Yanga, Simba make history as Tanzania sends two teams to CAF Champions League quarters for first time
What you need to know:
- Yanga, who are the defending champions of the Tanzania Mainland League, placed second in Group D after collecting eight points, while Simba made it to the quarterfinals stage after placing second with nine points in Group B
Dar es Salaam. Traditional rivals, Young Africans (Yanga) and Simba, have made history in African football by making Tanzania one of only eight countries to successfully enter two teams into the quarterfinals of the CAF Champions League in the tournament's history.
Yanga, who are the defending champions of the Tanzania Mainland League, placed second in Group D after collecting eight points, while Simba made it to the quarterfinals stage after placing second with nine points in Group B, respectively.
With that feat, Yanga and Simba have joined the likes of regional peers, Sudan, which managed to field two teams in the CAF Champions League quarterfinals twice.
Sudan achieved this feat in 2009 and 2015 through its famous teams, Al Hilal and Al Merrikh.
This achievement made Sudan the only country to make the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (Cecafa) proud by qualifying for the CAF Champions league quarterfinals, where eight teams were grouped into two groups.
History shows that Yanga were the first team to qualify for the initial format of the CAF Champions League group stage, which comprised eight teams in 1998, after eliminating Coffee of Ethiopia with an 8-2 goal aggregate.
Yanga recorded a 2-2 draw in the away match before securing a 6-1 victory at their home ground, the National Stadium, currently known as Uhuru Stadium.
Other teams that made their debut in the CAF Champions League group stage in 1998 were Asec Mimosas of Ivory Coast, Manning Rangers (South Africa), Raja Club Athletic (Morocco), Dynamos Harare (Zimbabwe), Hearts of Oak (Ghana), ES Sahel (Tunisia), and Eagle Cement of Nigeria.
According to CAF Champions League history, Yanga and Simba have put Tanzania in the top position among the eight member countries of the East Africa Community after both qualifying for the CAF Champions League quarterfinals.
There are no records showing that Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda managed to enter two teams into the CAF Champions League quarterfinals.
Simba made history in the 2003 CAF Champions League edition after eliminating the defending champions, Zamalek of Egypt, and qualifying for the group stage with seven other teams.
According to records, Egypt leads the standings for the countries that managed to field two teams in the quarterfinals of the CAF Champions League.
The country has fielded two teams eight times in history.
Egypt managed to field two teams in 2002 (Al Ahly, Zamalek), 2005 (Al Ahly, Zamalek), 2008 (Al Ahly, Zamalek), 2010 (Al Ahly, Ismail), 2012 (Al Ahly, Zamalek), 2013 (Al Ahly, Zamalek), 2016 (Al Ahly, Zamalek), and the 2018/2019 CAF Champions League edition, where Zamalek and Al Ahly qualified for the quarterfinals.
The second country, according to statistics, is Tunisia, with seven instances. Tunisia saw its two teams qualify for the quarterfinals in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2012, through the famous teams Etoile du Sahel and Esperance.
In 2014, CS Sfaxien and Esperance qualified, and in 2018, Etoile Du Tunis and Esperance made it to the last eight.
Esperance and Etoile Du Sahel also qualified for the quarterfinals stage in 2018–2019.
Records also show that Algeria is the only country in the history of the CAF Champions League to have managed to field three teams in the quarterfinals in 2015, where USM Alger, ES Setif, and MC El Euma qualified for the last eight.
The country also fielded two teams in 2010 through ES Setif and JS Kabyle, and in 2022/2023 via JS Kabylie and CR Belouizdad.
On the other hand, Morocco is tied with Algeria for managing to field two teams in the CAF Champions League quarterfinals.
The country's teams, Raja Club Athletic and Wydad Athletic Club, first made the country proud by qualifying for the quarterfinals in 2011 and later in the 2018/2019 edition, where Raja Casablanca and Wydad Club Athletic also qualified.
In 2021/2022, Raja Casablanca and Wydad Club Athletic qualified, and in 2022/2023, Wydad Club Athletics and Raja Casablanca qualified. Meanwhile, DR Congo and South Africa achieved this feat once, like Tanzania.
DR Congo fielded two teams in the CAF Champions League quarterfinals in 2014 through TP Mazembe and AS Vita, while South Africa made it to the 2020/2021 CAF Champions League edition through Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs.
