2025/26 CAF Inter-Club competitions: Baptism of fire for Gold Stars, Kotoko face Nigerian test
Ghana Premier League champions Bibiani Gold Stars have been handed a tough first test in African club football after drawing Algerian giants Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK) in the opening round of the 2025/26 CAF Champions League.
Two-time African champions and 2025 MTN FA Cup winners Asante Kotoko will meet Nigerian outfit Kwara United in the CAF Confederation Cup, following last Saturday’s preliminary draw in Cairo.
For Gold Stars, this is a baptism of fire in their maiden continental campaign, while fallen giants Kotoko will aim at restoring their continental pedigree in the continent’s second-tier club competition.
Gold Stars, surprise winners of last season’s league title in just their third top-flight campaign, will host the two-time African champions from Algeria between September 19 and 21, before travelling to North Africa for the return leg a week later.
Victory would set up a second-round showdown in October against either Sierra Leone’s East End Lions or Tunisia’s US Monastir, with a place in the lucrative group stage on the line from late November.
JS Kabylie, crowned continental champions in 1981 and 1990, secured their ticket after finishing just two points behind MC Alger in the 2024/25 Algerian Ligue 1.
Kotoko, back in Africa for the first time since 2022, earned their Confederation Cup spot by defeating Golden Kick in June’s FA Cup final.
The Kumasi club, runners-up to fierce rivals Hearts of Oak in the tournament’s inaugural edition in 2004, will also host their first leg on the weekend of September 19–21 before heading to Ilorin for the return clash on the weekend of September 26–28.
The winners of the Kotoko–Kwara tie will face Moroccan powerhouse Wydad Casablanca, the multiple-time African champions, given a bye to the second preliminary round.
Kwara United booked their place in the continental campaign after lifting the Nigerian President’s Federation Cup for the first time, edging Abakaliki FC 4-3 on penalties after a tense goalless draw.
