We all love to rank things, right? Here, we list the top 10 football teams in Africa according to the Opta Power Rankings.
African football’s influence on the rest of the world – especially the top five European leagues – shouldn’t be understated. Although the competitions and leagues may not be regarded as highly as those on other continents, Africa is, and has always been, a hotbed of talent and potential.
African club football arguably doesn’t receive the same attention beyond its borders as South, Central and North American, and Asian football do, so we’re here to shed some light on Africa’s 10 top clubs according to the Opta Power Rankings. As a reminder, they are a global team ranking system that assigns a score to nearly 13,500 domestic football teams on a scale of zero to 100, with 100 being the best team in the world and zero being the lowest-ranked side.
You’ll find a full explainer on the Opta Power Rankings elsewhere on Opta Analyst, but right now we’re here to provide the lowdown on the 10 best-ranked African teams.
When we last looked at the top 10 teams in Africa in November 2023, the team in 10th place was Etoile Du Sahel of Tunisia, who were 412th in the overall Global Power Rankings. It perhaps shows how far African teams have come in that time that now, the 10th-highest ranked team are 305th globally.
10. Zamalek | Rating: 78.5 | Global Rank: 305
Zamalek Sporting Club sit somewhat in the shadow of rivals Al Ahly when it comes to Egyptian football, but that’s not to say they haven’t had plenty of success.
With 14 Egyptian Premier League titles to their name, they are the second most successful club in the country, though still some way behind Al Ahly’s 45.
Zamalek did get the better of Al Ahly in the 2024 CAF Super Cup on penalties, which pits the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup against one another.
They also recently won their 29th Egypt Cup, beating Pyramids on penalties.
9. Raja Casablanca | Rating: 78.7 | Global Rank: 297
Raja were Confederation Cup champions in 2018 and 2021, although Champions League success hasn’t been possible since winning their third crown in 1999.
They have also never been relegated from Morocco’s top division and have won it 13 times, most recently in 2023-24, making them one of three clubs to be champions on more than 10 occasions.
However, they followed up that title win by coming fifth in the 2024-25 season, and they were eliminated in the group stage of the CAF Champions League, finishing behind AS FAR and Mamelodi Sundowns in Group B.
8. MC Alger | Rating: 78.8 | Global Rank: 289
The only Algerian club in this list, MC Alger (full name Mouloudia Club d’Alger) are closing in on their ninth Ligue Professionnelle 1 title. It would be a successful defence of their crown for MC Alger, who also won the league in 2023-24.
They have one CAF Champions League title to their name as well, though that was earned way back in 1976.
7. Young Africans (Yanga) | Rating: 79.0 | Global Rank: 278
Tanzania’s most successful club, Yanga’s prominent position in the rankings is helped by the fact they have won the Tanzanian Premier League for the last three seasons, and 25 times in total.
They lead the way with three games remaining of the 2024-25 season as well, but only ahead of rivals Simba by a point, with the two meeting on 15 June in a crunch clash.
6. ES Tunis | Rating: 79.5 | Global Rank: 255
Espérance Sportive de Tunis, or ES Tunis, or EST, are perhaps unsurprisingly from Tunisia. They have won 34 Ligue Professionnelle 1 titles, including eight of the last nine.
Espérance have also won four CAF Champions League titles, including back-to-back in 2018 and 2019.
They are due to be involved in the 2025 Club World Cup, competing in the same group as Chelsea, Flamengo and Los Angeles FC.
5. AS FAR (Rabat) | Rating: 81.1 | Global Rank: 189
One of three clubs never to have been relegated from Morocco’s top league, AS FAR are one of the country’s most successful teams, particularly domestically.
They have won the joint-second most Botola championships along with Raja (13 each), only behind Wydad Casablanca (22). They have finished runners-up in the last two seasons, though, including in 2024-25 behind champions RSB Berkane.
AS FAR are also one of only two Moroccan clubs to win both the CAF Confederation Cup and CAF Champions League, though they last enjoyed success in the latter 40 years ago.
4. Mamelodi Sundowns | Rating: 82.1 | Global Rank: 143
South Africa’s dominant force. Mamelodi Sundowns have won more South African Premiership titles (15) since its 1996 inception than all other clubs combined (Orlando Pirates – 4; Kaizer Chiefs – 4; SuperSport United – 3; Manning Rangers – 1; Santos – 1; Bidvest Wits – 1).
Much of that is down to their remarkable record in more recent times, winning the last eight in a row. In fact, neither the Orlando Pirates nor the Kaizer Chiefs have won it since the latter did so in 2014-15.
The Sundowns also reached the CAF Champions League final in 2024-25, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Pyramids.
They will take part in the 2025 Club World Cup alongside Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan and Fluminense.
3. RSB Berkane | Rating: 82.1 | Global Rank: 142
Recently crowned Moroccan champions RSB Berkane didn’t really give anyone else a chance. With 21 wins from their 30 games in 2024-25, they won the Botola Pro 1 for the first time in their history by 13 points.
The Orange Boys also won their third CAF Confederation Cup this season, beating Simba 3-1 on aggregate in the final. Striker Oussama Lamlioui top-scored in the tournament with five goals.
2. Pyramids | Rating: 82.2 | Global Rank: 141
While many of the clubs in this list are steeped in history, Pyramids are a rather newer creation. Initially founded as Al Assiouty Sport in 2008, they were bought 10 years later by Turki Al-Sheikh, then owner of La Liga side Almería, an advisor to Saudi Arabia’s royal court and head of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority.
He’d previously been Al Ahly honorary president but resigned after internal squabbling and bought Al Assiouty before changing their name and moving them to Cairo, roughly 400 kilometres from their previous home in Beni Seuf.
A year later they were sold to an Emirati businessman, though their steady rise has continued, winning the CAF Champions League in 2024-25. They also finished top of the Egyptian Premier League regular season, but could come second to Al Ahly in the Championship play-offs.
1. Al Ahly | Rating: 83.9 | Global Rank: 99
Africa’s most successful club by most measures, and probably the most well-known. Incredibly, they’ve won the Egyptian top flight 45 times – 31 more than bitter rivals Zamalek – including each of the last three, and they have enjoyed continental success unlike any other African team.
When they defeated ES Tunis in 2024, Al Ahly won their 12th CAF Champions League title; to put that into context, no other club has won it more than five times (Zamalek and TP Mazembe of DR Congo).
Astonishingly, 10 of those Champions League wins have come since the turn of the century, and they’ve also finished runners-up four times in that period. No other African club has played in more than nine finals, and yet Al Ahly have won the whole thing as many times in a 23-year period.
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