CAF Champions League 2026/27: Rangers, Rivers United Set for Preliminary Round Battles
Nigeria’s representatives, Enugu Rangers and Rivers United, have discovered the route they must navigate to reach the group stage of the 2026/27 CAF Champions League after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed the draw procedures for the competition’s preliminary rounds.
Unlike the continent’s top-ranked clubs that enjoy seeded status, both Nigerian sides will have to battle through the qualifying rounds, although Rivers United’s superior CAF ranking offers them a more favourable path.
Rivers United are ranked 24th in Africa with 15 points and have been placed in Level Three, where they will face one of the six clubs in Level Four during the First Preliminary Round.
If they advance, they will meet the winner of another Level Three versus Level Four fixture in the Second Preliminary Round, avoiding the continent’s biggest clubs until the group stage.
Enugu Rangers, meanwhile, enter the competition as one of the non-ranked clubs in Level Five and face a considerably more demanding route. The Flying Antelopes will be drawn against one of the higher-ranked teams from Levels One, Two, Three or Four, depending on the geographical draw pots established by CAF to reduce travel across the continent.
To reach the group stage, Rangers will likely have to eliminate at least one seeded opponent, making their qualification campaign significantly tougher than that of Rivers United.
CAF has divided the 61 participating clubs into five levels based on performances in recent continental competitions and the CAF Club Rankings.
The continent’s three highest-ranked clubs, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, Espérance Sportive de Tunis of Tunisia and Morocco’s RS Berkane, have all received byes into the Second Preliminary Round.
Ten other highly-ranked clubs, including Egypt’s Zamalek and Pyramids, South Africa’s Orlando Pirates, Tanzania’s Simba SC and Young Africans, Sudan’s Al Hilal and Algeria’s MC Alger, have been seeded to face non-ranked opposition.
The draw will also observe strict regulations, including preventing clubs from the same country from meeting in the preliminary rounds. Non-ranked clubs paired against seeded opposition will host the first leg, while the first club drawn in all other ties will play at home before travelling for the return fixture.
