The 2025–26 CAF Champions League knockout stage started on 13 March with the quarter-finals and ended on 24 May 2026 with the second leg of the final to decide the champions of the 2025–26 CAF Champions League. 8 teams competed in the knockout stage.
Times are local.
Round and draw dates The schedule was as follows.
RoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQuarter-finals17 February 202613–14 March 202620–21 March 2026Semi-finals10–11 April 202617–18 April 2026Final15 May 202624 May 2026
Format Each tie in the knockout phase was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If the away goals rule was also equal, then extra time was not played and the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out (Regulations III. 26 & 27).
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows: In the draw for the quarter-finals, the four group winners were seeded, and the four group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group could not be drawn against each other, while teams from the same association could be drawn against each other. In the draws for the semi-finals, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw.
Qualified teams The knockout stage involved the 8 teams qualifying as winners and runners-up of each of the four groups in the group stage.
GroupWinnersRunners-upA Pyramids RS BerkaneB Al Ahly AS FARC Al Hilal Mamelodi SundownsD Stade Malien Espérance de Tunis
Bracket The bracket of the knockout stage was determined as follows:
RoundMatchupsQuarter-finals(Group winners hosted the second leg, matchups decided by draw, teams from same group cannot play each other) QF1 QF2 QF3 QF4Semi-finals(Matchups and order of legs decided by draw, between winners QF1, QF2, QF3, QF4) SF1 SF2FinalWinners SF1 and SF2 faced each other in two legs to decide the champions
The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage, which was held on 17 February 2026, 12:00 GMT (12:00 local time, UTC+2), at the Egyptian Football Association headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 17 February 2026.
Summary The first legs were played on 13, 14, and 15 March, and the second legs were played on 21 and 22 March 2026.
Matches
RS Berkane won 2–1 on aggregate.
Espérance de Tunis won 4–2 on aggregate.
Mamelodi Sundowns won 3–2 on aggregate.
AS FAR won 3–2 on aggregate.
Semi-finals The draw for the semi-finals was held on 17 February 2026 (after the quarter-finals draw).
Summary The first legs were played on 11 and 12 April, and the second legs were played on 18 April 2026.
Matches
Mamelodi Sundowns won 2–0 on aggregate.
AS FAR won 2–1 on aggregate.
Final
The first leg was played on 17 May, and the second leg was played on 24 May 2025.
Mamelodi Sundowns won 2–1 on aggregate.
See also 2025–26 CAF Confederation Cup knockout stage
References
External links TotalEnergies CAF Champions League, CAFonline.com