# 2023 African Football League

The 2023 African Football League was the first edition of Africa's newest club football tournament, the African Football League, organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
This season was meant to be a precursor tournament to the full fledged version, which will start in the 2024–25 season, after being delayed a year.

## Background

The competition, initially announced in 2022 as the Africa Super League, was to involve 24 teams divided into three geographical regions and have a promotion-relegation system. The competition was delayed from August to October 2023, renamed to the African Football League, and revised into an eight-team knockout format for its inaugural season. This season is meant to be a precursor, as the originally announced format will be introduced starting in 2024–25.

## Schedule

The schedule was as follows.
| Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
| Quarter-finals | 2 September 2023 | 20–22 October 2023 | 24–25 October 2023 |
| Semi-finals | 2 September 2023 | 29 October 2023 | 1 November 2023 |
| Final | 2 September 2023 | 5 November 2023 | 12 November 2023 |

## Format

Each tie was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then extra time was not played and the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out.

## Teams

The African Football League involved 8 teams chosen by the CAF to enter the tournament.
| Pot 2 | Pot 1 |
| Petro de Luanda TP Mazembe Enyimba Simba | Al Ahly Wydad AC Mamelodi Sundowns Espérance de Tunis |

## Bracket

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals, semi-finals and final), which was held on 2 September 2023, 16:00 GMT (19:00 local time, UTC+3), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| Enyimba | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| Wydad AC | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Wydad AC | 1 | 3 | 4 | Wydad AC (p) | 1 | 0 | 1 (5) | | | | |
| | | | | Espérance de Tunis | 0 | 1 | 1 (4) | | | | |
| TP Mazembe | 1 | 0 | 1 | Espérance de Tunis | 0 | 1 | 1 (4) | | | | |
| Espérance de Tunis | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| Espérance de Tunis | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | | Wydad AC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | Mamelodi Sundowns | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Petro de Luanda | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | Mamelodi Sundowns | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 2 | 0 | 2 | Mamelodi Sundowns | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | |
| | | | | Al Ahly | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | |
| Simba | 2 | 1 | 3 | Al Ahly | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | |
| Al Ahly (a) | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | | | | |

## Quarter-finals

The first legs were played on 20, 21 and 22 October, and the second legs were played on 24 and 26 October 2023.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Simba | 3–3 (a) | Al Ahly | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| TP Mazembe | 1–3 | Espérance de Tunis | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| Enyimba | 0–4 | Wydad AC | 0–1 | 0–3 |
| Petro de Luanda | 0–2 | Mamelodi Sundowns | 0–2 | 0–0 |
3–3 on aggregate. Al Ahly won on away goals.
Espérance de Tunis won 3–1 on aggregate.
Wydad AC won 4–0 on aggregate.
Mamelodi Sundowns won 2–0 on aggregate.

## Semi-finals

The first legs were played on 29 October, and the second legs were played on 1 November 2023.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 1–0 | Al Ahly | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Wydad AC | 1–1 (5–4 p) | Espérance de Tunis | 1–0 | 0–1 |
Mamelodi Sundowns won 1–0 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate. Wydad AC won 5–4 on penalties.

## Final

The first leg was played on 5 November, and the second leg was played on 12 November 2023.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Wydad AC | 2–3 | Mamelodi Sundowns | 2–1 | 0–2 |
Mamelodi Sundowns won 3–2 on aggregate.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Team | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F1 | F2 | Total |
| 1 | Thapelo Maseko | Mamelodi Sundowns | 1 | | 1 | | | | 2 |
| 1 | Mahmoud Kahraba | Al Ahly | 1 | 1 | | | | | | 2 |
| 1 | Sadio Kanouté | Simba | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | 2 |
| 4 | Yahia Attiyat Allah | Wydad AC | | 1 | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Hicham Boussefiane | Wydad AC | | | 1 | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Ayoub El Amloud | Wydad AC | | 1 | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Jamal Harkass | Wydad AC | | 1 | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Yahya Jabrane | Wydad AC | 1 | | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Anas Serrhat | Wydad AC | | | | | 1 | | 1 |
| 4 | Marcelo Allende | Mamelodi Sundowns | 1 | | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Abdelmounaim Boutouil | Mamelodi Sundowns | | | | | 1 | | 1 |
| 4 | Peter Shalulile | Mamelodi Sundowns | | | | | | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Aubrey Modiba | Mamelodi Sundowns | | | | | | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Reda Slim | Al Ahly | 1 | | | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Mohamed Amine Tougai | Espérance de Tunis | | 1 | | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Rodrigo Rodrigues | Espérance de Tunis | | | | 1 | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Oussama Bouguerra | Espérance de Tunis | | 1 | | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Ghaith Ouahabi | Espérance de Tunis | | 1 | | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Cheick Oumar Abdallah Fofana | TP Mazembe | 1 | | | | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | Kibu Denis | Simba | 1 | | | | | | | | 1 |