CAF Champions League 2026/27: Algeria's road and the betting markets
The CAF Champions League is Africa's biggest club competition ⚽. Run by the Confederation of African Football, it began in 1964 as the African Cup of Champions Clubs and took its current name in 1997. The 2026/27 edition, the 63rd, started with 61 clubs.
The road to the title runs through two preliminary rounds played over two legs, then a 16-club group stage with four groups of four and six matchdays. Quarter-finals and semi-finals are also two-legged, before the final in May 2027. The three clubs with the highest CAF ranking skip the first round: holders Mamelodi Sundowns, Espérance de Tunis and RS Berkane.
The 2026/27 schedule, round by round
The preliminary-round draw took place in Cairo on 6 August 2026. CAF sets a three-day window for each match, then publishes exact dates and kick-off times one round at a time:
Round | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
First preliminary round | 4 to 6 September 2026 | 11 to 13 September 2026 |
Second preliminary round | 16 to 18 October 2026 | 23 to 25 October 2026 |
Group stage | matchday 1, 27 to 29 November 2026 | matchday 6, 22 to 24 January 2027 |
Quarter-finals | 26 to 28 February 2027 | 5 to 7 March 2027 |
Semi-finals | 9 to 11 April 2027 | 16 to 18 April 2027 |
Final | between 9 and 31 May 2027 | format and venue not yet announced |
The 16 second-round winners go into the group stage, whose other matchdays fall on 4 to 6 and 18 to 20 December 2026, then 8 to 10 and 15 to 17 January 2027. The date of the group draw has not been announced. In 2025/26, the top two in each group reached the quarter-finals.
MC Alger, Algeria's last club standing
Algerian champions in 2025/26 with 65 points, ten more than JS Saoura, MC Alger were among the ten seeds of the first round. They drew 0:0 with ASN Nigelec in Niamey on 6 September, then won 5:0 at the Ali-La-Pointe stadium in Douéra on 12 September. Their second-round opponents are Rangers International, champions of Nigeria: first leg in Abeokuta between 16 and 18 October, return in Algiers between 23 and 25 October, with a group-stage place for the winner. Getting through would give MC Alger a second straight season among the continent's last 16 clubs. Nigeria is on UTC+1, the same time as Algeria, so the first leg can be followed without any time difference.
Last season MC Alger finished third in Group C on 7 points, losing 0:2 to Mamelodi Sundowns on the final matchday, while JS Kabylie went out in Group B. The club already has its place in the competition's history: in 1976 it became the first Algerian winner. Algeria has five titles in all, with JS Kabylie in 1981 and 1990 and ES Sétif in 1988 and 2014.
JS Saoura, runners-up in the 2025/26 league, went out in the first round: a 1:0 win over Horoya AC in Oran on 4 September, then a 1:3 defeat in Conakry on 13 September, 2:3 on aggregate. USM Alger and CR Belouizdad play in the Confederation Cup instead. USM Alger won it in 2025/26 against Zamalek, 1:0 in Algiers and 0:1 in Cairo, then 8-7 on penalties, their second title after 2023. As a result, USM Alger will face Mamelodi Sundowns in the 2026 CAF Super Cup, a single match.
The holders and the rest of the field
Mamelodi Sundowns defend the title they won in May 2026, the second in their history after 2016. In the final, the South African club beat AS FAR over two legs: 1:0 in Pretoria on 17 May, through a goal from Aubrey Modiba, and 1:1 in Rabat on 24 May. Behind record holders Al Ahly, Zamalek and TP Mazembe have five titles each. The field also includes Espérance de Tunis, Pyramids, winners of the 2024/25 edition, and the Moroccan clubs MAS de Fès and RS Berkane.
Betting on CAF Champions League from Algeria
Every game has its own pre-match page, open before kick-off, with 1X2, double chance, total goals, both teams to score and handicap. In a two-legged tie, the second leg is read in the light of the first, because the aggregate score decides who goes through. Outright bets cover the overall winner until the final in May 2027, so a position taken before the group stage stays open for the whole campaign.
During games, live football betting follows the score. The Football section gathers the other competitions, from the Algerian league to the European leagues, and the full sports schedule lets you add an African fixture to an accumulator with other games.
The account runs in Algerian dinars (DZD) 💳. Deposits and withdrawals go through BaridiMob or RedotPay, with Binance Pay or USDT for crypto. A 1xBet account opened in advance lets you bet on every round, from the second preliminary round to the final.