CAF competitions explained: AFCON, CHAN and the club cups
African football has several major competitions, run by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and they are easy to mix up. This guide explains the main ones, who plays in each and where to follow them.
Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)
AFCON is the main competition for senior men's national teams. Since 2019 it has featured 24 teams, who play in groups followed by knockout rounds and a final. Qualification is played over several international windows before the tournament. It is the biggest event on the African football calendar, and it has its own page on ScoreHub.
African Nations Championship (CHAN)
CHAN is a national team tournament, but only for players who play in their own country's domestic league. Players who play abroad cannot be picked. It started in 2009. It gives home-based players a chance to play international football, and it is often where clubs from smaller leagues find new talent.
CAF Champions League
The CAF Champions League is the top club competition in Africa. It is played by the champions and other top clubs from each country, and it takes place across the season in qualifying rounds, a group stage, then knockout matches and a final. The tournament began in 1964 as the African Cup of Champions Clubs and was renamed in the 1990s. Winners go on to play in the FIFA Club World Cup, where they face champions from other continents.
CAF Confederation Cup
The Confederation Cup is the second club competition. It is open to clubs that did not qualify for the Champions League, typically domestic cup winners and runners-up in the league. It began in 2004, when two earlier competitions were merged. Teams knocked out of the Champions League early can join the Confederation Cup in some years.
CAF Super Cup
The CAF Super Cup is a single match between the winners of the Champions League and the winners of the Confederation Cup, usually played at the start of a new season.
Women's competitions
The Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) is the main national team tournament for women. Nigeria, the Super Falcons, has won it more times than any other country. CAF also runs a Women's Champions League for clubs.
Youth tournaments
CAF runs age-group tournaments for under-17 and under-20 teams, which also act as qualifiers for the FIFA youth World Cups. Nigeria has a strong record at these levels.
Where Nigerian teams play
Nigerian league clubs qualify for the CAF club competitions through their domestic results: the top clubs in the Nigeria Premier Football League can enter the Champions League or the Confederation Cup, depending on where they finish and whether they win the domestic cup. Fixtures for these competitions appear on ScoreHub, with live scores and results, when the data provider covers the match.
How to follow the competitions
Open the football page on ScoreHub and choose the competition from the list. You can follow a team and get alerts for goals. For the full rules of each tournament, check CAF's own website, because details such as the number of teams and the dates can change from year to year.
Why the formats change
CAF has changed its tournaments many times to fit the calendar and to reflect the growth of African football. That is why you may see different numbers of teams or different knockout rounds in articles from different years. This guide gives the structure as it stands now, and the live competition pages show the current season.