Mamelodi Sundowns will defend their 1-0 lead when they face hosts AS FAR Rabat of Morocco in Sunday's CAF Champions League final second leg. The match will be broadcast in more than 100 countries.
This is the highest-stakes match in the history of African club football. The winner will receive a record $6 million, plus the chance to earn an additional $500,000 from the CAF Super Cup. Additionally, the team crowned at the 70,000-seat Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium will earn a place in the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup, guaranteeing at least $9.5 million. Sundowns earned $12.5 million from that tournament last year.
Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is under intense pressure, having lost his last two finals and not yet won a trophy in his first season in charge of the Pretoria side. He would become the first coach to lose three consecutive Champions League finals since 1964. Meanwhile, AS FAR's Portuguese coach Alexandre Santos is seeking his first African title.
On the domestic front, Sundowns lost the South African championship to Orlando Pirates, ending their streak of eight consecutive league titles. AS FAR sit second in Morocco's league, one point behind leaders MAS Fes, though they have a game in hand.
History shows that of the six teams that led 1-0 after the first leg of a final, only three went on to win. A victory for Sundowns would end a nine-year dominance by North African clubs, which began when Sundowns themselves won the title in 2016.
