CAF CL: AS FAR, Sundowns battle for record $6 m prize money in Rabat

 

… Winner face USM Alger for CAF Super Cup 2026

 

Morocco’s AS FAR and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns will battle for this year’s TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2025/26 campaign in Rabat later today.

Both teams have all to play for in Sunday’s thrilling finale, with a record $6 million prize money at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.

Sundowns edged the opening encounter at Loftus Stadium thanks to Aubrey Modiba’s superb free-kick, but the South African side were left ruing missed chances that could cost the team in the second leg.

AS FAR, meanwhile, remain within touching distance and will feel a one-goal deficit leaves them with every chance of overturning the result on home soil.

For Sundowns, the final presents the opportunity to claim a second African crown after their triumph in 2016 and erase the pain of defeat in last season’s final against Egypt’s Pyramids FC.

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“It’s my third (TotalEnergies CAF Champions League) final in a row, and it’s the first time I go into the second leg with a goal advantage, and all three of them were played away,” Miguel Cardoso, Sundowns coach said.

Cardoso’s side have shown resilience and maturity throughout the campaign, but navigating a hostile atmosphere in Rabat may represent Sundowns’ toughest challenge yet.

AS FAR, by contrast, are chasing a first Champions League title since 1985 and will lean heavily on a formidable home record in continental competition.

“It’s very difficult when Sundowns get space, they are one of the best teams of this continent,” Alexandre Santos, AS FAR coach, said.

Backed by a packed stadium, the Moroccan side believe they have both the quality and momentum to mount a comeback.

“We kept the (first leg) result to 1-0, and in the end the most important thing is we play at home and fight until the end, that’s our intention.”

Sundowns goes into Sunday’s encounter with a 1-0 advantage from last weekend’s first leg in Pretoria, and will battle the Moroccans for continental glory.

The record prize money underlines CAF’s increased investment in club football and adds another layer of significance to Sunday’s showdown, which is scheduled to be watched in over 100 territories around the world.

Beyond lifting Africa’s biggest club prize, the champions will also secure qualification for three major international competitions.

Victory in Rabat would book a place in the 2026 CAF Super Cup against USM Alger, winners of the CAF Confederation Cup.

It will also earn entry into the FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2026 along with the other champions of FIFA’s Confederations for this season, and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.

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CAF Champion’s League final pitch two Portuguese coaches up for glory

Two Portuguese coaches, Miguel Cardoso of Mamelodi Sundowns and Alexandre Santos of AS FAR will face-off in Sunday’s TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final in Rabat.

Both coaches will bring the Portuguese coaching tactics to bear in a North-South African battle for continental glory in Morocco.

The final presents a symbol of the growing influence of Portuguese coaches in African club football, with both coaches standing on opposite sides of the continent’s biggest club match.

Santos was appointed by FAR Rabat in February 2025, and has helped take the Moroccan club to their first CAF Champions League final since 1985, when they won the title.

His rise in African football was already marked by his work with Petro de Luanda in Angola, where he produced some continental results.

Santos also admitted that Portuguese coaches working in Africa have not always received the attention they deserve.

“Sometimes, we don’t have very many approaches from the media in our country.

“In the last few years, some people from Portugal tried to give attention. When I was at Petro and I played against Sundowns, we did a very good job,” he said after the first leg.

Cardoso is appearing in another CAF Champions League final after his recent runs with Espérance and Sundowns, and believes Portuguese football has still not fully understood the size of the achievements being made by its coaches in Africa.

“I think that the international football community in Europe – I can speak especially about Portugal – doesn’t really understand the level of what the CAF Champions League is,” Cardoso said.

“It’s a shame for my country that it doesn’t really understand the dimension of the achievements that some Portuguese coaches have been doing in Africa.”

Two Portuguese coaches have guided two major African clubs to the final of the continent’s premier club competition, but both have suggested that their work often receives less attention at home than similar achievements in Europe.

This year’s final will be an intense battle in front of a sold-out stadium, a fitting end to what has been an exhilarating season of TotalEnergies CAF interclub football.

There are key players and contests all over the pitch, both teams scoring an average 23 goals combined from league stage to Sunday’s final.

AS FAR with 8 goals ranked 7th in the competition, while Sundowns with 15 goals ranked second, with only Pyramids FC with 16 goals, scoring one goal more than Sundowns from the start of the group stage.

Similarly, Sunday’s final will also see two of the defence go up against each other in Rabat. AS FAR has only conceded 6 goals all through competition (11th), while Sundowns conceded four goals (8th) through the tournament.

Both teams have played 11 matches since the start of the group stage and have been fairly miserly in defence.