African champions Mamelodi Sundowns returned from Morocco to a hero’s welcome at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Monday night with the Champions League trophy that eluded them for 10 years. The Brazilians played to a 1-1 draw with AS FAR in Rabat on Sunday night to win the 2025-2026 Champions League final 2-1 on aggregate. That earned Downs their second star on their badge for their second title in the Confederation of African Football’s premier interclub competition after their first in 2016 and the first for coach Miguel Cardoso on his third successive time of trying, having lost in the previous two finals. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗜𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 🏆🇿🇦About two hours ago, the wait finally ended. Absolute scenes erupted at OR Tambo International Airport as the 2026 CAF Champions League winners touched down on home soil!The… pic.twitter.com/b1iyy6Mf3o— Pan-Africa Football (@PanAfricaFooty) May 26, 2026
Singing Sundowns supporters packed the airport arrivals hall, and most of them stayed until midnight after Downs’ chartered plane from Libreville was delayed by a few hours. Upon arrival, Cardoso, club chair Thlopie Motsepe and captains Themba Zwane and Ronwen Williams addressed the media, speaking about the importance of the title. TimesLIVE
