Following Match Day 5 on Sunday in the CAF Confederation Cup reigning Champions, USM Alger, along with four other African clubs, were able to clinch their tickets to the competition’s Quarterfinals.

The current champions, who also own the TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup trophy, are among the five clubs that have secured their spots in this season’s knockout phase, despite their 2-1 loss to Al Hilal Benghazi of Libya.

Following an intense round of Match Day 5, the following five clubs—USM Alger (Algeria), Abu Salem (Libya), RS Berkane (Morocco), Stade Malien (Mali), and Zamalek (Egypt)—have successfully moved to the Quarter-Finals with a game remaining.

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The three current holders of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup trophy, USM Alger (2022–2023), RS Berkane (2022–2022), and Zamalek (2018–19), are among the five qualified clubs.

Abu Salem will be competing in the competition’s knockout stages, while Stade Malian’s most notable run came in 2009 when they narrowly fell to Algeria’s ES Setif in the final.

All eyes will be on Group A and D as they compete for the three remaining berths, with Match Day 6 slated for next weekend.

This will make up the last eight (8), with the goal of unseating USM Alger. Group B (Zamalek, Abu Salem) and D (RS Berkane, Stade Malien) have been decided with one game to spare.

Egypt’s Modern Future only need a point to advance in Group A, but they’ll be up against a fierce Al Hilal Benghazi team that has the potential to knock them out of second place if they win on the road.

In Group C, the leaders Dreams FC of Ghana, with 12 points, are playing Rivers United of Nigeria, with 3 points less.

This makes for an intriguing matchup.

Club Africain, a Tunisian team with nine points, will play Academica do Lobito of Angola, who has already been eliminated from the league.

The latter team may be hoping to send the more popular Tunisians packing with a huge upset at home.