Mamelodi Sundowns still have work to book a spot in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in spite of progressing to the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League.
Sundowns qualified for the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League after edging Young Africans 3-2 on penalties following a goalless draw in the quarter-final second-leg and also scoreless on aggregate.
The Brazilians are currently the leading team in the CAF region to qualify for the Club World Cup via ranking route, as they lie third on the FIFA rankings, behind Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca, who have already qualified as winners of the previous two editions of the CAF Champions League.
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The Tshwane giants went into the CAF Champions League quarter-final first-leg against Young Africans with 93 points on the rankings, eight points ahead of rivals for a spot in the Club World Cup, Esperance de Tunis, who are fourth.
FIFA allocates three points for a victory, one point for a draw and three points for progression into the next round of the CAF Champions League and by not winning the encounter against Yanga, Sundowns missed out on stretching their lead ahead of Esperance even further.
However, Masandawana's draw did not work to Esperance's favour, after the Tunisian giants also played to a goalless draw against ASEC Mimosas at home in their quarter-final first-leg and had the same result in the second-leg.
As a result, Rulani Mokwena's charges remain eight points ahead of Esperance.
However, the Red and Yellow also progressed to the semi-finals after beating the Ivorian giants 4-2 on penalties on Saturday evening.
The trick now for Sundowns is that they will face Esperance in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League, which means they can only confirm their spot in the 32-team world showpiece, which reportedly carries a minimum prize money of €50 million (R1 billion) for reaching the group stages, if they knock Esperance out of Africa's premier club tournament.
The Red and Yellow will also have to eliminate the Brazilians to stand any chance of finishing third in the FIFA rankings and qualify via that particular path, should they not win the tournament.
Both teams will qualify for the Club World Cup if either of them wins this season's CAF Champions League and also both of them will go through if Al Ahly are crowned champions for the second season running and a record 12th time.
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