2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup


The 2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup was the 18th edition of Africa's secondary club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football, under the current CAF Confederation Cup title after the merger of CAF Cup and African Cup Winners' Cup.
The winners of the 2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup will earn the right to play against the winners of the 2020–21 CAF Champions League in the 2021–22 CAF Super Cup.
RS Berkane 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 – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup, the CAF uses the 2016–2020 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 Cup
Winners6 points5 points
Runners-up5 points4 points
Losing semi-finalists4 points3 points
Losing quarter-finalists 3 points2 points
3rd place in groups2 points1 point
4th place in groups1 point0.5 point

The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
  • 2019–20: × 5
  • 2018–19: × 4
  • 2018: × 3
  • 2017: × 2
  • 2016: × 1

Teams

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, associations may abandon their domestic competitions and select the representatives in CAF club competitions. Associations may register their representatives during the engagement window between 1 September and 20 October 2020. All engaged teams must respect the Club Licensing procedure and cooperate with their respective Associations, as non-licensed clubs would be refused participation.
The following 51 teams from 39 associations entered the competition.
  • Teams in bold received a bye to the [|first round].
  • The other teams entered the [|preliminary round].
Associations are shown according to their 2016–2020 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.
AssociationRank TeamQualifying method
1 RS BerkaneTitle holders
2019–20 Botola third place
1 TAS Casablanca2018–19 Moroccan Throne Cup winners
2 Pyramids2019–20 Egyptian Premier League third place
2 Al Mokawloon Al Arab2019–20 Egyptian Premier League fourth place
3 US Monastir2019–20 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third place
3 Étoile du Sahel2019–20 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 fourth place
4 AS Maniema Union2019–20 Linafoot third place
4 DC Motema Pembe2019–20 Linafoot fourth place
5 ES Sétif2019–20 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third place
5 JS Kabylie2019–20 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 fourth place
6 Orlando Pirates2019–20 South African Premier Division third place
6 Bloemfontein Celtic2019–20 Nedbank Cup runners-up
7 Green Eagles2019–20 Zambian Super League third place
7 NAPSA Stars2019–20 Zambian Super League fourth place
8 Rivers United2019–20 Nigeria Professional Football League third place by points per game at time of abandonment
8 Kano Pillars2019 Nigeria FA Cup
9 AS Kaloum Star2019–20 Guinée Championnat National third place after 13 rounds
9 CI Kamsar2019 Guinée Coupe Nationale runners-up
10 Bravos do Maquis2019–20 Girabola third place at time of abandonment
10 Sagrada Esperança2019–20 Angola Cup semi-finalists
11 El Hilal El Obeid2019–20 Sudan Premier League third place
11 Al Amal Atbara2019–20 Sudan Premier League fourth place
12 Al Ahli Tripoli2017–18 Libyan Premier League third place
12 Al Ittihad2018 Libyan Cup winners

A further 16 teams eliminated from the 2020–21 CAF Champions League enter the [|play-off round].

Schedule

The start of the competition was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 1 September 2020, the CAF announced the new schedule. On 10 September 2020, the CAF decided to further delay the preliminary round, originally scheduled for 20–22 November and 27–29 November, and the first round, originally scheduled for 11–13 December and 18–20 December.
The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows.

Group stage

In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The winners and runners-up of each group will advance to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.