| 2015Orange CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | 13 February – 29 November 2015 |
| Teams | 55+8 (from 43 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Étoile du Sahel (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Orlando Pirates |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 138 |
| Goals scored | 341 (2.47 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Baghdad Bounedjah Georges AmbourouetThamsanqa Gabuza(6 goals each) |
←2014 2016 → | |
The2015 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the2015 Orange CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of theCAF Confederation Cup,Africa's secondary clubfootball competition organized by theConfederation of African Football (CAF). The winner earned the right to play in the2016 CAF Super Cup.[1]
Étoile du Sahel of Tunisia won the competition for the second time in their history after a 2–1 aggregate victory overOrlando Pirates of South Africa in thefinal.Al-Ahly were the defending champions, and after qualifying for the2015 CAF Champions League, they entered the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup after they lost in the Champions League second round, but they were eliminated in the semi-finals.
All 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Confederation Cup, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to theirCAF 5-year ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition. The title holders can also enter if they have not qualified for the CAF Champions League.[1] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 69 teams could enter the tournament (plus eight teams eliminated from the CAF Champions League which enter the play-off round) – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup, the CAF uses the 2009–2013CAF 5-year ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over those 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup. The criteria for points are the following:[2]
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederation Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | 5 points | 4 points |
| Runner-up | 4 points | 3 points |
| Losing semi-finalists | 3 points | 2 points |
| 3rd place in groups | 2 points | 1 point |
| 4th place in groups | 1 point | 1 point |
The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
The following 63 teams from 43 associations entered the competition.
Teams inbold received a bye to thefirst round. The other teams entered thepreliminary round.
Associations are shown according to their2009–2013 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.[3]
| Losers of the2015 CAF Champions League second round | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 AS Kaloum |  SM Sanga Balende | Espérance de Tunis | CS Sfaxien |
 AC Léopards |  Al-Ahly |  Raja Casablanca |  Stade Malien |
The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws are held at the CAF headquarters inCairo,Egypt).[4]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | Preliminary round | 22 December 2014[5] | 13–15 February 2015 | 27 February–1 March 2015 |
| First round | 13–15 March 2015 | 3–5 April 2015 | ||
| Second round | 17–19 April 2015 | 1–3 May 2015 | ||
| Play-off round | 5 May 2015[6] | 15–17 May 2015 | 5–7 June 2015 | |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 26–28 June 2015 | ||
| Matchday 2 | 10–12 July 2015 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 24–26 July 2015 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 7–9 August 2015 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 21–23 August 2015 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 11–13 September 2015 | |||
| Knockout stage | Semi-finals | 25–27 September 2015 | 2–4 October 2015 | |
| Final | 20–22 November 2015 | 27–29 November 2015 | ||
The draw for the preliminary, first and second qualifying rounds was held on 22 December 2014.[7]
Qualification ties were played on a home-and-awaytwo-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, theaway goals rule would be applied, and if still level, thepenalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (noextra time would be played).[1]
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onze Créateurs | 0–3 |  ASEC Mimosas | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Djoliba | 2–2 (a) |  Hearts of Oak | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| ASO Chlef | 1–2 | Club Africain | 1–1 | 0–1 |
Warri Wolves | 3–1 | MK Étanchéité | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Zamalek | 3–2 | FUS Rabat | 0–0 | 3–2 |
| CF Mounana | 2–5 | Orlando Pirates | 2–2 | 0–3 |
Young Africans | 1–2 | Étoile du Sahel | 1–1 | 0–1 |
Royal Leopards | 2–4 | AS Vita Club | 1–0 | 1–4 |
The draw for the play-off round was held on 5 May 2015.[10] The winners of the Confederation Cup second round were drawn against the losers of theChampions League second round, with the former hosting the second leg.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Ahly | 3–3 (5–4p) | Club Africain | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Espérance de Tunis | 5–1 | Hearts of Oak | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| AC Léopards | 4–3 | Warri Wolves | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| CS Sfaxien | 3–1 | ASEC Mimosas | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Stade Malien | 4–3 | AS Vita Club | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| AS Kaloum | 1–6 | Orlando Pirates | 0–2 | 1–4 |
| SM Sanga Balende | 2–3 | Zamalek | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Raja Casablanca | 2–3 | Étoile du Sahel | 2–0 | 0–3 |
Group A.
Group B.The draw for the group stage was held on 5 May 2015.[10] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four. Each group was played on a home-and-awayround-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to thesemi-finals.
The teams were ranked according topoints (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order:[1]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | AHL | ESS | STA | EST | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al-Ahly | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 13 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | |
| 2 | Étoile du Sahel | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 13 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | Stade Malien | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 5 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | ||
| 4 | Espérance de Tunis | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ZAM | ORL | LEO | CSS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zamalek | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 15 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Orlando Pirates | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 12 | 1–2 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | AC Léopards | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 5 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | ||
| 4 | CS Sfaxien | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — |
Knockout ties were played on a home-and-awaytwo-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, theaway goals rule would be applied, and if still level, thepenalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (noextra time would be played).[1]
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Orlando Pirates | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||
| 4 | Al-Ahly | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||
| Orlando Pirates | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Étoile du Sahel | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Étoile du Sahel | 5 | 0 | 5 | |||||||||
| 2 | Zamalek | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
In the semi-finals, the group A winners played the group B runners-up, and the group B winners played the group A runners-up, with the group winners hosting the second leg.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando Pirates | 5–3 | Al-Ahly | 1–0 | 4–3 |
| Étoile du Sahel | 5–4 | Zamalek | 5–1 | 0–3 |
In the final, the order of legs was determined by a draw, held after the group stage draw.
| Orlando Pirates | 1–1 | Étoile du Sahel |
|---|---|---|
Gabuza 36' | Report | Jemal 87' |
Étoile du Sahel won 2–1 on aggregate.
