2017 CAF Champions League


The 2017 CAF Champions League was the 53rd edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football, and the 21st edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
Starting from this season, the group stage was expanded from eight to 16 teams, divided into four groups of four, and the knockout stage expanded from 4 to 8 teams.
Wydad Casablanca defeated Al-Ahly in the final to win their second African Cup of Champions Clubs/CAF Champions League title, and qualified as the CAF representative at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2018 CAF Super Cup. Mamelodi Sundowns were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Wydad Casablanca.

Association team allocation

All 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-Year Ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition. As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2017 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2011–2015 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 Cup
Winners5 points4 points
Runners-up4 points3 points
Losing semi-finalists3 points2 points
3rd place in groups2 points1 point
4th place in groups1 point1 point

The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
The following 55 teams from 43 associations entered the competition.
Associations are shown according to their 2011–2015 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.
;Notes
;Associations which did not enter a team
The schedule of the competition was as follows.
The calendar was amended from the original one for the following dates:

Preliminary round

First round

Group stage

Tiebreakers

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Top goalscorers

Prize money

In 2017, the fixed amount of prize money paid to the clubs is as follows: