The Albany Gazette - Club World Cup riches await four African challengers

By securing places, Al Ahly of Egypt, Esperance of Tunisia, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco are each guaranteed $9.55 million (€8.4 million) appearance fees.

The bonanza is the equivalent of Sundowns winning nine league titles in South Africa, the African country with the richest football prize money.

A win in the group phase will add $2 million, a draw $1 million, and a top-two finish and qualification for the knockout phase $7.5 million.

Winners of the premier African club competition, the CAF Champions League, receive $4 million for playing 14 or 16 matches. No side will play more than seven matches in the Club World Cup.

Here, AFP Sport looks at the African contenders, all of whom have competed in the Club World Cup when it was an annual seven-club affair.

Ahly

Spaniard Jose Riveiro will make his competitive debut as coach of the Cairo Red Devils when they face Lionel Messi-inspired Inter Miami in the tournament opener on June 14.

"The best way to contain Messi is to stop the ball reaching him, but we also have a plan for him when he does receive possession," said Riveiro.

He left Orlando Pirates in South Africa in May after a three-season stint in which he won five domestic knockout trophies and reached the 2025 Champions League semi-finals.

Ahly have been busy in the transfer market, signing former Aston Villa striker Mahmoud 'Trezeguet' Hassan from Turkish outfit Trabzonspor and winger Ahmed 'Zizo' Sayed from arch Cairo rivals Zamalek.

Esperance

The Blood and Gold from Tunis will be coached by one of their former stars, Maher Kanzari, after Romanian Laurențiu Reghecampf was axed in mid season having been in charge for only four months.

Kanzari delivered a domestic league and cup double, but they made a timid exit from the Champions League in the quarter-finals.

Esperance boast a star striker in Algerian Youcef Belaili, whose seven goals placed him second in the Champions League Golden Boot race.

The four-time African champions have struggled in previous Club World Cup appearances, finishing fifth twice and sixth once.

Sundowns

Sundowns are a club under a cloud after losing 3-2 on aggregate to Pyramids recently in a Champions League final they were expected to win.

It was the second successive Champions League final loss for Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso, who was in charge of Esperance when they lost the 2024 final to Ahly.

Many Sundowns supporters were unhappy that Cardoso did not use fit-again veteran midfielder Themba Zwane in either leg of the title decider.

Sundowns are captained by goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, who created history at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations by saving four shootout penalties to take South Africa past Cape Verde in a quarter-final.

Wydad

The Casablanca outfit sacked South African coach Rulani Mokwena as the Moroccan season drew to a close after he failed to secure a 2026 Champions League slot for the three-time continental champions.

He was replaced by local Mohamed Benhachem, who transformed a team that had drawn six consecutive domestic league matches into one that ended the campaign by winning three in a row.

Wydad have signed Burkina Faso midfielder Stephane Aziz Ki from Young Africans of Tanzania and Dutch defender Bart Meijers from Bosnia and Herzegovina club Borac Banja Luka.

They are the only African contenders who will not face a Brazilian club in the group phase, but are not expected to advance from a section including Manchester City and Juventus.

(W.Williams--TAG)