MC Alger in African football

MC Alger, an Algerian professional association football club, has gained entry to Confederation of African Football (CAF) competitions on several occasions. They have represented Algeria in the Champions League on seven occasions, the Confederation Cup on four separate occasions, the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup only one occasion.

MC Alger whose team has regularly taken part in Confederation of African Football (CAF) competitions. Qualification for Algerian clubs is determined by a team's performance in its domestic league and cup competitions, MC Alger have regularly qualified for the primary African competition, the former African Cup of Champions Clubs and CAF Champions League, by winning the Ligue Professionnelle 1. MC Alger have also achieved African qualification via the Algerian Cup and have played in the former African Cup Winners' Cup and CAF Confederation Cup. The first match was against Al-Ahly Benghazi in the African Cup of Champions Clubs, where they were defeated 3–2 and the first goal was scored by Abdelkader Aït Hamouda. On February 21, 2018, Mouloudia witnessed the heaviest victory against AS Otôho in the CAF Champions League with a score of 9–0. In the same match, Hichem Nekkache scored the first hat-trick by a player for Mouloudia in continental competitions.^[1] On March 6, 2021, MC Alger won in Thiès against Teungueth, putting an end to four decades of drought outside their lands, as the last away success in African competition dates back to 1979.^[2]

MC Alger from the first attempt the dream became a reality as Mouloudia won the first African Cup in the history of national football, and the idea of the African title immediately after the final match in the Maghreb Champions Cup in Tunisia against Club Africain. The discussions immediately began between Abdelkader Drif, then president of the MC Alger football section and the country's sports authorities who once an agreement had been reached, began taking steps with the CAF for the participation of the Algerian champion in the African competition. MC Alger's adventure at the 12th edition of the African Cup of Champions Clubs began in Benghazi with a narrow 3–2 defeat and a laborious 3–1 victory at Stade du 5 Juillet on May 13, 1976. Barely emerging from the first round unscathed, MCA had to face the famous Egyptian team of Ahly from Cairo for its first participation as well. The Mouloudéens, led by Ali Bencheikh, produced a sumptuous match and won by the score 3–0 on May 29, 1976. The trip to Cairo for the second leg match would be an opportunity to display its pretensions. the result in favor of Al Ahly on June 11, 1976.^[3]

On September 10, 1976 during the month of Ramadan, a Kenyan club was on the menu for the green and red. The Luo Union suffered a heavy defeat 6–3 for the quarter-finals. The second leg match in Mombasa was a simple formality. In the semi-final, Mouloudia had as opponent the formidable Nigerian team of Enugu Rangers, finalist of the 1975 event, defeated by 2–0 in Nigeria. In the second leg match, the score of 0-0 that characterized the first period gave more determination to Omar Betrouni’s teammates to turn things around and achieve an unusual victory with a score of 3–0 and this is what gave Mouloudia a valuable ticket to the final. The first leg held in Conakry on December 5, 1976, was a nightmare on all levels, as the Algerian club suffered bitter humiliation. In a hostile environment a defeat that threatens his chances of winning the title.

On December 18, 1976, at Stade du 5 Juillet in the presence of the President of the Republic Houari Boumediene, the dream finally became a reality and the MCA achieved a resounding feat by overcoming the tough Guineans with a score of 3–0 and 4–1 on penalties. Mouloudia Chaâbia d’Alger became King of Africa by capturing the 12th edition of the defunct African Cup of champion clubs.^[3] As a reward former president Boumediene gave each player the keys to a Fiat 128.^[4]

Abdennour Kaoua, Mohamed Ait Mouhoub, Abdenour Zemmour, Sadek Amrous, Bouzid Mahiouz, Mohamed Azzouz, Abdelwahab Zenir, Anouar Bachta, Ali Bencheikh, Omar Betrouni, Zoubir Bachi, Aïssa Draoui, Abdenour Bellemou, Abdelkader Aït Hamouda, Madjid Oudina, Bendi Abdellah Mohamed Réda, Braham Attar, Nacer Achari.

— List of African Cup of champion clubs.

After seven years of absence, MC Alger returned to continental participation through the CAF Confederation Cup portal and were surprisingly eliminated in the first round against Kwara United.^[5][6] More than a month after the first leg, the Disciplinary Committee of the Confederation of African Football, ruled to impose a very severe penalty on the MC Alger, namely the suspension of Merouane Abdouni for 3 years, Kamel Bouacida for 18 months for all continental competitions and a fine of 20 thousand dollars. The first, for “physical aggression, violent conduct and threats towards the refereeing body” and the second, for “physical aggression towards the referee”, according to the findings of the said commission.^[7] CAF does not stop there since it informs FIFA of the sanctions imposed on Abdouni and Bouacida with the prospect of possibly extending them to the international and national level. For their part, Réda Babouche, Smaïl Chaoui and Fodil Hadjadj each received two match suspensions for violent conduct and threatening the match referee. And to drive the point home, the president of the football section Khaled Adnane is suspended for six months for having returned to the playing area, despite his expulsion, to threaten the referee and make insulting remarks towards him.^[7]

MC Alger results in CAF competition

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1976[8]	Cup of Champions Clubs	First round	Al-Ahly Benghazi	3–1	2–3	5–4
		Second round	Al Ahly SC	3–0	0–1	3–1
		Quarter-Finals	Luo Union	6–3	1–0	7–3
		Semi-Finals	Enugu Rangers	3–0	0–2	3–2
		Final	Hafia FC	3–0	0–3	3–3 (4–1 p)
1977[9]	Cup of Champions Clubs	Second round	Kampala City Council FC	3–2	1–1	4–3
		Quarter-Finals	Mufulira Wanderers	2–1	0–2	2–3
1979[10]	Cup of Champions Clubs	First round	Al-Ahly	2–0	2–1	4–1
		Second round	Union Douala	2–0	0–2	2–2 (1–2 p)
1980[11]	Cup of Champions Clubs	First round	Dragons de l'Ouémé	3–0	0–0	3–0
		Second round	Stella Club d'Adjamé	3–1	2–4	5–5 (a)
		Quarter-Finals	Canon Yaoundé	3–1	0–2	3–3 (a)
1984[12]	Cup Winners' Cup	First round	Racing Club de Bobo	4–0	0–2	4–2
		Second round	Al Ahly SC	1–0	1–3	2–3
2000[13]	Champions League	First round	ASC Jeanne d'Arc	1–1	1–5	2–6
2007[14]	Confederation Cup	First round	Kwara United	3–0	0–3	3–3 (3–4 p)
2008[15]	Confederation Cup	First round	Haras El Hodood	0–0	0–1	0–1
2011[16]	Champions League	Preliminary Round	Olympic Real de Bangui	2–0	1–1	3–1
		First round	Dynamos	3–0	1–4	4–4 (a)
		Second round	Inter Luanda	3–2	1–1	4–3
		Group stage (B)	Espérance ST	1–1	0–4	4th place
			Wydad Casablanca	3–1	0–4
			Al-Ahly SC	0–0	0–2
2015[17]	Confederation Cup	First round	Sahel SC	0–0	0–2	0–2
2017[18]	Confederation Cup	Preliminary round	Bechem United	4–1	1–2	5–3
		First round	Renaissance du Congo	2–0	1–2	3–2
		Play-off round	Young Africans	4–0	0–1	4–1
		Group stage (B)	Platinum Stars	2–0	1–1	2nd place
			CS Sfaxien	2–1	0–4
			Mbabane Swallows	2–1	0–0
		Quarter-finals	Club Africain	1–0	0–2	1–2
2018[19]	Champions League	Preliminary Round	AS Otôho	9–0	0–2	9–2
		First round	Mountain FM	6–0	1–2	7–2
		Group stage (B)	Difaâ El Jadidi	1–1	0–2	4th place
			ES Sétif	1–2	1–0
			TP Mazembe	1–1	0–1
2020–21	Champions League	Preliminary Round	Buffles du Borgou	5–1	1–1	6–2
		First round	CS Sfaxien	2–0	0–1	2–1
		Group stage	Zamalek	0-2	0-0	2nd place
			Espérance de Tunis	1-1	1-1
			Teungueth	1-0	1-0
		Quarter-finals	Wydad Casablanca	1-1	0-1	1–2
2024–25	Champions League	First round	Watanga	2–0	2–0[a]	4–0
		Second round	US Monastir	2–0	0–1	2–1
		Group stage	TP Mazembe	-	-
			Young Africans	-	-
			Al Hilal	-	-

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2004–05	Arab Champions League	Round of 32	Al-Muharraq SC	2–2	1–0	3–2
		Group stage (A)	CS Sfaxien	2–1	0–4	2nd place
			Zamalek SC	0–0	0–5
			Kuwait SC	3–2	1–0
		Quarter-Finals	Al Ittihad Djeddah	1–0	0–1	1–1 (4–5 p)
2005–06	Arab Champions League	Round 32	Al-Merreikh	2–0	0–1	2–1
		Round 16	Al-Zawraa	3–0	3–1	6–1
		Quarter finals	ENPPI Club	1–3	2–1	3–4
2006–07	Arab Champions League	Round 32	Al-Tilal Aden	2–1	0–0	2–1
		Round 16	Al-Nassr	2–2	1–2	3–4
2018–19	Arab Champions League	Round 32	Al-Riffa SC	2–1	0–0	2–1
		Round 16	Al-Nassr	2–1	1–0	3–1
		Quarter finals	Al-Merrikh SC	0–0	0–3	0–3
2019–20	Arab Champions League	Round 32	Dhofar	1–0	1–1	2–1
		Round 16	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	0–0	0–0	0–0 (4-2)
		Quarter finals	Raja CA	1–2	1–0	2–2 a

Statistics correct as of game against US Monastir in October 2024

Country	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Algeria	ES Sétif	2	1	0	1	2	2	+0
Subtotal		2	1	0	1	2	2	+0
Angola	Inter Luanda	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1
Subtotal		2	1	1	0	4	3	+1
Benin	Dragons de l'Ouémé	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3
	Buffles du Borgou	2	1	1	0	6	2	+4
Subtotal		4	2	2	0	9	2	+7
Burkina Faso	Racing Club de Bobo	2	1	0	1	4	2	+2
Subtotal		2	1	0	1	4	2	+2
Cameroon	Union Douala	2	1	0	1	2	2	+0
	Canon Yaoundé	2	1	0	1	3	3	+0
Subtotal		4	2	0	2	5	5	+0
Republic of the Congo	AS Otôho	2	1	0	1	9	2	+7
Subtotal		2	1	0	1	9	2	+7
Central African Republic	Olympic Real de Bangui	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2
Subtotal		2	1	1	0	3	1	+2
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Renaissance du Congo	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1
	TP Mazembe	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1
Subtotal		4	1	1	2	4	4	+0
Egypt	Al Ahly SC	6	2	1	3	5	6	−1
	Haras El Hodood	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1
	Zamalek	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2
Subtotal		10	2	3	5	5	9	−4
Ghana	Bechem United	2	1	0	1	5	3	+2
Subtotal		2	1	0	1	5	3	+2
Guinea	Hafia FC	2	1	0	1	3	3	+0
Subtotal		2	1	0	1	3	3	+0
Ivory Coast	Stella Club d'Adjamé	2	1	0	1	5	5	+0
Subtotal		2	1	0	1	5	5	+0
Kenya	Luo Union	2	2	0	0	7	3	+4
Subtotal		2	2	0	0	7	3	+4
Liberia	Watanga FC	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4
Subtotal		2	2	0	0	4	0	+4
Libya	Al-Ahly Benghazi	2	1	0	1	5	4	+1
	Al-Ahly Tripoli	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3
Subtotal		4	3	0	1	9	5	+4
Morocco	Wydad Casablanca	4	1	1	2	4	7	−3
	Difaâ El Jadidi	2	0	1	1	1	3	−2
Subtotal		6	1	2	3	5	10	−5
Niger	Sahel SC	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2
Subtotal		2	0	1	1	0	2	−2
Nigeria	Enugu Rangers	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1
	Kwara United	2	1	0	1	3	3	0
	Mountain FM	2	1	0	1	7	2	+5
Subtotal		6	3	0	3	13	7	+6
Senegal	ASC Jeanne d'Arc	2	0	1	1	2	6	−4
	Teungueth	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2
Subtotal		4	2	1	1	4	6	−2
South Africa	Platinum Stars	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2
Subtotal		2	1	1	0	3	1	+2
Swaziland	Mbabane Swallows	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Subtotal		2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Tanzania	Young Africans	2	1	0	1	4	1	+3
Subtotal		2	1	0	1	4	1	+3
Tunisia	Espérance ST	4	0	3	1	3	7	−4
	CS Sfaxien	4	2	0	2	4	6	−2
	Club Africain	2	1	0	1	1	2	−1
	US Monastir	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1
Subtotal		12	4	3	5	10	16	−6
Uganda	Kampala City Council	2	1	1	0	4	3	+1
Subtotal		2	1	1	0	4	3	+1
Zambia	Mufulira Wanderers	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1
Subtotal		2	1	0	1	2	3	−1
Zimbabwe	Dynamos FC	2	1	0	1	4	4	0
Subtotal		2	1	0	1	4	4	+0
Total		88	38	18	32	129	102	+27

Result summary by country

Country	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Bahrain	4	2	2	0	5	3	+2
Egypt	4	1	1	2	3	9	-6
Iraq	4	2	2	0	6	1	+5
Kuwait	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2
Morrocco	2	1	0	1	2	2	+0
Oman	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Saudi Arabia	6	3	1	2	7	6	+1
Sudan	4	1	1	2	2	4	-2
Tunisia	2	1	0	1	2	5	-3
Yemen	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1
Total	32	15	9	8	35	34	+1

Information correct as of 22 May 2021.

Key

As of 10 April 2021^[update]:

As of 31 March 2020^[update]:

Statistics correct as of game against Wydad AC on May 22, 2021

List of MC Alger players with 3 or more goals

Position	Player	TOTAL	CL1	CWC	CCC
1	Hichem Nekkache	11	6	–	5
2	Abdeslam Bousri	9	9	–	–
3	Zoubir Bachi	6	6	–	–
4	Walid Derrardja	5	4	–	1
=	Abderahmane Hachoud	5	1	–	4
6	Lakhdar Belloumi	4	4	–	–
=	Omar Betrouni	4	4	–	–
=	Mohammed Azzouz	4	4	–	–
=	Brahim Boudebouda	4	3	–	1
10	Abdelmalek Mokdad	3	3	–	–
=	Amir Karaoui	3	3	–	–
=	Réda Babouche	3	3	–	–
=	Abdelwahab Zenir	3	3	–	–
=	Abdenour Bellemou	3	3	–	–
=	Ali Bencheikh	3	2	1	–
=	Sid Ahmed Aouedj	3	–	–	3
=	Samy Frioui	3	3	–	–
Totals		120	91	6	23

P Player Goals 1 Noureddine Daham 6 2 Karim Braham Chaouch 5 3 Hassen Tahir 3 = Hadj Bouguèche 3 5 Sofiane Younès 2 = Mohamed Badache 2 = Aissa Draoui 2 = Rafan Sidibé 2

P Player Goals = Omar Betrouni 2 10 Hamid Tahir 1 = Abdeslam Bousri 1 = Ali Bencheikh 1 = Anouar Bachta 1 = Mohamed Azzouz 1 = Zoubir Bachi 1 = Fayçal Badji 1

P Player Goals = Kamel Bouacida 1 = Fodil Hadjadj 1 = Kamel Maouche 1 = Ameur Benali 1 = Own Goals 2

This list of all-time appearances for MC Alger in African competitions contains football players who have played for MC Alger in African football competitions and have managed to accrue 15 or more appearances.

Gold Still playing competitive football in MC Alger
Statistics correct as of game against Wydad AC on May 22, 2021

#	Name	Position	CCL	CWC	CCC	SC	TOTAL	Date of first cap	Debut against	Date of last cap	Final match against
1	Abderahmane Hachoud	RB	21	–	13	–	34	14 Feb 2015	Sahel SC	22 May 2021	Wydad AC
2	Walid Derrardja	ST	9	–	12	–	21	12 Feb 2017	Bechem United	28 Aug 2018	ES Sétif
3	Bouzid Mahiouz	DF	21	–	–	–	21	30 Apr 1976	Al-Ahly Benghazi	27 Sep 1980	Canon Yaoundé
4	Hichem Nekkache	ST	8	–	12	–	20	18 Feb 2017	Bechem United	28 Aug 2018	ES Sétif
5	Abdeslam Bousri	FW	20	–	–	–	20	13 May 1976	Al-Ahly Benghazi	7 Jun 1980	Stella Adjamé
6	Faouzi Chaouchi	GK	5	–	14	–	19	14 Feb 2015	Sahel SC	4 May 2018	Difaâ El Jadidi
7	Omar Betrouni	FW	18	–	–	–	18	30 Apr 1976	Al-Ahly Benghazi	27 May 1979	Union Douala
8	Abdelouahab Zenir	DF	18	–	–	–	18	29 May 1976	Al Ahly	27 Sep 1980	Canon Yaoundé
9	Mohamed Ait Mouhoub	GK	13	3	–	–	16	30 Apr 1976	Al-Ahly Benghazi	11 May 1984	RC Bobo Dioulasso
10	Anwar Bachta	MF	15	–	–	–	15	30 Apr 1976	Al-Ahly Benghazi	1 Apr 1979	Al Ahli SC
11	Zoubir Bachi	MF	15	–	–	–	15	30 Apr 1976	Al-Ahly Benghazi	27 May 1979	Union Douala
12	Ali Bencheikh	MF	11	4	–	–	15	30 Apr 1976	Al-Ahly Benghazi	25 May 1984	Al Ahly

Niamey

Sétif

Dakar

Cairo

Lubumbashi

Tunis

Casablanca

Douala

Bangui

Kinshasa

Yaoundé

Harare

Mufulira

Kampala

El Jadida

Oyo

Dar es Salam

Rustenburg

Luanda

Tripoli

Benghazi

Nairobi

Alexandria

Bobo-Dioulasso

Porto-Novo

Bechem

Conakry

Abidjan

Enugu

Ilorin

Lagos

Mbabane

Rufisque