RIVERS United have been placed in the toughest group possible in this season’s CAF Champions League.
The group stage draw was held today with 16 clubs split into four groups. Two clubs from each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
Nigeria’s representatives Rivers United will face the defending champions Pyramids FC of Egypt, CAF Confederation Cup holders RS Berkane of Morocco and Zambia’s Power Dynamos in Group A of Africa’s premier club competition.
Rivers United, who finished as runners-up in the Nigeria Premier Football League last season, are the least accomplished club in their group.
Pyramids FC, formed in 2008 and taken over by Saudi Arabian owners in 2018, claimed their first CAF Champions League title this year when they defeated South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns 3-2 on aggregate in the final.
RS Berkane won the Confederation Cup for the third time in 2025, overcoming Tanzania’s Simba FC in the final. The Moroccans previously clinched the trophy in 2020 and 2022.
Power Dynamos are the only club from Zambia with a continental trophy, having won the CAF Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991.
Rivers United are the only Nigerian club through to the group stages of CAF competitions this season, with Remo Stars (Champions League) as well as Kwara United and Abia Warriors (both Confederation Cup) having been eliminated earlier.
In other CAF Champions League groups, giants Al Ahly of Egypt, Tanzania’s Young Africans and AS FAR of Morocco are in Group B; Mamelodi Sundowns will vie with Al Hilal of Sudan and Algeria’s MC Alger in Group C, while Esperance are favourites in Group D.