The 2015 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2015 Orange CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, Africa's secondary club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The winner earned the right to play in the 2016 CAF Super Cup.
Étoile du Sahel of Tunisia won the competition for the second time in their history after a 2–1 aggregate victory over Orlando Pirates of South Africa in the final. Al-Ahly were the defending champions, and after qualifying for the 2015 CAF Champions League, they entered the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup after they lost in the Champions League second round, but they were eliminated in the semi-finals.
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. The title holders can also enter if they have not qualified for the CAF Champions League. As a result, theoretically a maximum of 69 teams could enter the tournament (plus eight teams eliminated from the CAF Champions League which enter the play-off round) – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup, the CAF uses the 2009–2013 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 CupWinner5 points4 pointsRunner-up4 points3 pointsLosing semi-finalists3 points2 points3rd place in groups2 points1 point4th place in groups1 point1 point
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows: 2013 – 5 2012 – 4 2011 – 3 2010 – 2 2009 – 1
Teams The following 63 teams from 43 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 2009–2013 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.
AssociationTeamQualifying methodAssociations eligible to enter two teams (Ranked 1–12) TunisiaÉtoile du Sahel2013–14 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third placeClub Africain2013–14 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 fourth place EgyptZamalek2013–14 Egyptian Premier League third placePetrojet2013–14 Egyptian Premier League fourth place DR CongoAS Vita Club2013–14 Linafoot third placeMK Étanchéité2014 Coupe du Congo winner MoroccoFUS Rabat2013–14 Botola third placeRS Berkane2014 Coupe du Trône runner-up NigeriaWarri Wolves2014 Nigeria Professional Football League third placeDolphins2014 Nigerian FA Cup runner-up SudanAl-Ahly Shendi2014 Sudan Premier League third placeAl-Khartoum2014 Sudan Premier League fourth place AlgeriaASO Chlef2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 eighth placeMC Alger2013–14 Algerian Cup winner MaliOnze Créateurs2014 Malian Cup winnerDjoliba2014 Malian Cup runner-up CameroonUnisport Bafang2014 Elite One third placePanthère du Ndé2014 Cameroonian Cup runner-up CongoÉtoile du Congo2014 Congo Premier League fifth place before abandonedCARA Brazzaville2014 Coupe du Congo runner-up South AfricaBidvest Wits2013–14 South African Premier Division third placeOrlando Pirates2013–14 Nedbank Cup winner AngolaBenfica de Luanda2014 Taça de Angola winnerPetro de Luanda2014 Taça de Angola runner-upAssociations eligible to enter one team Ivory CoastASEC Mimosas2014 Coupe de Côte d'Ivoire de football winner GhanaHearts of Oak2013–14 Ghanaian Premier League third place EthiopiaDedebit2014 Ethiopian Cup winner LibyaAl-Ittihad2013–14 Libyan Premier League runner-up ZambiaPower Dynamos2014 Zambian Premier League runner-up ZimbabweFC Platinum2014 Cup of Zimbabwe winner NigerSahel SC2014 Niger Cup winner BeninAS Police2014 Benin Cup winner BotswanaBotswana Defence Force2013–14 Mascom Top 8 Cup winner Burkina FasoRC Bobo2014 Coupe du Faso winner BurundiLe Messager Ngozi2014 Burundian Cup runner-up ChadElect-Sport2014 Coupe de Ligue de N'Djaména finalist ComorosVolcan Club2014 Comoros Cup winner Equatorial GuineaLeones Vegetarianos2014 Equatoguinean Cup winner GabonCF Mounana2013–14 Gabon Championnat National D1 runner-up GuineaHoroya2014 Guinée Coupe Nationale winner KenyaSofapaka2014 FKF President's Cup winner LiberiaFassell2013–14 Liberian Cup winner MadagascarASSM Elgeco Plus2014 Coupe de Madagascar winner MauritiusPetite Rivière Noire2014 Mauritian Cup winner MozambiqueFerroviário da Beira2014 Taça de Moçambique winner RwandaRayon Sports2013–14 Rwanda National Football League runner-up SenegalOlympique de Ngor2014 Senegal FA Cup runner-up SeychellesCôte d'Or2014 Seychelles FA Cup runner-up Sierra LeoneKamboi Eagles2014 Sierra Leonean FA Cup winner South SudanAl-Ghazal2014 South Sudan National Cup runner-up SwazilandRoyal Leopards2014 Swazi Cup winner TanzaniaYoung Africans2013–14 Tanzanian Premier League runner-up TogoAS Togo-Port2014 Togolese Championnat National runner-up UgandaURA2013–14 Uganda Cup winner ZanzibarPolisi SC2013–14 Zanzibar Premier League runner-up
+Teams entering the play-off roundLosers of the 2015 CAF Champions League second round AS Kaloum SM Sanga Balende Espérance de Tunis CS Sfaxien AC Léopards Al-Ahly Raja Casablanca Stade Malien
+Associations which did not enter a team Cape Verde Central African Republic Djibouti Eritrea Gambia Guinea-Bissau Lesotho Malawi Mauritania Namibia Réunion São Tomé and Príncipe Somalia
Schedule The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws are held at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt).
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifyingPreliminary round22 December 201413–15 February 201527 February–1 March 2015First round13–15 March 20153–5 April 2015Second round17–19 April 20151–3 May 2015Play-off round5 May 201515–17 May 20155–7 June 2015Group stageMatchday 126–28 June 2015Matchday 210–12 July 2015Matchday 324–26 July 2015Matchday 47–9 August 2015Matchday 521–23 August 2015Matchday 611–13 September 2015Knockout stageSemi-finals25–27 September 20152–4 October 2015Final20–22 November 201527–29 November 2015
Qualifying rounds
The draw for the preliminary, first and second qualifying rounds was held on 22 December 2014.
Qualification ties were 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 level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).
Preliminary round
First round
Notes
Second round
Play-off round The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 May 2015. The winners of the Confederation Cup second round were drawn against the losers of the Champions League second round, with the former hosting the second leg.
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 5 May 2015. The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four. Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.
Tiebreakers The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order: Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned; Goal difference in games between the teams concerned; Goals scored in games between the teams concerned; Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned; If, after applying criteria 1 to 4 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 9 apply; Goal difference in all games; Goals scored in all games; Away goals scored in all games; Drawing of lots.
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Knockout ties were 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 level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).
Bracket
Semi-finals In the semi-finals, the group A winners played the group B runners-up, and the group B winners played the group A runners-up, with the group winners hosting the second leg.
Final
In the final, the order of legs was determined by a draw, held after the group stage draw.
Étoile du Sahel won 2–1 on aggregate.
Top scorers RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Georges Ambourouet CF Mounana6 Thamsanqa Gabuza Orlando Pirates6 Baghdad Bounedjah Étoile du Sahel64 Firmin Ndombe Mubele AS Vita Club5 Gbolahan Salami Warri Wolves5 Kermit Erasmus Orlando Pirates5 Ammar Jemal Étoile du Sahel58 Kadima Kabangu MK Étanchéité4 Kahraba Zamalek4 Oupa Manyisa Orlando Pirates4 Thabo Rakhale Orlando Pirates4
See also 2015 CAF Champions League 2016 CAF Super Cup
References
External links Orange CAF Confederation Cup 2015, CAFonline.com