2018 CAF Confederation Cup group stage explained

Tourney Name:CAF Confederation Cup group stage
Year:2018
Matches:48
Goals:106
Prevseason:2017
Nextseason:2018–19

The 2018 CAF Confederation Cup group stage was played from 6 May to 29 August 2018.[1] A total of 16 teams competed in the group stage to decide the eight places in the knockout stage of the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup.[2]

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on 21 April 2018, 14:00 EET (UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[3] [4] The 16 teams, all winners of the play-off round of qualifying, were drawn into four groups of four. The teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons (CAF 5-year ranking points shown in parentheses).[5] Each group contained one team from Pot 1 and three teams from Pot 2, and each team was drawn into one of the positions in their group.[6]

Potwidth=25%Pot 1width=75%Pot 2
Teamsvalign=topvalign=top

Format

In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations III. 20 & 21):[2]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  5. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
  6. Goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Drawing of lots.

Schedule

The schedule of each matchday was as follows (matches scheduled in midweek in italics).[1] [7] Effective from the Confederation Cup group stage, weekend matches were played on Sundays while midweek matches were played on Wednesdays, with some exceptions. Kick-off times were also fixed at 13:00, 16:00 and 19:00 GMT.[8]

MatchdayDatesMatches
Matchday 16 May 2018Team 1 vs. Team 4, Team 2 vs. Team 3
Matchday 216 May 2018Team 3 vs. Team 1, Team 4 vs. Team 2
Matchday 318 July 2018Team 4 vs. Team 3, Team 1 vs. Team 2
Matchday 429 July 2018Team 3 vs. Team 4, Team 2 vs. Team 1
Matchday 519 August 2018Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 3 vs. Team 2
Matchday 629 August 2018Team 1 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 4

Groups

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: DATES FOR CAF INTERCLUBS COMPETITIONS 2018. CAF.
  2. Web site: CAF Confederation Cup regulations . CAF .
  3. Web site: Draw for the Confederation Cup 2018. YouTube. 21 April 2018.
  4. Web site: Regional rivalries echoed, giants draw each other. CAF. 21 April 2018.
  5. Web site: Ranking for the draw of the Group Matches of Total CAF Confederation Cup 2018. CAF.
  6. Web site: Draw procedure for group phase. CAF. 20 April 2018.
  7. Web site: Group Phase Fixtures. CAF.
  8. Web site: Friday & Saturday for Champions League, Sunday for Confederation Cup. CAF. 17 April 2018.