May 17th, 2026, the city of Pretoria hosted the 1st leg of the CAF champions league final as Tshwane giants Mamelodi Sundowns took on Moroccan side AS FAR at the Loftus Versefeld stadium.
Mamelodi Sundowns playing in their 2nd consecutive champions league final and looking for continental redemption after being on the losing end of last season’s final to Pyramids FC of Egypt, whilst AS FAR playing their 1st final in 4 decades, a match of historical consequence was on the cards.
A sea of yellow greeted the opposition side as the Masandawana faithful painted the entire capital in Sundowns colors, which inspires their nickname the Brazilians, not to mention a buzzing saleout crowd at Loftus Versfeld that awaited.
From the 1st whistle Mamelodi Sundowns showed that there were the home side,as early as the 2nd minute Tashreeq Mathews found himself racing into the box after a lovely ball from the midfield ,but failed to protect the ball better allowing the man on him to clear the ball.
The 1st half was a bit of a cagey affair but whenever Mamelodi Sundowns pushed forward they looked dangerous, and in the 32nd minute Mathews was fouled some distance from the box and Sundowns won a setpiece.
With Nuno Santos and Aubrey Modiba standing over the ball ,everyone watching including the opposition team that took ages to put their wall together,weren’t sure whom it was between the 2 to take the free kick.
Up stepped Aubrey Modiba in the 37th minute and what an exquisite effort he delivered as he curled the ball into the far right end ok the goalkeeper’s post hitting the back of the net,sending the entire Loftus Versfeld into delirium.
The 1st half would end Mamelodi Sundowns leading by a solitary goal.
The second half began with a bizarre twist of drama before a ball was even kicked. A sudden technical malfunction with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system forced Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan to delay the restart. For several anxious minutes, the players were left keeping warm on the pitch while technicians scrambled to fix the issue. When the system finally went live, the tempo of the match exploded.
Knowing a single-goal cushion would be a precarious lead to take to Rabat, the South African champions relentlessly hunted for a second. The Masandawana midfield began pulling the strings, finding massive pockets of space through the tricky dribbling of Colombian forward Brayan León.
AS FAR, however, had their own historic ambitions to protect. They relied heavily on the heroic reflexes of World Cup goalkeeper Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti, who single-handedly kept the Moroccan side alive in the tie.
- The 61st Minute: León found himself clean through on a one-on-one breakaway, but Tagnaouti produced a phenomenal point-blank block.
- The 64th Minute: Just three minutes later, 20-year-old winger Kutlwano Letlhaku sliced through the defense and unleashed a powerful struck from inside the box, only for the Moroccan shot-stopper to deny him with another magnificent, firm-handed save.
As the clock ticked down, the visitors began to throw bodies forward in search of an away goal, but the Sundowns backline stood like a rock. Defender Keanu Cupido, playing through a heavy injury with the help of painkilling injections, marshaled the defense brilliantly alongside Khuliso Mudau.
The roof nearly lifted off Loftus Versfeld once more in the 85th minute. After Mudau was brought down on the edge of the area, midfield maestro Teboho Mokoena stepped up to take a ferocious free-kick. He struck it beautifully, completely beating Tagnaouti, but the ball violently rattled the crossbar and bounced away—offering AS FAR a massive lifeline.
Manqoba Mngqithi threw on late substitutions, including Lebo Mothiba and Arthur Sales, to keep the pressure high, but the second goal proved elusive.
When the final whistle blew, Mamelodi Sundowns walked away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory. While they will rue their wasted second-half opportunities, The Brazilians carry a crucial clean sheet and a vital narrow advantage heading into the daunting second leg at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Morocco. Continental redemption is now just 90 minutes away.
