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

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. 

🎥 HIGHLIGHTS:

A goal each half of the game from Zouhair El Moutaraji secure the #TotalEnergiesCAFCL title for @WACofficiel vs. Al Ahly SC!@Football2Gether pic.twitter.com/uEJ6uYwBPA

— TotalEnergies CAFCL - TotalEnergies CAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC) May 30, 2022

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. 

Beautiful champions@WACofficiel coach Walid Regragui hails his team after they win a third African Champions League title with a win over Al Ahly - @TheRealPitso says win proves African coaches are getting more chances at the highest level.https://t.co/8XC04th0gD pic.twitter.com/K7uApfvL4f

— Nick Cavell BBC Africa (@BBC_NickCavell) May 31, 2022

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.