CAF Champions League 2026/27 in Morocco: clubs, dates and bets
No club tournament in Africa ranks higher than the CAF Champions League ⚽. Organised by the continent's football confederation, CAF, it was created in 1964 under the name African Cup of Champions Clubs and renamed in 1997. Its 63rd season, 2026/27, opened with 61 entrants.
Before any group football, clubs must come through a pair of home-and-away qualifying rounds. The first gathered 58 clubs in 29 ties; the second brings together 32, meaning the 29 winners and three seeded clubs that were given a bye. Only 16 reach the group phase, split into four pools of four in which each side meets the other three twice, once at home and once away. Last season, the first two of every pool advanced to the last eight. From there, every round up to the semi-finals is played over two matches, and the final is due in May 2027. Morocco is represented by the top two of the 2025/26 Botola Pro.
MAS de Fès and RS Berkane in 2026/27
Maghreb de Fès (MAS) come in as Moroccan champions for 2025/26, a title won with 59 points and the fifth league crown in the club's history. In the first round they saw off Rahimo FC of Burkina Faso, winning 4:1 at the Grand Stade de Fès on 6 September before a goalless draw at the Stade du 4-Août in Ouagadougou on 12 September. Next up are ASEC Mimosas of Côte d'Ivoire, with the first leg in Fès over the weekend of 16-18 October and the return in Abidjan a week later.
RS Berkane finished second on 57 points and skipped the first round altogether, as one of three clubs exempted on the strength of their CAF ranking, together with Mamelodi Sundowns and Espérance de Tunis. Their opponents are Star Sport Academy, the champions of Sierra Leone. Berkane travel for the first leg in the same October window as MAS and host the return in Morocco the following weekend. In both ties, the winner earns a place in the group stage. Both Moroccan ties will be settled by 25 October, the last day of the return-leg window.
Wydad, Raja and AS FAR are all absent from this edition. Raja and AS FAR take part in the Confederation Cup, CAF's second club competition.
Key dates of the season
Stage | Match window |
|---|---|
Second qualifying round | 16-18 October and 23-25 October 2026 |
Group phase | six matchdays from 27 November 2026 to 24 January 2027 |
Last eight | 26-28 February, then 5-7 March 2027 |
Last four | 9-11 April, then 16-18 April 2027 |
Final | window of 9-31 May 2027, with the format and host still unannounced |
The draw for both qualifying rounds was made in the Egyptian capital on 6 August 2026, and CAF confirms the exact day and kick-off time of each match within these windows. The group matchdays are spread over 27-29 November, 4-6 December and 18-20 December 2026, then 8-10, 15-17 and 22-24 January 2027. No date has been announced yet for the group-phase draw.
2025/26: AS FAR's run to the final
AS FAR made the most of last season. Second in Group B, the Rabat club knocked out the holders, Pyramids, in the quarter-finals: 1:1 at home, then a 2:1 win in Cairo on 21 March 2026. The semi-final was an all-Moroccan affair against RS Berkane, won 2:0 in Rabat on 11 April before a 0:1 defeat at the Stade Municipal de Berkane on 18 April 2026.
The final went the other way. Sundowns won the opening leg in Pretoria on 17 May, Aubrey Modiba scoring the only goal, and the return at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat on 24 May finished 1:1: Mohamed Rabie Hrimat scored from the penalty spot before Teboho Mokoena levelled in first-half stoppage time. It was a second title for the South African side. AS FAR's only crown still dates from 1985, while RS Berkane bowed out in the semi-finals. Moroccan clubs have won the competition seven times in all: Raja three times (1989, 1997, 1999), Wydad three times (1992, 2017, 2022) and AS FAR once.
Betting on CAF Champions League from Morocco
Ahead of each match, the betting menu lists the 1X2 outcome, the double chance, over/under goal totals, handicaps and whether both sides will find the net, plus a long-term market on the tournament winner. Once the game kicks off, in-play football takes over, with the odds shifting as the match unfolds. Botola Pro fixtures and every other league sit under Football, and the complete pre-match menu lets you pair an African tie with other games on a single slip.
Money is handled in Moroccan dirhams (MAD) 💳: transfers from CIH Bank or Al Barid Bank, Attijari through its L'bankalik service, or cash paid in at a Cash Plus outlet. Signing up with 1xBet is enough to follow MAS de Fès and RS Berkane from the second round onwards.