Egypt’s Pyramids FC wrote their name into the history books on Sunday by defeating South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 in Cairo to win the CAF Champions League for the first time ever.
The result sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory, following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Pretoria last weekend.
Playing in Africa’s premier club competition for only the second time, Pyramids held off a late Sundowns surge to claim a landmark title in front of an energized home crowd at the 30 June Stadium, which was about half-filled after club appeals for increased fan turnout.
Fiston Mayele opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with a low finish after a partially cleared cross, marking his ninth goal of the tournament. Ahmed Samy added a second in the 56th minute, heading home a Mohamed Chibi free-kick for his first goal in the 16-match campaign.
Iqraam Rayners pulled one back for Sundowns in the 75th minute after capitalizing on a weak clearance, but despite a late push, the visitors failed to find the equalizer that would have seen them lift the trophy on away goals.
The tightly contested final saw both coaches make tactical tweaks. Pyramids boss Krunoslav Jurcic, a former Croatian international, benched top scorer Ibrahim Adel in favour of Ramadan Sobhi, while Sundowns coach Miguel Cardosoreplaced Brazilian Arthur Sales with Jayden Adams.
Cardoso became just the second manager to reach back-to-back finals with different teams after taking Esperance to the 2024 final, which they lost to Al Ahly. He follows in the footsteps of Oscar Fullone, who won titles with ASEC Mimosas (1998) and Raja Casablanca (1999).
Before kickoff, a new Champions League trophy was unveiled, ceremoniously brought to the pitch by Nigerian legend Nwankwo Kanu.
Though Sundowns dominated possession, they rarely threatened in the first half aside from Tashreeq Matthews’ shot that was superbly denied by Ahmed El Shenawy. As tensions rose, yellow cards were handed to Ahmed Atef and Aubrey Modiba after a heated clash.
With Samy becoming the 19th different Pyramids player to score in this year’s competition, the Egyptian side’s depth proved decisive in their dream run.
What you should know
Pyramids FC have captured their maiden CAF Champions League title in only their second appearance, defeating a seasoned Mamelodi Sundowns side 3-2 on aggregate.
Fiston Mayele’s scoring form and a solid defensive performance sealed the historic win in Cairo.
