With Kaizer Chiefs returning to continental football, CAF have updated their rankings ahead of the Confederation Cup draw on Saturday.
Chiefs qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup by virtue of winning the Nedbank Cup, after a 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Orlando Pirates in the final in May.
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Head coach Nasreddine Nabi will likely be licking his lips having reached the final with his former club Young Africans in 2023.
Yanga were the first Tanzanian side to reach the Confed Cup semi-final and, after beating Marumo Gallants, were the first in their country to reach the final, which they lost to USM Alger of Algeria.
The men in Gold and Black will be joined in the tournament by Stellenbosch, who finished third in the domestic standings last term.
Stellies had a dream run in the Confederation Cup in 2024/25, going all the way to the semi-finals, before being edged by Tanzanian giants Simba SC.
As a result, they have made remarkable strides in the rankings released by CAF recently, jumping up to joint 21st in Africa.
After a long time of not participating in CAF tournaments, since reaching fhe CAF Champions League final in 2021, the Glamour Boys are ranked number 50 on the continent, with Gallants ranked ahead of them at 31st.
With the first preliminary round draw set for Saturday, the Winelands outfit could be one of the 12 highest-ranked clubs exempted from the first preliminary round, as per the draw procedure.
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With 40 clubs involved in the first preliminary round, three pots shall be created for 37 'non-ranked' clubs, most likely to include Chiefs, while three 'ranked' clubs will be seeded.
The pairing of clubs, however, will be based "considering their geographical proximity".
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