CAF Sets Date for 2026–27 Champions League Preliminary Draw
The roadmap for Africa’s next club campaign is beginning to sharpen into focus.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has, according to Moroccan outlet El Botola, pencilled in August 6 as the date for the preliminary draw of the 2026–27 CAF Champions League, with Cairo set to host the ceremony.
It will be the first key moment of the new continental season. By then, the club registration system will have closed and national associations will have signed off on their teams’ squads, clearing the way for CAF’s Club Competitions Committee to lock in the opening fixtures.
No expansion, no experiments
Behind the scenes, a bigger structural question has already been settled.
CAF has, the same report states, formally rejected a proposal from the Egyptian Football Association to increase the number of clubs in its interclub competitions. The Competitions Committee opted to keep the current format intact for 2026–27, resisting pressure to tinker with a system that has produced some of the most fiercely contested editions of the Champions League in recent years.
No extra slots. No revamped structure. The message is clear: the existing pathway to the group stage remains as demanding as ever.
Moroccan contenders ready for another tilt
For Morocco, the stakes are familiar but no less intense.
RS Berkane and Maghreb de Fès will carry the country’s flag in next season’s CAF Champions League, both eyeing deep runs in a tournament that continues to grow in profile and financial weight. The preliminary draw in Cairo will dictate their first hurdles, mapping out whether they face a gruelling route across the continent or a more favourable opening to their campaigns.
Those early pairings can define a season. A long trip to a hostile venue in the opening round, or a kinder tie that allows a side to build rhythm and confidence—this is what August 6 will decide.
Once the balls are drawn and the brackets set, Africa’s premier club competition will have its first shape. From there, every club chasing the group stage will know exactly how steep their climb really is.
