Morocco's Wydad wins African Champions League against Egypt's Al-Ahly

Morocco's Wydad wins African Champions League against Egypt's Al-Ahly
Wydad Casablanca defeated Egyptian club Al-Ahly to claim their third CAF Champions League title in front of their home supporters in Morocco's largest city.
2 min read
31 May, 2022
Wydad Casablanca celebrated their 2-0 win over Al-Ahly [Getty]

Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca won the CAF Champions League with a 2-0 victory over Egyptian giants Al-Ahly on Monday. 

This is the third time Wydad have won Africa’s biggest club football competition following successes in 1992 and 2017. Their victory stopped Al-Ahly from winning a third straight title. 

Both goals were scored by Zouheir El Moutaraji, who hit a spectacular long-range goal in the first half before adding a second minutes after half time in front of a raucous home crowd. 

The final was held at Wydad’s home ground in Casablanca, Morocco's largest city, and this was the first time fans were allowed to watch the final of this competition since 2019, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Al-Ahly, who have won the competition a record 10 times, had unsuccessfully asked organisers to play the match on neutral ground. They had claimed before the game that the club was a “victim of a lack of fair play and scheduling hiccups” because of the chosen venue and timing of the match, according to the BBC

The date of the final clashed with the first day of the international break, in which players leave their clubs to play matches with their national teams.

Al-Ahly has 12 players who also play for their national sides, and Egypt was forced to rearrange dates for the 2023 Cup of African Nations qualifiers as several Egyptians were playing in the final.