CAF 5-Year Ranking

The CAF 5-Year Ranking is used by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to determine the number of clubs that each CAF member association may enter in Africa's club football competitions, the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. At present, those associations ranked in the top twelve may enter two sides into each of the two continental tournaments, while the remaining associations are limited to a single side in each competition.

Introduction of the ranking

Prior to 2004, CAF organised three club tournaments (the CAF Champions League, the African Cup Winners' Cup, and the CAF Cup) with each association allowed to enter a single side in each tournament.

Starting from the 2004 season, the Cup Winners' Cup and CAF Cup were combined into a new tournament, the CAF Confederation Cup. Rather than limiting all associations to just two positions in CAF tournaments, CAF decided to allow the leading nations two entries into the new tournament, and also allow them a second entry in the Champions League.

As with the UEFA ranking used for their club tournaments, the CAF ranking is based on the results obtained in each of the past five completed club seasons (each weighted equally). There are some differences, notably:

• More tournaments are included (the CAF Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup also allow teams to obtain points)
• The annual results are not averaged by the number of entrants an association has (so highly ranked associations have a greater ability to obtain points)
• Points are not awarded for the results of individual matches, only the final level of advancement (such as winner, or position in a group stage) determines ranking points
• Only teams that advance to the final eight teams in each club tournament can obtain points

The initial ranking system

The initial classification (for 2004 tournaments) was made according to the performance of the associations in the previous 5 years (1998 to 2002) in club competitions held by the Confederation of African Football.

According to this system the associations selected were Tunisia (36 points), Egypt (31 points), Côte d'Ivoire (27 points), Morocco (24 points), South Africa (17 points), Algeria (17 points), Cameroon (14 points), Ghana (12 points), Angola (12 points), Nigeria (10 points), Congo DR (8 points), and Senegal (6 points).

Season 2005 controversy

In July 2004 the Confederation of African Football informed its members that the ranking system for admission to the various cups for the 2005 season would be done according to the same 1998-2002 ranking used for the 2004 season. It is unknown why CAF did not calculate a 1999-2003 ranking (following UEFA's practice of updating its rankings each season), as there would seem to have been enough time to do this.^[1] Since then, it has become CAF's policy to adopt a year older ranking for the competitions of the new season. So, for the 2012 season, rankings were based on results from 2006 to 2010.

Season 2011 change

In December 2010 CAF altered the ranking system, removing the components from the Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, and weighting more recent results more highly. For 2011 competitions, results from seasons 2005 to 2009 were still used, but the points from 2009 were multiplied by 5, from 2008 by 4 and so on.^[2][3]

Criteria for awarding points

CAF approved its basic criteria, based on the criteria used in the election of the CAF Clubs of the 20th Century on 2000, for awarding points in 2003. Since then the only change (added in 2005) has been the addition of criteria that rewards clubs that advance to the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup.^[4] This methodology has also been used to create an all-time ranking for CAF clubs (adding the points that would have been obtained by each club based on its results since 1965).

The table below shows the years during which the tournament was run (although for the CAF 5-year rankings only results since 1998 have counted). Since 2011 the Super Cup and FIFA World Cup Club have been excluded.^[5]

Competition	6 Points	5 Points	4 Points	3 Points	2 Points	1 Point
Competitions used in current rankings
CAF Champions League 1997-		Champion	Runner-up	Semi-finalist	3rd in Group Stage	4th in Group Stage
CAF Confederation Cup 2004-			Champion	Runner-up	Semi-finalist	3rd in Group Stage 4th in Group Stage
Competitions used in previous rankings
CAF Super Cup 1992-2010						Champion
FIFA Club World Cup 2005-2010	Champion		Runner up 3rd Place		4th Place

Weighting factor

Since the 2011 CAF competitions, when computing the rankings, points have been weighted according to the year of the results. For example, for the ranking points calculated based on performances in continental club championships for the period 2009–2013, the points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follow:^[6]

• 2013 – 5
• 2012 – 4
• 2011 – 3
• 2010 – 2
• 2009 – 1

Association ranking

Ranking for 2011–2016 CAF competitions

Legend

•   Associations ranked 1–12 and eligible to enter two teams in each CAF tournament (Champions League and Confederation Cup)
• NR: No rank

Association	Rank (Points)
	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Tunisia	1 (98)	1 (97)	1 (100)	1 (85)	1 (106)	1 (105)
Egypt	2 (83)	2 (81)	3 (64)	2 (70)	2 (80)	2 (81)
Congo DR	5 (46)	3 (60)	5 (49)	6 (48)	3 (46)	3 (63)
Algeria	6 (27)	6 (45)	7 (43)	7 (40)	T-7 (32)	4 (44)
Sudan	4 (50)	5 (47)	6 (47)	4 (54)	6 (37)	5 (33)
Ivory Coast	7 (22)	T-12 (13)	T-12 (11)	T-15 (6)	13 (13)	6 (30)
Morocco	T-8 (20)	7 (27)	4 (62)	5 (53)	4 (44)	7 (29)
Cameroon	10 (19)	11 (14)	8 (19)	11 (12)	T-9 (21)	T-8 (26)
Congo	NR	NR	NR	9 (20)	T-9 (21)	T-8 (26)
Mali	T-8 (20)	8 (21)	10 (16)	8 (31)	T-7 (32)	T-8 (26)
Nigeria	3 (75)	4 (58)	2 (70)	3 (63)	5 (41)	11 (22)
South Africa	T-14 (10)	T-16 (5)	17 (1)	NR	11 (20)	12 (16)
Angola	11 (18)	T-12 (13)	9 (18)	10 (18)	12 (17)	13 (11)
Libya	16 (9)	10 (16)	T-12 (11)	T-15 (6)	T-16 (4)	14 (7)
Ghana	13 (12)	15 (6)	16 (2)	12 (11)	14 (8)	T-15 (6)
Zambia	T-14 (10)	T-12 (13)	14 (10)	14 (7)	T-16 (4)	T-15 (6)
Ethiopia	NR	NR	NR	NR	15 (5)	17 (4)
Niger	NR	T-16 (5)	15 (4)	17 (3)	19 (2)	T-18 (1)
Zimbabwe	12 (17)	9 (18)	11 (13)	13 (8)	18 (3)	T-18 (1)
Equatorial Guinea	17 (2)	18 (1)	NR	NR	NR	NR
Gabon	T-18 (1)	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Guinea	T-18 (1)	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Note: CAF did not publish any tiebreaking criteria for determining the 12th ranked association. In 2012, Côte d'Ivoire received two entries in each tournament, while Angola and Zambia only received one entry in each. In 2013, Côte d'Ivoire received two entries in each tournament, while Libya only received one entry in each.

Ranking for 2017 CAF competitions

Ranking for 2017 CAF Champions League and 2017 CAF Confederation Cup will be based on results from each CAF tournament (Champions League and Confederation Cup) from 2012 to 2016^[2]

Legend

• CL: CAF Champions League
• CC: CAF Confederation Cup
•   Associations ranked 1–12 and eligible to enter two teams in each CAF tournament (Champions League and Confederation Cup)

Rank	Association	2011 (× 1)		2012 (× 2)		2013 (× 3)		2014 (× 4)		2015 (× 5)		Total
		CL	CC	CL	CC	CL	CC	CL	CC	CL	CC
1	Tunisia	5	3	4	0	3	7	5	1	0	6	100
2	Egypt	2	0	6	0	7	0	1	4	1	4	80
3	Congo DR	0	1	3	0	0	3	7	0	5	0	69
4	Algeria	1	1	2	0	0	1	5	0	7	0	64
5	Sudan	3	0	0	5	0	0	2	0	6	0	51
6	South Africa	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	3	27
7	Congo	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	2	0	1	24
7	Morocco	5	4	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	24
9	Ivory Coast	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	4	0	0	23
9	Mali	0	0	0	4	0	2	0	1	0	1	23
11	Cameroon	2	0	0	0	3	0	0	2	0	0	19
12	Nigeria	3	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12
13	Angola	0	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	7
14	Ghana	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
14	Libya	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4
14	Zambia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	4
17	Ethiopia	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3

Ranking for 2018 CAF competitions

Ranking for 2018 CAF Champions League and 2018 CAF Confederation Cup will be based on results from each CAF tournament (Champions League and Confederation Cup) from 2012 to 2016.^[2]

Legend

• CL: CAF Champions League
• CC: CAF Confederation Cup
•   Associations ranked 1–12 and eligible to enter two teams in each CAF tournament (Champions League and Confederation Cup)

Rank	Association	2012 (× 1)		2013 (× 2)		2014 (× 3)		2015 (× 4)		2016 (× 5)		Total
		CL	CC	CL	CC	CL	CC	CL	CC	CL	CC
1	Egypt	6	0	7	0	1	4	1	4	6	0	85
2	Tunisia	4	0	3	7	5	1	0	6	0	2	76
3	Congo DR	3	0	0	3	7	0	5	0	0	4	70
4	Algeria	2	0	0	1	5	0	7	0	0	3	62
5	South Africa	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	3	5	0	45
6	Morocco	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	3	3	41
7	Sudan	0	5	0	0	2	0	6	0	0	0	35
8	Ivory Coast	0	0	2	0	0	4	0	0	1	0	21
9	Zambia	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	18
10	Congo	0	4	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	16
11	Mali	0	4	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	15
12	Nigeria	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	13
13	Cameroon	0	0	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	12
14	Libya	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	8
15	Ghana	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7
16	Tanzania	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5
17	Angola	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
18	Ethiopia	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2

Club ranking

Club ranking is used for seeding in the CAF competitions.

Legend

•   Enter 2016 CAF Champions League
•   Enter 2016 CAF Confederation Cup

Rank	Club	2011 (× 1)	2012 (× 2)	2013 (× 3)	2014 (× 4)	2015 (× 5)	Total
1	Al-Ahly	2	5	5	4	2	53
2	TP Mazembe	0	3	3	3	5	52
3	Espérance de Tunis	5	4	3	2	1	35
4	ES Sétif	0	0	1	5	2	33
5	Al-Hilal	3	2	0	2	3	30
6	CS Sfaxien	0	0	4	3	1	29
7	Orlando Pirates	0	0	4	0	3	27
7	Étoile du Sahel	0	0	1	1	4	27
9	AC Léopards	0	4	1	2	1	24
10	Zamalek	0	1	2	1	2	22
11	USM Alger	0	0	0	0	4	20
12	Coton Sport	2	0	3	2	0	19
12	Al-Merrikh	0	2	0	0	3	19
14	Séwé Sport	0	0	2	3	0	18
15	AS Vita Club	0	0	0	4	0	16
16	Stade Malien	0	1	2	0	1	13
17	Moghreb Tétouan	0	0	0	0	2	10
18	Sunshine Stars	2	3	0	0	0	8
19	Djoliba	0	3	0	0	0	6
19	Wydad Casablanca	4	1	0	0	0	6
19	CA Bizertin	0	0	2	0	0	6
22	MC El Eulma	0	0	0	0	1	5
22	ASEC Mimosas	1	0	0	1	0	5
22	Smouha	0	0	0	0	1	5
25	ASO Chlef	0	2	0	0	0	4
25	Inter de Luanda	2	1	0	0	0	4
25	Berekum Chelsea	0	2	0	0	0	4
25	Al-Ahly Benghazi	0	0	0	1	0	4
25	AS Real Bamako	0	0	0	1	0	4
25	MAS Fez	4	0	0	0	0	4
25	Nkana	0	0	0	1	0	4
32	Recreativo do Libolo	0	0	1	0	0	3
32	Saint George	0	0	1	0	0	3
32	FUS Rabat	0	0	1	0	0	3
32	Enyimba	3	0	0	0	0	3
32	Club Africain	3	0	0	0	0	3
37	Al-Ahly Shendi	0	1	0	0	0	2
38	JS Kabylie	1	0	0	0	0	1
38	MC Alger	1	0	0	0	0	1
38	Motema Pembe	1	0	0	0	0	1
38	Raja Casablanca	1	0	0	0	0	1
38	Kaduna United	1	0	0	0	0	1

Club results

Club results of the current season and previous five seasons.

		5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
2011	CL	Espérance de Tunis	Wydad Casablanca	Enyimba Al-Hilal	Coton Sport Al-Ahly	MC Alger Raja Casablanca
	CC		MAS Fez	Club Africain	Inter de Luanda Sunshine Stars	JS Kabylie Motema Pembe ASEC Mimosas Kaduna United
2012	CL	Al-Ahly	Espérance de Tunis	TP Mazembe Sunshine Stars	ASO Chlef Berekum Chelsea	Zamalek Étoile du Sahel^[A]
	CC		AC Léopards	Djoliba	Al-Hilal Al-Merrikh	Inter de Luanda Stade Malien Wydad Casablanca Al-Ahly Shendi
2013	CL	Al-Ahly	Orlando Pirates	Coton Sport Espérance de Tunis	Séwé Sport Zamalek	Recreativo do Libolo AC Léopards
	CC		CS Sfaxien	TP Mazembe	Stade Malien CA Bizertin	ES Sétif Saint George FUS Rabat Étoile du Sahel
2014	CL	ES Sétif	AS Vita Club	TP Mazembe CS Sfaxien	Al-Hilal Espérance de Tunis	Zamalek Al-Ahly Benghazi
	CC		Al-Ahly	Séwé Sport	Coton Sport AC Léopards	ASEC Mimosas AS Real Bamako Étoile du Sahel Nkana
2015	CL	TP Mazembe	USM Alger	Al-Hilal Al-Merrikh	ES Sétif Moghreb Tétouan	MC El Eulma Smouha
	CC		Étoile du Sahel	Orlando Pirates	Al-Ahly Zamalek	AC Léopards Stade Malien CS Sfaxien Espérance de Tunis
2016	CL	Mamelodi Sundowns	Zamalek	Wydad Casablanca ZESCO United	Al-Ahly Enyimba	ES Sétif^[B] ASEC Mimosas
	CC		TP Mazembe	MO Béjaïa	FUS Rabat Étoile du Sahel	Medeama Al-Ahli Tripoli Kawkab Marrakech Young Africans

1. ^ Étoile du Sahel were disqualified from the 2012 CAF Champions League during the group stage.^[7] As a result, they did not obtain a position for that tournament and thus were not counted when computing the ranking of Tunisia.^[6]
2. ^ ES Sétif were disqualified from the 2016 CAF Champions League during the group stage.^[8] As a result, they did not obtain a position for that tournament and thus were not counted when computing the ranking of Algeria.

See also

• CAF Clubs of the 20th Century

References

1. "CAF 5-Year Ranking". RSSSF. 11 September 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
2. CAF Club Competitions entry procedures for 2011 released
3. "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
4. "African clubs ranking". CAF. 2008-05-08. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
5. "Two South African clubs for each Interclub Competition". CAF. 29 November 2014.
6. "Ranking of clubs for 2nd 1/8th Final Draw of CC 2014" (PDF). Confederation of African Football. 31 March 2014.
7. "Disqualification of Etoile Sportive du Sahel from the 16th Edition of Orange CAF Champions League 2012" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. 26 August 2012.
8. "Disqualification of ES Sétif". CAF. 23 June 2016.

External links

• CAF 5-Year ranking on RSSSF
• African clubs ranking on CAF official website