{"id":925330,"date":"2026-08-07T02:14:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/07\/caf-champions-league-rangers-rivers-united-find-out-opponents\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T02:14:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T07:14:38","slug":"caf-champions-league-rangers-rivers-united-find-out-opponents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/07\/caf-champions-league-rangers-rivers-united-find-out-opponents\/","title":{"rendered":"CAF Champions League: Rangers, Rivers United find out opponents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Coach Daniel Ogunmodede and Coach Finidi George. Copyright: xAdeniyixMuyiwaxImago<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nigerian Premier Football League\u00a0champions Rangers FC and fellow NPFL side Rivers United have discovered their opponents for the 2026-27 CAF Champions League,<\/a>\u00a0Soccernet.ng<\/u><\/a>\u00a0reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The draw was conducted in Cairo, Egypt, shortly after the\u00a0CAF Confederation Cup draw<\/u><\/a>\u00a0on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

A total of 61 clubs entered this season’s competition, with the three highest-ranked teams\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Mamelodi Sundowns, Esp\u00e9rance de Tunis and RS Berkane,\u00a0receiving byes into the second preliminary round.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Enugu Rangers players in training. (Photo credit: Rangers X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The remaining 58 clubs were paired in two-legged first preliminary round ties\u00a0and the\u00a029 winners will join the three seeded teams in the second preliminary round, making up the final 32 clubs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From there, 16 teams will qualify for the group stage, where they will compete for the African title currently held by Mamelodi Sundowns.<\/p>\n

Soccer NPFL representatives learn CAF Champions League route<\/h2>\n

Nigeria will be represented by Rangers and Rivers United, both of whom featured in last season’s competition but failed to progress beyond the group stage.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Enugu Rangers celebrate NPFL win to qualify for CAF Champions League. (Rangers\/X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Champions\u00a0Rangers have been drawn against Benin Republic side AS Sobemap in the first preliminary round. Should they progress, they will face either MC Alger or ASN Nigelec in the second preliminary round, with the Algerian\u00a0side\u00a0expected to provide a much\u00a0tougher\u00a0challenge.<\/p>\n

Rivers United, who endured a disappointing campaign last season by finishing bottom of their group, will begin this year’s competition against Ivorian side FC San Pedro. If they advance, they will meet either Vipers SC or FC Nouadhibou in the second preliminary round.<\/p>\n

Both Nigerian clubs will be aiming for a stronger showing this season as they look to end the country’s long wait for another CAF Champions League title. No Nigerian club has won the competition since Enyimba’s historic triumph in 2004.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Rivers during the Caf Champions League. Photo by: ImagoxNsidibeAkpan Copyright: xx<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The preliminary rounds are scheduled to be played between September 4 and October 25, while the group stage is set to begin in November.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"<!--Ayomide Oguntimehin” src=”https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/thumbor\/zmwfydkHBdXjhs7OwCCIAo3r_GQ=\/150×150\/smart\/filters:format(webp)\/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.soccernet.ng%2Fmain%2F2024%2F12%2FAyomide-Oguntimehin-pics.jpg” height=”80″ width=”80″>\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin is a CAF-accredited sports journalist and Chief Editor at Soccernet.ng. He has interviewed Super Eagles stars like William Troost-Ekong, Taiwo Awoniyi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Ademola Lookman, and is known for breaking major transfer stories.<\/p>\n

Ayomide has worked with Sports Brief, Naija News and served as Social Lead Editor at Legit.ng. He has also featured on Goal, TVC News, Sports Mole, and Milan News24. He holds a Master\u2019s degree and is currently pursuing a PhD. Follow Ayomide on X (formerly Twitter): @ayo_oguntimehin\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Ayomide Oguntimehin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Coach Daniel Ogunmodede and Coach Finidi George. Copyright: xAdeniyixMuyiwaxImago Nigerian Premier Football League\u00a0champions Rangers FC and fellow NPFL side Rivers United have discovered their opponents for the 2026-27 CAF Champions League,\u00a0Soccernet.ng\u00a0reports. The draw was conducted in Cairo, Egypt, shortly after the\u00a0CAF Confederation Cup draw\u00a0on Wednesday. A total of 61 clubs entered this season’s competition, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":925331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1532,4702,2005],"tags":[13465,7607],"class_list":["post-925330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-champions","category-league","category-soccer","tag-champions","tag-league"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}