The group stage of the 2023-24 CAF Champions League is complete following Saturday’s program which featured six matches from three groups. On Friday, Al Ahly of Egypt confirmed top spot in Group D and were joined by Mamelodi Sundowns, ASEC Mimosas and Petro de Luanda as group winners the following day. Action will resume with the quarterfinals at the end of March.
In the early set of matches, Group A finished with Sundowns snatching top spot following a 1-0 home victory over Congolese giants TP Mazembe in Pretoria. Peter Shalulile converted from the penalty spot towards the end of the first half for the only goal of the match, leaving Mazembe to finish as runners-up while already eliminated Pyramids FC drew 2-2 with Mauritanian champions FC Nouadhibou.
In Group B, ASEC Mimosas were confirmed as the group winners before Saturday which left second place up for grabs between Tanzania’s Simba SC and 2021-22 champions Wydad AC of Morocco. With Wydad needing a superior result to Simba, there was little suspense as the Tanzanian club got off to a dream start with three goals in the opening half hour of their dominant 6-0 victory over Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy. Wydad defeated ASEC by a 1-0 score in Casablanca but it was not enough to overtake Simba who also finished with nine points but possessed the superior head-to-head record over Wydad. The Moroccan titans fail to advance from the group stage for the first time since failing to qualify for the 2015 CAF Champions League.
Petro de Luanda finished the job in Group C with a 2-0 home victory over Tunisia’s Étoile du Sahel in Angola to complete a stellar group stage. Petro are joined in the quarterfinals by the rivals of Étoile. Espérance ST only needed to avoid defeat on Saturday and the Blood and Gold had little trouble with Sudan’s Al-Hilal Omdurman, recording a 1-0 victory in Tunis for an eighth consecutive appearance in the final stages.
Al Ahly and Tanzania’s Young Africans are the teams who advanced out of Group D. The full list of scores from Saturday are below followed by highlights from the matches.
Scores
Group A
Mamelodi Sundowns (RSA) 1-0 TP Mazembe (COG)
Pyramids FC (EGY) 2-2 FC Nouadhibou (MRT)
Group B
Wydad AC (MAR) 1-0 ASEC Mimosas (CIV)
Simba SC (TZA) 6-0 Jwaneng Galaxy (BWA)
Group C
Espérance ST (TUN) 1-0 Al-Hilal Omdurman (SDN)
Petro de Luanda (ANG) 2-0 Étoile du Sahel (TUN)
Highlights
Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0 TP Mazembe
Wydad AC 1-0 ASEC Mimosas
Espérance ST 1-0 Al-Hilal Omdurman
Pyramids FC 2-2 FC Nouadhibou
Petro de Luanda 2-0 Étoile du Sahel
