{"id":2750,"date":"2026-08-06T16:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=2750"},"modified":"2026-08-06T16:14:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T16:14:21","slug":"apr-fc-rayon-sports-begin-road-to-africa-glory-with-tough-caf-draws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/apr-fc-rayon-sports-begin-road-to-africa-glory-with-tough-caf-draws\/sports\/","title":{"rendered":"APR FC, Rayon Sports begin road to Africa glory with tough CAF draws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/int_club-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2751\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/int_club-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/int_club-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/int_club-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/int_club-1536x864.webp 1536w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/int_club.webp 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rwanda\u2019s top clubs have learned their opponents for the 2026\/27 continental campaigns, with APR FC set to face DR Congo\u2019s Les Aigles du Congo in the CAF Champions League and Rayon Sports drawn against Cameroon\u2019s Panth\u00e8re Sportive du Nd\u00e9 in the CAF Confederation Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The draws were conducted Thursday at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, setting the stage for another season of African football competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">APR FC will begin their Champions League campaign away from home, travelling to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the first leg between Sept. 4 and 6, 2026. The return match will be played in Kigali between Sept. 11 and 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Les Aigles du Congo finished second in the 2025\/26 DR Congo league behind champions TP Mazembe and will provide a difficult test for the Rwandan champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If APR FC overcome the Congolese side, they will face the winner between Egyptian giants Zamalek SC and Djibouti\u2019s AS Port in the second preliminary round scheduled for October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Rayon Sports will begin their CAF Confederation Cup campaign against Panth\u00e8re Sportive du Nd\u00e9 of Cameroon, a side they have faced before in the same competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two teams last met in the preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup in 2015, when Rayon Sports advanced after winning both legs 1-0. L\u00e9o Uwambajimana scored in the first leg in Douala, while Isaac Muganza secured victory in the return match in Kigali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first leg of the latest meeting will be played in Cameroon between Sept. 4 and 6, with the return fixture scheduled in Kigali from Sept. 11 to 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The winner of the tie will face either Atomic Ngom\u00e9 of the Comoros Islands or Mozambique\u2019s Black Bulls in the next round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The continental assignments come as both Rwandan clubs continue preparations for the new season. Rayon Sports reached the final of the 2026 CECAFA Kagame Cup, where they will face Kenya\u2019s Gor Mahia, while APR FC finished third in Group A after competing against Gor Mahia, Uganda\u2019s Vipers SC and Djibouti\u2019s Garde R\u00e9publicaine FC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the CAF competitions approaching, APR FC and Rayon Sports will be hoping to carry Rwanda\u2019s flag further on the African stage and build on the country\u2019s growing presence in continental football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rwanda\u2019s top clubs have learned their opponents for the 2026\/27 continental campaigns, with APR FC set to face DR Congo\u2019s Les Aigles du Congo in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2750"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2752,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750\/revisions\/2752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}