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Nairobi United land Wydad Casablanca, DR Congo’s Maniema and Azam in Caf Confed Cup
Nairobi United players warmup before the Mozzart Bet Cup final match against Gor Mahia at Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi June 29, 2025.
What you need to know:
- Like Nairobi United, AS Maniema and Azam will also be making their first appearances in the CAF Confederation Cup.
- Reacting to the draw, Nairobi United’s technical director Salim Ali said the group was “good” and “favourable”.
Nairobi United will play Moroccan giants Wydad Casablanca, AS Maniema from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania’s Azam in Group ‘B’ of 2025/26 CAF Confederation Cup.
The draw for the competition’s round-robin stage was done on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Nairobi United’s first match will be away to Wydad Casablanca on November 23, 2025, before hosting AS Maniema on November 30.
After that, the competition will break for two months, with action resuming on January 25 when Nairobi United will host Azam before travelling to Tanzania for the second leg on February 1.
On February 8, 2026, Nairobi United will host Wydad Casablanca, then travel to AS Maniema to complete their group stage campaign on February 15.
Wydad Casablanca, who qualified for this season’s competition after finishing third in last season’s Moroccan top flight, will be the favourites in the group, owing to their enviable record in African football.
The Moroccans have won the CAF Champions League thrice (1992, 2017, and 2021-22) and finished runners-up as many times (2011, 2018-19, and 2022-23). They also won the CAF Super Cup in 2018, and were losing finalists in 1993, 2003, and 2022. In 1992, they won the African Cup Winners’ Cup, the competition that Gor Mahia won in 1987.
Nairobi United's Brian Omondi (right) charges forward with the ball during their CAF Confederation Cup second round match against Tunisia's Étoile du Sahel in Tunis on October 27, 2025.
However, the Moroccans are yet to win the CAF Confederation Cup. This will be their second appearance in the group stage of the competition. They suffered elimination at the same stage on their debut in the competition in 2012.
They advanced to the group stage of this season’s competition after defeating Ghana’s Asante Kotoko 6-1 on aggregate. Wydad had received a bye to the final qualifying round.
Like Nairobi United, AS Maniema and Azam will also be making their first appearances in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Reacting to the draw, Nairobi United’s technical director Salim Ali said the group was “good” and “favourable”.
“We are now waiting for CAF to share the fixtures so that we can plan accordingly,” he said.
“The fact that there are three debutants in our group and Wydad has featured only once in the competition before, gives all the teams in the group an advantage since none is experienced in the competition more than the other. As such, it will all be down to how we perform at home and manage our performance in away games,” Ali added.
Nairobi United players pose for a team photo before the Mozzart Bet Cup final match against Gor Mahia at Ulinzi Sports Complex in Nairobi June 29, 2025.
Maniema reached the group stage of the tournament after defeating Mauritius’ Pamplemousses 4-3 on aggregate in the first qualifying round, then mirrored Nairobi United’s elimination of Etoile Sportive du Sahel by overcoming Royal Leopards 4-3 on penalties after their tie ended 2-2 on aggregate.
Nairobi United defeated Etoile du Sahel 7-6 on penalties following a 2-2 aggregate draw. Before that, they had eliminated NEC FC of Uganda on the away goals rule following a 3-3 aggregate draw. Nairobi United had drawn 2-2 away.
Azam earned their place with the most perfect of records. They won their four qualifying matches without conceding a goal, defeating South Sudan’s El Merrikh Bentiu 4-0 in the First Round and KMKM of Zanzibar 9-0 in the Second Round.
The full draw of the 2025/26 CAF Confederation Cup group stage draw is as follows:
GROUP A
USM Alger (Algeria)
Djoliba (Mali)
Olympic Safi (Morocco)
San Pedro (Cote d’Ivoire)
GROUP B
Wydad Casablanca (Morocco)
AS Maniema (DR Congo)
Azam (Tanzania)
Nairobi United (Kenya)
GROUP C
CR Belouizdad (Algeria)
Stellenbosch (South Africa)
AS Otoho (Congo-Brazzaville)
Singida Black Stars (Tanzania)
GROUP D
Zamalek (Egypt)
Al Masry (Egypt)
Kaizer Chiefs (South Africa)
Zesco United (Zambia)
