The 2018–19 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2018–19 Total CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons)[1] 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.[2] 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).[3]
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.[4]
Raja Casablanca were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.
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.[4] 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:[5][6][7]
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
The following 55 teams from 43 associations entered the competition.
Associations are shown according to their 2013–2017 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.[8]
A further 15 teams (one fewer than usual) eliminated from the 2018–19 CAF Champions League enter the play-off round.
The schedule of the competition is as follows (matches scheduled in midweek in italics).[17] 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.[18]
The draw for the preliminary round and first round was held on 3 November 2018 in Rabat, Morocco, and was officially announced by the CAF on 9 November due to a special situation with the transitional calendar.[22][23][24]
In the qualifying rounds, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14).[4]
Notes:
As there were 16 winners of the Confederation Cup first round, but only 15 losers of the Champions League first round for this season, the winners of the first round with the best CAF 5-year ranking (in bold italics) advanced directly to the group stage.[27] The remaining 15 winners of the first round advanced to the play-off round, where they were joined by the 15 losers of the Champions League first round.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 28 December 2018, 18:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the Nile Ritz-Carlton in Cairo, Egypt.[28][29] The winners of the Confederation Cup first round were drawn against the losers of the Champions League first round, with the teams from the Confederation Cup hosting the second leg.[30] The 15 winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join Étoile du Sahel, who advanced directly to the group stage as the winners of the first round with the best CAF 5-year ranking.
The draw for the group stage was held on 21 January 2019, 12:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[31][32] The 16 teams, including the winners of the first round with the best CAF 5-year ranking, Étoile du Sahel, and the 15 winners of the play-off round of qualifying, were drawn into four groups of four.[33]
The teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons (CAF 5-year ranking points shown in parentheses). Each group contained one team from each of Pot 1 and Pot 2, and two teams from Pot 3, and each team was drawn into one of the positions in their group.
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.
In the knockout stage, the eight teams play a single-elimination tournament. Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, the away goals rule will be applied, and if still tied, extra time will not be played, and the penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 26 & 27).[4]
The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals and semi-finals), which was held on 20 March 2019, 19:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the Marriot Hotel in Cairo, Egypt.[34][35]
In the quarter-finals, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group (teams from same group could not play each other), with the group winners hosting the second leg, and the matchups decided by draw.
In the semi-finals, the four quarter-final winners played in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw.
In the final, the two semi-final winners play each other, with the order of legs determined by the semi-final draw.
1–1 on aggregate. Zamalek won 5–3 on penalties.
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