The 2018–19 CAF Confederation Cup qualifying rounds were played from 27 November 2018 to 20 January 2019.[1] A total of 70 teams competed in the qualifying rounds to decide the 16 places in the group stage of the 2018–19 CAF Confederation Cup.[2]
The draw for the preliminary round and first round was held on 3 November 2018 in Rabat, Morocco, and was officially announced by the CAF on 9 November due to a special situation with the transitional calendar.[3][4][5]
The entry round of the 55 teams entered into the draw was determined by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons (CAF 5-Year Ranking points shown in parentheses).
In the qualifying rounds, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14).[2]
Schedule[]
The schedule of each round was as follows (matches scheduled in midweek in italics).[1]
Round
First leg
Second leg
Preliminary round
27–28 November 2018
4–5 December 2018
First round
14–16 December 2018
21–23 December 2018
Play-off round
11–14 January 2019
18–20 January 2019
Bracket[]
The bracket of the draw was announced by the CAF on 9 November 2018.[5]
As there were 16 winners of the Confederation Cup first round, but only 15 losers of the Champions League first round for this season, the winners of the first round with the best CAF 5-Year Ranking (in bold italics) advanced directly to the group stage.[6] The remaining 15 winners of the first round advanced to the play-off round, where they were joined by the 15 losers of the Champions League first round.
The play-off round included 30 teams: 15 of the 16 winners of the Confederation Cup first round, and the 15 losers of the Champions League first round.
The draw for the play-off round was held on 28 December 2018, 18:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the Nile Ritz-Carlton in Cairo, Egypt.[10][11] The winners of the Confederation Cup first round were drawn against the losers of the Champions League first round, with the teams from the Confederation Cup hosting the second leg.[12]
The teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons (CAF 5-Year Ranking points shown in parentheses):
Pot A contained the seven seeded losers of the Champions League first round.
Pot B contained the five seeded winners of the Confederation Cup first round.
Pot C contained the eight unseeded losers of the Champions League first round.
Pot D contained the ten unseeded winners of the Confederation Cup first round.
First, a team from Pot A and a team from Pot D were drawn into seven ties. Next, a team from Pot B and a team from Pot C were drawn into five ties. Finally, the remaining teams from Pot C and Pot D were drawn into the last three ties.
The 15 winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join Étoile du Sahel, who advanced directly to the group stage as the winners of the first round with the best CAF 5-Year Ranking.
^At the time of the qualifying round draw, the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup Final had not been completed, and thus the identity of the third team from the association of the Confederation Cup winners which were given a bye to the first round was not known.
^At the time of the qualifying round draw, the identity of the second team from Morocco which were given a bye to the first round was not known.
^At the time of the qualifying round draw, the identity of the second team from Cameroon was not known.
^ abcdeTeams from Libya are not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.