2021 CAF Champions League final

The 2021 CAF Champions League Final was the final match of the 2020–21 CAF Champions League, the 57th season of Africa's premier club football tournament organised by CAF, and the 25th edition under the current CAF Champions League title. It was played at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, Morocco on 17 July 2021.^[4]

2021 CAF Champions League Final

Event	2020–21 CAF Champions League
Kaizer Chiefs Al Ahly 0 3
Date	17 July 2021 (2021-07-17)
Venue	Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco
Man of the Match	Amr El Solia (Al Ahly)[1]
Referee	Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)[2]
Weather	Fair 25 °C (77 °F) 57% humidity[3]
← 2020 2022 →

Al Ahly defeated Kaizer Chiefs 3–0 to win a record-extending 10th CAF Champions League title.^[5] They also earned the right to play against Raja Casablanca, the winners of the 2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup, in the 2021–22 CAF Super Cup. Al Ahly also qualified for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup in United Arab Emirates, entering from the second round.^[6][7]

Teams

In the following table, finals until 1996 were in the African Cup of Champions Club era, since 1997 were in the CAF Champions League era.

Team	Zone	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Kaizer Chiefs	COSAFA (Southern Africa)	None
Al Ahly	UNAF (North Africa)	13 (1982, 1983, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2020)

Venue

Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, Morocco hosted the match.

For the second consecutive year, the final was played as a single match at a pre-selected venue by CAF instead of a two-legged fixtures format, which was being used in the competition since 1966.^{[citation needed]}

On 16 May 2021, Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, Morocco was chosen by a CAF Executive Committee to host the final during a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.^[4]

Road to the final

Further information: 2020–21 CAF Champions League

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Kaizer Chiefs				Round	Al Ahly
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Qualifying rounds	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
PWD Bamenda	1–0	1–0 (A)	0–0 (H)	Preliminary round	Bye
1º de Agosto	1–0	0–0 (H)	1–0 (A)	First round	AS SONIDEP	5–0	1–0 (A)	4–0 (H)
Opponent	Result			Group stage	Opponent	Result
Wydad AC	0–4 (A)			Matchday 1	Al Merrikh	3–0 (H)
Horoya	0–0 (H)			Matchday 2	Simba	0–1 (A)
Petro de Luanda	2–0 (H)			Matchday 3	AS Vita Club	2–2 (H)
Petro de Luanda	0–0 (A)			Matchday 4	AS Vita Club	3–0 (A)
Wydad AC	1–0 (H)			Matchday 5	Al Merrikh	2–2 (A)
Horoya	2–2 (A)			Matchday 6	Simba	1–0 (H)
Group C runners-up Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Wydad AC 6 13 2 Kaizer Chiefs 6 9 3 Horoya 6 9 4 Petro de Luanda 6 1 Source: Soccerway				Final standings	Group A runners-up Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Simba 6 13 2 Al Ahly 6 11 3 AS Vita Club 6 7 4 Al Merrikh 6 2 Source: Soccerway
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout stage	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Simba	4–3	4–0 (H)	0–3 (A)	Quarter-finals	Mamelodi Sundowns	3–1	2–0 (H)	1–1 (A)
Wydad AC	1–0	1–0 (A)	0–0 (H)	Semi-finals	Espérance de Tunis	4–0	1–0 (A)	3–0 (H)

Format

The final was played as a single match at a pre-selected venue, with the winner of semi-final 1 according to the knockout stage draw designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes. If scores were level after full time, extra time would not to be played and the winner would be decided by a penalty shoot-out (Regulations Article III. 28).^[8]

Match

Details

Kaizer Chiefs	0–3	Al Ahly
	Report	Sherif 53' Magdy 64' El Solia 74'

17 July 2021 (2021-07-17)

19:00 GMT
(20:00 UTC+1)

Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca

Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)

Kaizer Chiefs

Al Ahly

GK 1 Daniel Akpeyi RB 2 Ramahlwe Mphahlele CB 3 Eric Mathoho CB 4 Daniel Cardoso LB 23 Reeve Frosler RM 12 Njabulo Blom  59' CM 14 Willard Katsande  76' LM 25 Bernard Parker (c)  9' RF 15 Nkosingiphile Ngcobo  46' CF 9 Samir Nurković  90+2' LF 19 Happy Mashiane  45+4' Substitutes: GK 26 Bruce Bvuma DF 20 Yagan Sasman DF 27 Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya DF 30 Siyabonga Ngezana MF 5 Teddy Akumu  59' MF 22 Philani Zulu  76' FW 7 Lazarous Kambole  90+2' FW 8 Leonardo Castro FW 11 Khama Billiat  46' Manager: Stuart Baxter

GK 1 Mohamed El Shenawy (c) RB 25 Akram Tawfik CB 3 Badr Benoun  80'  90' CB 12 Ayman Ashraf  21'  46' LB 21 Ali Maâloul CM 17 Amr El Solia CM 8 Hamdy Fathy RW 14 Hussein El Shahat  90+2' AM 19 Mohamed Magdy  90' LW 27 Taher Mohamed  50'  67' CF 10 Mohamed Sherif  90' Substitutes: GK 13 Ali Lotfi DF 2 Mahmoud Wahid DF 6 Yasser Ibrahim  46' DF 30 Mohamed Hany MF 15 Aliou Dieng  86'  67' FW 7 Mahmoud Kahraba  90' FW 9 Marwan Mohsen FW 18 Salah Mohsen  90' FW 28 Junior Ajayi  90' Manager: Pitso Mosimane

Man of the Match: Mohamed Magdy (Al Ahly)[1] Assistant referees:[2] Elvis Guy Noupue (Cameroon) Dick Okello (Uganda) Fourth official:[2] Eric Otogo-Castane (Gabon) Video assistant referee:[2] Rédouane Jiyed (Morocco) Assistant video assistant referees:[2] Zakaria Brinsi (Morocco) Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco)

Match rules[8] 90 minutes. Penalty shoot-out if scores level. Nine named substitutes, of which up to five may be used.[lower-alpha 1]

Statistics

First half[9] Statistic Kaizer Chiefs Al Ahly Goals scored 0 0 Total shots 1 6 Shots on target 1 0 Saves 0 1 Ball possession 28% 72% Corner kicks 3 2 Yellow cards 1 1 Red cards 1 0

Second half[9] Statistic Kaizer Chiefs Al Ahly Goals scored 0 3 Total shots 2 10 Shots on target 0 4 Saves 1 0 Ball possession 31% 69% Corner kicks 3 4 Yellow cards 0 4 Red cards 0 0

Overall[9] Statistic Kaizer Chiefs Al Ahly Goals scored 0 3 Total shots 3 16 Shots on target 1 4 Saves 1 1 Ball possession 30% 70% Corner kicks 6 6 Yellow cards 1 5 Red cards 1 0

See also

• 2021 CAF Confederation Cup Final
• 2021–22 CAF Super Cup

Notes

1. Each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, excluding substitutions made at half-time.

References

1. TotalEnergies CAFCL - TotalEnergies CAFCC [@CAFCLCC] (17 July 2021). "Ahmed Zizo "Zizo" is your TotalEnergies Man of the Match for the 2nd #TotalEnergiesCAFCL final in a row!" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 July 2021 – via Twitter.
2. "حكم نهائي دوري أبطال إفريقيا.. بوروندي يقود مباراة الأهلي وكايزر تشيفز" [CAF Champions League Final: Burundian referee to take charge of Zamalek's match against Kaizer Chiefs]. El Watan News (in Arabic). 2 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
3. "Weather History for Casablanca, Casablanca-Settat, Morocco". Weather Underground. The Weather Company. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
4. "Casablanca to stage CAF Champions League final in July". eNCA. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
5. "Egypt's Al Ahly beat Kaizer Chiefs 3-0 to win record tenth African crown". BBC Sport. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
6. "Al Ahly down Kaizer Chiefs for 10th African Champions League title". ESPN. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
7. "Zamalek secure 'Al Sab3a' with victory over 10-man Chiefs". Cafonline.com. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
8. "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
9. "Team statistics". sofascore.com. SofaScore. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.

External links

• CAFonline.com