 Algerian Cup winners Kaizer Chiefs2017–18 South African Premier Division third placeFree State Stars2017–18 Nedbank Cup winners El-Hilal El-Obeid2018 Sudan Premier League third placeAl-Ahly Shendi2018 Sudan Premier League fourth place Green Buffaloes2018 Zambia Super League third placeGreen Eagles2018 Zambia Super League fourth place Al-Ahli Tripoli2017–18 Libyan Premier League third placeAl-Ittihad2018 Libyan Cup winners New Star2018 Elite One fourth placeEding Sport2018 Cameroonian Cup finalists FC San Pédro2017–18 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 third placeStade d'Abidjan2018 Coupe de Côte d'Ivoire runners-up +Associations eligible to enter one teamAssociationTeamQualifying method Defence Force2018 Ethiopian Cup winners Enugu Rangers2018 Nigeria Federation Cup winners Diables Noirs2018 Coupe du Congo winners Djoliba2018 Malian Cup runners-up Petro de Luanda2018 Girabola runners-up Wakriya2018 Guinée Coupe Nationale runners-up Young Buffaloes2018 Swazi Cup winners KCCA2018 Uganda Cup winners Asante Kotoko2017 Ghanaian FA Cup winners Cercle Mbéri Sportif2018 Gabon Championnat National D1 runners-up Mtibwa Sugar2017–18 Tanzania FA Cup winnersOrapa United2017–18 Mascom Top 8 Cup runners-upSalitas2018 Coupe du Faso winnersVital'O2018 Burundian Cup winnersAnges de Fatima2018 Central African Republic League runners-upAS CotonTchad2018 Chad Premier League runners-upMiracle Club2018 Comoros Cup winnersArta/Solar72018 Djibouti Cup losing semi-finalistsDeportivo Unidad2018 Equatoguinean Primera División runners-upArmed Forces2018 Gambian Cup winnersKariobangi Sharks2018 FKF President's Cup winnersLISCR2018 Liberian FA Cup runners-upASSM Elgeco Plus2018 Coupe de Madagascar winnersSilver Strikers2017 Malawi Premier Division third placeNouakchott King's2018 Coupe du Président de la République runners-upAS GNN2018 Niger Cup winnersMukura Victory Sports2018 Rwandan Cup winnersGénération Foot2018 Senegal FA Cup winnersNorthern Dynamo2017 Seychelles League Cup winnersAl-Merreikh Juba2018 South Sudan National Cup winnersGomido2018 Coupe du Togo winnersZimamoto2017–18 Zanzibar Premier League runners-up
A further 15 teams (one fewer than usual) eliminated from the 2018–19 CAF Champions League enter the play-off round.
+ ASC Diaraf Ittihad Tanger Coton Sport ZESCO United African Stars Al-Ahly Benghazi Gor Mahia Nkana Jimma Aba Jifar Vipers Stade Malien Bantu Al-Hilal Al-Nasr AS Otohô
Notes
Associations which did not enter a team
Associations which did not enter a team initially, but had a team transferred from Champions League
Schedule The schedule of the competition is as follows (matches scheduled in midweek in italics). Effective from the Confederation Cup group stage, weekend matches are played on Sundays while midweek matches are played on Wednesdays, with some exceptions. Kick-off times are also fixed at 13:00, 16:00 and 19:00 GMT.
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingPreliminary round3 November 2018(Rabat, Morocco)27–28 November 20184–5 December 2018First round14–16 December 201821–23 December 2018Play-off round28 December 2018(Cairo, Egypt)11–13 January 201918–20 January 2019Group stageMatchday 121 January 2019(Cairo, Egypt)3 February 2019Matchday 213 February 2019Matchday 324 February 2019Matchday 43 March 2019Matchday 510 March 2019Matchday 617 March 2019Knockout stageQuarter-finals20 March 2019(Cairo, Egypt)7 April 201914 April 2019Semi-finals28 April 20195 May 2019Final19 May 201926 May 2019
Qualifying rounds
Preliminary round
First round
Play-off round
Group stage
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage. Tiebreakers Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerTeam Total1 Waleed Al-Shoala Al-Hilal11 112 172 Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba RS Berkane 2 1 1 1163 Mouhcine Iajour Raja Casablanca1 2 14 Jacques Tuyisenge Gor Mahia2 1 1 5 Issoufou Dayo RS Berkane 1 1 1 3 Ibrahim Hassan Zamalek2 1 Lazarous Kambole ZESCO United1 11 Ronald Kampamba Nkana 2 1 Alaeddine Marzouki CS Sfaxien 1 11 Freddy Tshimenga Nkana 11 1
See also 2018–19 CAF Champions League 2020 CAF Super Cup
References
External links Total Confederation Cup 2018/2019, CAFonline.com