Record African club competition winners Al Ahly of Egypt will begin their bid to win the CAF Confederation Cup a second time against Mogadishu City of Somalia or Kitara of Uganda.
Having won 25 CAF titles, the Cairo club received a bye into the second qualifying round in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League when the draws were made in Cairo on Thursday.
Ahly are competing in the second-tier competition because they finished only third in the Egyptian Premier League behind Zamalek and Pyramids.
CAF permits only two entrants to the Champions League from the top 12 ranked countries so Ahly miss out on the marquee competition for the first time since 2003.
A disappointing domestic season, in which they also failed to win the FA Cup or League Cup, led to the departure of Danish coach Jess Thorup.
His replacement is Houcine Ammouta, a 56-year-old Moroccan who has coached clubs in his homeland, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. He was also the head coach of Jordan.
Ahly supplied eight of the national squad at the 2026 World Cup, where Egypt controversially lost to then defending champions Argentina in the round of 16.
With emerging stars like goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir and midfielder Emam Ashour, Ahly should have little difficulty reaching the 16-club group phase.
Mogadishu and Kitara have each competed in the Confederation Cup once, and both were eliminated in the first qualifying round.
Ahly won the 2014 Confederation Cup, edging Sewe Sport of the Ivory Coast on away goals after winning the second leg 1-0 in Cairo through a 96th-minute goal.
They had been demoted to the second-tier competition after losing a final round Champions League qualifier. Getting a second chance of glory in the Confederation Cup no longer exists.
The biggest threats to Ahly in Africa this season could come from the three other previous winners of the Confederation Cup in the field.
USM Alger of Algeria are the title-holders and have been paired with Panthers of Equatorial Guinea or ASPAC of Benin.
CS Sfaxien of Tunisia, winners a record equalling three times, face Shooting Stars of Nigeria in a highlight of the 24 first-round ties.
Raja Casablanca of Morocco have lifted the Confederation Cup trophy twice and await the winners between El Kanemi Warriors of Nigeria and UDIB of Guinea-Bissau.
First round matches are scheduled for September 4-6 and 11-13 and second round matches will be played on October 16-18 and 23-25.
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