- Sundowns Win CAF Champions League After 1-1 Draw With AS FAR in Rabat
Mamelodi Sundowns have been crowned African champions for the second time after holding Morocco’s AS FAR to a 1-1 draw in Rabat to win the CAF Champions League final 2-1 on aggregate.
The South African giants entered the second leg with a narrow 1-0 lead from Pretoria and survived a tense night at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, where AS FAR briefly levelled the tie before Teboho Mokoena produced the decisive moment.
AS FAR captain Mohamed Hrimat gave the Moroccan side the lead from the penalty spot in the 40th minute, cancelling out Sundowns’ first-leg advantage and bringing the final back to parity on aggregate.
But Sundowns responded in first-half stoppage time when Mokoena struck a powerful shot from the edge of the box. The ball beat goalkeeper Ahmed Tagnaouti and crashed into the net off the underside of the crossbar, restoring Sundowns’ aggregate lead and shifting momentum back to the visitors.
The goal proved decisive, although Sundowns were forced to endure a nervy closing spell after AS FAR were awarded a second penalty with 15 minutes remaining. Hrimat, who had converted earlier, missed the chance to level the aggregate score again as Sundowns held firm to secure the trophy.
The victory gives Sundowns their second CAF Champions League title, a decade after their first triumph in 2016, and reinforces the club’s status as one of the continent’s most consistent and ambitious football institutions.
For Sundowns, the result also delivers redemption after recent continental disappointments and confirms the maturity of a side that has repeatedly reached the latter stages of African competition.
The triumph carries more than prestige. By winning the Champions League, Sundowns have also secured qualification for the FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup, placing the Pretoria-based club on the global stage once again.
For AS FAR, the defeat will be painful. The Moroccan side had an opportunity to complete a memorable comeback at home, especially after taking the lead and later winning a second penalty. But missed chances and Mokoena’s moment of quality denied them a first continental title since 1985.
The final underlined the fine margins that often decide African club football’s biggest nights. AS FAR had the emotion, the home crowd and the opportunity. Sundowns had the advantage, the composure and the decisive strike.
Mokoena’s goal will be remembered as one of the defining moments of the final not only for its technical quality, but for the timing and pressure under which it arrived.
For South African football, Sundowns’ victory strengthens the country’s standing in continental competition and adds another chapter to the club’s modern era of dominance.
For African club football, the final offered the drama CAF would have hoped for: a packed stadium, a continental powerhouse under pressure, a Moroccan comeback attempt, a missed penalty and a title decided by one moment of brilliance.
Sundowns went to Rabat with a narrow lead and left with Africa’s biggest club prize.
