Qualifying for the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League group stage is among the most demanding achievements in African club football — and the statistics from the past five seasons make that reality impossible to ignore.

The preliminary round kicks off this weekend, with the first legs scheduled between 04 and 06 September, followed by the second legs a week later. Clubs must then survive a second round before 16 sides earn their place in the pool stages.

The elite four

Across the 2021/22 through 2025/26 editions, 80 group-stage places have been distributed among 38 different clubs. Of those, only four have appeared in every single group stage: Al Ahly (Egypt), Al Hilal (Sudan), Espérance de Tunis (Tunisia), and current holders Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa).

Together, those four clubs have claimed 20 of the 80 available slots — exactly 25 percent of the total — underlining the stranglehold Africa's most established sides maintain on the competition.

Al Ahly will be absent from this season's group stage, however, having been redirected to the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup. Al Hilal, Espérance de Tunis, and Mamelodi Sundowns each have the opportunity to extend their perfect records.

Consistent challengers

CR Belouizdad (Algeria) and Petro de Luanda (Angola) sit just behind the top four, each having reached the group stage four times in five seasons. Belouizdad qualified in four successive campaigns before missing out in 2025/26, while Petro de Luanda have cemented themselves as one of Southern Africa's most reliable continental performers.

The fact that only six clubs have achieved four or more group-stage appearances in this period speaks to how rapidly fortunes can shift at this level.

Three-time qualifiers and rising forces

Eleven clubs in total have reached the group stage at least three times in five seasons. Pyramids FC (Egypt) and Young Africans (Tanzania) have both qualified in each of the last three campaigns, evolving from occasional participants into consistent fixtures at the elite stage. Simba SC (Tanzania) have also qualified three times, highlighting Tanzania's growing influence in CAF club competitions.

Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca and Wydad AC have each featured in three of the five editions, reinforcing North Africa's strength in depth across the continent.

The occasional visitors

A further ten clubs have qualified twice, a group that mixes continental heavyweights with emerging sides. TP Mazembe (DR Congo) and Zamalek (Egypt) — both steeped in African football history — appear alongside AS FAR (Morocco) and MC Alger (Algeria), who have recently forced their way back into contention.

Jwaneng Galaxy have twice represented Botswana at the group stage, while Sagrada Esperança have done the same for Angola. Al Merrikh (Sudan), Horoya (Guinea), JS Kabylie (Algeria), and Étoile du Sahel (Tunisia) round out a group that illustrates the broad geographic spread of clubs capable of competing at this level.

One-time breakthroughs

Seventeen clubs — nearly 45 percent of all those to have appeared at the group stage — have qualified only once in five seasons. For many, that single appearance marked a historic milestone. AmaZulu (South Africa) broke through in 2021/22; FC Nouadhibou (Mauritania) made history for Mauritanian club football in 2023/24; Medeama represented Ghana that same season; and Stade d'Abidjan returned Côte d'Ivoire to the group stage in 2024/25.

Even Orlando Pirates (South Africa), one of the continent's most celebrated clubs and a former African champion, fall into this category — a reminder that history alone cannot guarantee consistency.

The other one-time qualifiers are: AS Maniema Union, AS Vita Club, Saint-Éloi Lupopo (all DR Congo), ASEC Mimosas (Côte d'Ivoire), Coton Sport (Cameroon), Djoliba AC, Stade Malien (both Mali), ES Sétif (Algeria), Power Dynamos (Zambia), RS Berkane (Morocco), Rivers United (Nigeria), and Vipers SC (Uganda).

Country standings

With a maximum of two clubs per country permitted to reach the group stage in any single season, the highest possible tally over five seasons is ten slots per nation. Egypt are the only country to have filled all ten — Al Ahly with five appearances, Pyramids FC with three, and Zamalek with two. Algeria and Morocco have each claimed nine slots, while South Africa, Sudan, and Tunisia have recorded seven apiece.

Algeria, Morocco, and DR Congo lead the way in terms of club diversity, each sending four different clubs to the group stage across the five seasons. Egypt and South Africa have each done so with three.