2026-2027 CAF Champions League: Steadfast Colombe Progress

J ust like last season, Colombe Sportive of Dja and Lobo, Ca­ meroon’s representative in the Confederation of African Foot­ ball (CAF) Champions League, have moved to the second prelimi­ nary round of the ongoing edition. The boys from Cameroon’s South Region achieved this feat after overcoming Mali’s Stade Malien 4– 3 on penalties following two goal­ less legs. The first leg in Yaounde, which en­ ded 0–0, exposed the strengths and weaknesses of both teams, with neither side managing to find the back of the net. However, al­ though Colombe did not win, they did well to prevent their opponents from scoring in Yaounde, particu­ larly because the away-goal rule remains applicable in the competi­ tion. The attacking drought continued in the second leg in Bamako on Sun­ day, September 13, 2026, as nei­ ther side scored. Chances came from both teams, but finishing re­ mained the biggest problem. The tie therefore had to be decided by a penalty shoot-out, where calm­ ness and composure made the dif­ ference. Colombe held their nerve in Ba­ mako, winning 4–3 on penalties to progress to the second preliminary round. They will now face Sene­ gal’s Teungueth FC. The Senega­ lese side completed the list of Sun­ day’s winners by defeating FC Canchungo of Guinea Bissau 1–0 to secure a 2–0 aggregate victory. It is clear that Teungueth FC can score, while Colombe have strug­ gled to find the net. This is there­ fore a wake-up call for the Came­ roonian side to fine-tune its attack. From the outset, it was evident that Colombe will face a difficult path in the preliminary rounds, gi­ ven the calibre of the teams t...