2018 CAF Confederation Cup qualifying rounds

Draw

The draw for the preliminary round and first round was held on 13 December 2017 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

The entry round of the 54 teams entered into the draw is determined by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons.

Entry round	First round	Preliminary round
Teams	Zamalek USM Alger SuperSport United Club Africain Al-Hilal Al-Ubayyid Enyimba Nkana DC Motema Pembe Raja Casablanca Al-Ahly Shendi	Al-Masry US Ben Guerdane AS Maniema Union CR Belouizdad Cape Town City RS Berkane AS Tanda Africa Sports Green Buffaloes CARA Brazzaville CS La Mancha Djoliba Onze Créateurs Akwa United New Star Al-Ittihad Tripoli Asante Kotoko Simba Petro de Luanda Welayta Dicha Energie Jwaneng Galaxy Étoile Filante Olympique Star Ngazi Sport Gendarmerie Nationale Deportivo Niefang AS Mangasport Banjul Hawks Hafia AFC Leopards ELWA United Fosa Juniors Masters Security FC Nouadhibou AS Port-Louis 2000 Costa do Sol Sahel APR Mbour Petite-Côte Anse Réunion Al-Hilal Juba Young Buffaloes Zimamoto

Format

In the qualifying rounds, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.

Schedule

The schedule of each round was as follows.

Round	First leg	Second leg
Preliminary round	9–11 February 2018	20–21 February 2018
First round	6–7 March 2018	16–18 March 2018
Play-off round	6–8 April 2018	17–18 April 2018

Bracket

The bracket of the draw was announced by the CAF on 13 December 2017.

The 16 winners of the first round advanced to the play-off round, where they were joined by the 16 losers of the Champions League first round.

Preliminary round

The preliminary round included the 44 teams that did not receive byes to the first round.

First round

The first round included 32 teams: the 22 winners of the preliminary round, and the 10 teams that received byes to this round.

Play-off round

The play-off round included 32 teams: the 16 winners of the Confederation Cup first round and the 16 losers of the Champions League first round.

The draw for the play-off round was held on 21 March 2018, 19:00 EET, at the Ritz Carlton in Cairo, Egypt. The winners of the Confederation Cup first round were drawn against the losers of the Champions League first round, with the teams from the Confederation Cup hosting the second leg.
The 32 teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons :

• Pot A contained the four highest-ranked losers of the Champions League first round.
• Pot B contained the four highest-ranked winners of the Confederation Cup first round.
• Pot C contained the twelve lowest-ranked losers of the Champions League first round.
• Pot D contained the twelve lowest-ranked winners of the Confederation Cup first round.

First, a team from Pot A and a team from Pot D were drawn into four ties. Next, a team from Pot B and a team from Pot C were drawn into four ties. Finally, the remaining teams from Pot C and Pot D were drawn into the last eight ties.

Pot	Pot A	Pot B	Pot C	Pot D
Qualified from	Champions League	Confederation Cup	Champions League	Confederation Cup
Teams	Al-Hilal AS Vita Club Saint George Zanaco	USM Alger SuperSport United Al-Hilal Al-Ubayyid Enyimba	ASEC Mimosas CF Mounana Young Africans Williamsville AC Aduana Stars Gor Mahia UD Songo MFM Plateau United Rayon Sports Génération Foot Bidvest Wits	CR Belouizdad CARA Brazzaville CS La Mancha Al-Masry Deportivo Niefang Welayta Dicha Fosa Juniors Djoliba Raja Casablanca RS Berkane Costa do Sol Akwa United

The 16 winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage.