Mamelodi Sundowns will on Friday play for an impressive eighth successive season in the quarterfinals of the African Champions League but will be looking to avoid a poor record in the knockout stages that has seen them go on to only one final appearance.
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Sundowns, who were Champions League winners in 2016, hold the record, along with Al Ahly of Egypt, of 11 successive Champions League group campaigns, and in only one of those group competitions have they failed to get past the group phase and into the last eight.
But then kicking on from a strong group phase performance has been a perennial problem for Sundowns.
The 2018 campaign was the last time the Brazilians did not get out of the group stage and missed out on the knockout rounds.
Since then they have always finished in the top two places in their groups and advanced, only to crash and burn before the decisive match.
Last year they went all the way to the final, dominating the first leg in Pretoria against Pyramids before giving away a vital away goal in stoppage time.
That changed the whole complexion of the tie and Pyramids won at home in Cairo in the second leg to deny Sundowns a second star.
This Friday, the champions host Stade Malien in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie with the return in Bamako on Sunday, March 22, and will be looking to get to the final again.
Our CAF journey continues at home this Friday with the quarter-finals. 👊
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) March 11, 2026
⚽ Mamelodi Sundowns vs Stade Malien
🏆 CAF Champions League
📆 13 March
⏰ 20H00
🏟 Loftus Versfeld
📺 SS 204 & SABC 3
🎟️ Secure your ticket, and you could drive away in a Chery Tiggo 4 Pro LiT 👉… pic.twitter.com/XzH4ClQGCW
Sundowns’ frustrating habit of doing well in the group phase only to crash and burn in the knockout rounds began in 2019 when they handed Egyptian giants Al Ahly a 5-0 thrashing at Atteridgeville in the first leg of the quarterfinal in one of the great days for South African football, catapulting themselves into heavily favoured status for the tournament, but then losing to Wydad Casablanca in the semis.
In 2020, Sundowns finished their group unbeaten and with their highest points haul to date — 14 out of a possible 18 — but came to a stuttering stop in the quarterfinals as Al Ahly extracted revenge for the previous season’s record defeat.
Sundowns rumbled through the group phase in 2021 and were again hotly tipped for success, but in the quarterfinals, they came up against ex-coach Pitso Mosimane and Al Ahly once again, going down 3-1 on aggregate.
In 2022, Sundowns set a record by amassing 16 out of a possible 18 points in their group — no team in the history of the Champions League had previously managed that many points.
But again, they flopped in the knockout stages, surprisingly eliminated by Petro Atlético from Angola in the last eight after coach Rulani Mokwena haughtily suggested their first leg loss in Luanda was only a temporary setback.
Three years ago, the Pretoria club scored 14 goals in their six group games before thumping Algeria’s Chabab Belouizdad in the quarterfinals with a 6-2 aggregate triumph and looked to be well on their way to the final after drawing 0-0 away with Wydad in the first leg of the semifinal.
But a 2-2 draw in the return match at Loftus Versfeld, with Wydad benefitting from a late Mothobi Mvala own goal, saw heartbreaking elimination on the away goals rule.
In the 2024 semifinal, they were beaten both home and away by Esperance, with Miguel Cardoso then in charge of the Tunisian giants.