South African clubs in Champions League finals

Mamelodi Sundowns’ qualification for the African Champions League is the seventh time that a South African club will contest a continental club competition final.

Sundowns, who edged Esperance of Tunisia 1-0 in the second leg of their semifinal at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday to secure a 2-0 aggregate triumph, will meet Royal Armed Forces of Morocco in the two-legged final with the first leg at home on the weekend of May 15-17 and the return in Rabat one week later.

SuperSport.com looks back at the previous finals:

1995: Orlando Pirates won the old-style African Champions Cup in extraordinary circumstances, in a result in which they dug deep and showed immense fortitude. They were up against ASEC Abidjan from the Ivory Coast in the deciding tie after beating the champions of Swaziland, Nigeria, Gabon, and Uganda to reach the final.

 They looked to have duffed it after being held 2-2 at Soccer City in the first leg. Coach Joe Frickleton was fired after the match and replaced by his assistant, Ronald Mkhandawire. There was not much hope held out for the return game at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny stadium, where ASEC enjoyed a fearsome reputation, and the sense of expectation in the Ivorian capital was overwhelming as the country awaited its first-ever triumph in the continent’s top club competition. But Pirates won 1-0 away in a famous snatch-and-grab operation, with the decisive goal set up by a clearance from Mark Fish that found Jerry Sikhosana on the counterattack, and he ran almost the half-length of the pitch to score the only goal of the game for Pirates.

2001: Sundowns had come through some tough travel and a difficult group with TP Mazembe, Esperance, and Nigerian club Julius Berger to reach the Champions League semifinal, where they needed penalties to overcome Petro Atlético of Angola after a 2-2 aggregate draw.

 The final, first leg against Al Ahly of Egypt, was held at Loftus Versfeld and ended in a 1-1 draw after Zambian midfielder Gift Kampamba scored in the first half, only for Said Abdelhafiz to equalise 13 minutes into the second half. The second leg score was 3-0 to Ahly, but a gross injustice to Sundowns, who actually should have won the game in Cairo and were warmly applauded off the pitch at the end by the Egyptian fans.

 Khaled Bebo scored a hat-trick for Ahly, who had the cutting edge that Sundowns lacked in front of goal. Bebo’s first was a penalty, followed by a killer blow just before halftime, and a third goal one minute from the end. The Brazilians created a host of chances, but it was on the counter that Ahly were devastatingly effective.

2013: Pirates set the tone for their campaign with a 9-0 aggregate win over Djabal Club of the Comoros Islands in the first round and then beat Zanaco of Zambia before a bruising two-legged third-round encounter against TP Mazembe, where the referee did everything possible in the second leg to help the Congolese club reverse a two-goal deficit, but Senzo Meyiwa was imperious in goal, even saving a penalty.

That got Pirates into the group competition, but given only a slight chance of a top two finish as they were paired with both Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Zamalek in Group A. But Pirates forged a sensational win away against Ahly in El Gouna with their 3-0 victory inflicting the heaviest home defeat suffered by the Cairo giants in African club competition. They also beat Zamalek 4-1 at the Orlando Stadium and finished second to Al Ahly with Zamalek eliminated. The semifinal against Group B winner Esperance ended 1-1 on aggregate with defender Rooi Mahamutsa’s early second-half goal in the second leg in Tunis putting the Buccaneers into the final.

 They were up against Al Ahly once more, this time to decide the trophy, and after Ayanda Gcaba got caught in possession and then gave away a needless free-kick, their goose was cooked. Mohamed Aboutrika curled home an exquisite free-kick with Thabo Matlaba equalising late in stoppage time for a 1-1 draw at home in the first leg. The return in Cairo saw Ahly win 2-0 to take the title.

2016: The unknown Idrissa Traoré will forever hold a special place in Sundowns’ folklore. He was the Mali import at AS Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who was fielded in the early rounds despite being suspended, a fact only discovered after the group places were decided. The Congolese club were kicked out after the belated discovery, and Sundowns, who they had eliminated in the third round, took their place.

 More good fortune poured on Pitso Mosimane’s team when Entente Setif supporters rioted after Sundowns led them 2-0 away in their first group game on the road, and the Algerians were kicked out too. But ‘Downs still had to get past Enyimba and Zamalek, who they beat 2-1 in Cairo to win the group. After that followed a narrow win over Zesco United in the semis and a brilliant final triumph over Zamalek, where the Liberian Anthony Laffor proved the star performer.

2021: Kaizer Chiefs progressed to the final despite a horror form at home and the restrictions of the Covid-19 crisis. New coach Gavin Hunt saw his side scrape through the preliminary stages with 1-0 aggregate wins over both PWD Bamenda of Cameroon and Angola’s Primeiro Agosto.

In Group C, they started poorly with a home draw to Horoya of Guinea and then a 4-0 walloping at Wydad Casablanca, but two wins and two draws after that proved enough to finish second in the standings, pipping Horoya on their head-to-head result by the slimmest margin on away goals. In the quarterfinal, Chiefs finally produced a performance of conviction by hammering Simba from Tanzania 4-0 at Soccer City with a double from Samir Nurkovic. But they almost blew it a week later in the return in Dar-es-Salaam amid accusations that noxious gasses were thrown into the Chiefs bus and change room.

Simba fought back with three goals, but Chiefs edged through 4-3 on aggregate. They were up against Wydad again in the semifinals and shocked all with a surprise 1-0 win in Casablanca with Nurkovic again the hero. By this time, Hunt had already been fired, and Arthur Zwane had taken over.

The return leg at Soccer City saw Chiefs hold out for a goalless draw, and despite being only eighth in the league standings, they were through to the biggest game in club football on the continent. Stuart Baxter took charge for the final in neutral Casablanca, where Chiefs were no match for Al Ahly, especially after Happy Mashiane was red-carded before halftime. The Cairo club won 3-0, beating a South African club in the final for a third time.

2025: Sundowns were competing in the Champions League for an 11th successive season and got through to the group stage for a 10th year in a row by overcoming Mbabane Swallows from Eswatini 8-0 on aggregate, with both legs played in Pretoria.

Sundowns had a change of coaches immediately after their first group game against DR Congo’s Maniema Union, which ended in a disappointing goalless draw, and was the last straw that saw Manqoba Mngqithi sacked. The second group game was a draw at Royal Armed Forces in Morocco, which marked the debut of new coach Miguel Cardoso.

Sundowns then picked up seven more points in their last four games and finished second in the group, despite their lowest points tally since 2018. They went on to eliminate Cardoso’s old side Esperance in the last eight by a single goal on aggregate and then edged past holders Al Ahly in the semifinals with a fortunate own goal in the final minutes, seeing them into the final. Sundowns were heavily fancied in the final but outplayed by Pyramids of Egypt, who won 3-2 on aggregate after forcing a 1-1 draw in the first leg at Loftus Versfeld.