Pyramids FC of Egypt withstood intense late pressure to defeat South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 in Cairo on Sunday, securing their first-ever CAF Champions League title.
In only their second appearance in Africa’s premier club competition, Pyramids emerged victorious with a 3-2 aggregate win, following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Pretoria the previous weekend.
Fiston Mayele opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, and Ahmed Samy extended the lead in the 56th for the Egyptian side. Iqraam Rayners pulled one back for Sundowns in the 75th minute, setting up a tense final stretch, but the visitors failed to find the equalizer that would have handed them victory on away goals.
Despite typically drawing only a few thousand fans per game, Pyramids’ appeal for support paid off, with their 30,000-seat stadium approximately half full for the decisive leg.
Both teams made one alteration to their starting line-ups from the first leg. In Pretoria, Walid el Karti had salvaged a dramatic added-time equalizer for Pyramids after Lucas Ribeiro gave Sundowns the lead early in the second half.
Pyramids coach Krunoslav Jurcic, a former Croatian international, made the bold move of benching Ibrahim Adel—who had netted six times en route to the final—in favor of former English Premier League forward Ramadan Sobhi. On the Sundowns side, Portuguese manager Miguel Cardoso opted to start midfielder Jayden Adams instead of Brazilian striker Arthur Sales.
Cardoso achieved a rare feat, becoming only the second coach in history to reach back-to-back Champions League finals with different clubs. The first was Argentine Oscar Fullone, who led ASEC Mimosas in 1998 and Raja Casablanca in 1999 to titles. Fullone passed away in 2017 at the age of 78.
Cardoso had guided Esperance of Tunisia to the 2024 final, where they lost to Egypt’s Al Ahly via an own goal.
A new CAF Champions League trophy, first unveiled before the initial leg, was ceremoniously presented at Cairo’s 30 June Stadium by 48-year-old Nigerian football legend Nwankwo Kanu, a former star for Inter Milan and Arsenal.
On a warm and breezy day, both teams struggled with sloppy possession early in the match. However, Pyramids broke the deadlock when Mayele scored his ninth goal of the African campaign. After Ahmed Atef’s cross was only partially cleared by Grant Kekana, Mayele pounced and fired a low shot across goalkeeper Ronwen Williams into the far corner.
Tensions escalated soon after, with Somali referee Ahmed Karai issuing yellow cards to Atef and Sundowns’ Aubrey Modiba following a heated clash involving head contact.
Sundowns had a golden opportunity to level just before halftime when Tashreeq Matthews broke through on goal, only to have his shot blocked by goalkeeper Ahmed el Shenawy’s outstretched leg—the only serious threat from the visitors in the opening 45 minutes, despite their greater share of possession.
Pyramids doubled their lead shortly after the break when Mohamed Chibi floated a free kick into the penalty area, allowing central defender Samy to rise and head powerfully past Williams. It was Samy’s first goal of the campaign and made him the 19th different Pyramids player to score in this season’s Champions League.
Sundowns fought back when a poorly executed headed clearance fell to Rayners, who took full advantage and slotted home from close range to cut the deficit.
Despite their late rally, the South African champions could not breach the Egyptian defense again, and Pyramids held firm to lift the coveted continental trophy for the first time in their history.
