Updated CAF Club Ranking Ahead Of 2026/27 Season

As the 2026/27 season approached, Mamelodi Sundowns entered the new campaign at the top of CAF's five-year ranking, after surpassing Egyptian giants Al Ahly. Sundowns earned this position by winning the 2025/26 CAF Champions League and reaching the final in the previous season, along with semi-final placements in each of the last four editions. Al Ahly's weaker performance in recent years led to Sundowns taking over the top slot. With Al Ahly not qualifying for the Champions League in the 2026/27 season, Sundowns had the opportunity to extend their lead should they perform well in upcoming matches.

Moreover, the rankings saw Esperance de Tunis, RS Berkane, and USM Alger rounding out Africa's top five, with USM Alger having won the previous season's CAF Confederation Cup, while Esperance and RS Berkane were both semi-finalists in the CAF Champions League.

Orlando Pirates dropped to 19th place (20 points) after missing out on the CAF Champions League group stage last season. Stellenbosch FC was ranked 24th (14.5 points), Marumo Gallants 37th (6 points), and Kaizer Chiefs 38th (5 points).

The complete top 10 in CAF's five-year ranking was:
1. Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) – 73 points
2. Al Ahly (Egypt) – 66 points
3. Esperance (Tunisia) – 58 points
4. RS Berkane (Morocco) – 57 points
5. USM Alger (Algeria) – 52 points
6. Zamalek (Egypt) – 49 points
7. Pyramids (Egypt) – 48 points
8. ASFAR (Morocco) – 41 points
9. Al-Hilal (Sudan) – 39 points
10. CR Belouizdad (Algeria) – 38 points

The ranking calculation utilized points accumulated over the last five years, specifically from the 2020/21 to 2025/26 seasons. Points from the 2025/26 season were multiplied by five, decreasing each year back to one for the 2021/22 season. The CAF Champions League winners received six points (Sundowns), while runners-up ASFAR got five points. Semi-finalists received four points each, with various allocations down to the group stage teams. Points from the 2020/21 season were excluded from the five-year cycle, which impacted teams like Kaizer Chiefs that had previously reached the CAF Champions League final.

Sundowns' total points were calculated as follows: 3×1 (2021/22) + 4×2 (2022/23) + 4×3 (2023/24) + 5×4 (2024/25) + 6×5 (2025/26) achieving an overall total of 73 points.