Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°69%
CTCT21°90%
PretoriaPTA33°75%
DurbanDBN30°20°

Esperance beat Asswehly on penalties to reach Champions League groups

Published

Esperance won the shootout 3-1 after the tie ended 1-1 on aggregate, with goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said saving two penalties. Defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns went out on away goals on the same weekend.

The Tunisian club beat the Libyan side Asswehly in the second leg of the final round qualifier in Rades. Esperance won the return leg 1-0, which levelled the tie at 1-1 on aggregate. Asswehly played in the competition for the first time.

Sundowns lost their place on away goals against Wiliete. Zamalek of Egypt advanced 2-0 on aggregate over APR. Pyramids, also from Egypt, beat El Merriekh Bentiu 4-0 in the second leg and won 5-0 on aggregate.

Horoya of Guinea beat Al Merrikh 5-3 on penalties to advance. Pyramids are coached by Rulani Mokwena.

Key facts

Who
Bechir Ben Said (Esperance goalkeeper who saved two penalties in the shootout); Imad Raraj (Asswehly player who scored the first goal); Rulani Mokwena (Pyramids coach); Esperance (Tunisian club, qualified for group stage)
What
Tunisian club Esperance won a penalty shootout against Libyan side Asswehly in the second leg of a final round CAF Champions League qualifier in Rades, after Esperance won the return leg 1-0. On the same weekend, defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns exited on away goals, and Zamalek, Pyramids and Horoya also advanced.
When
24 October 2026
Where
Rades, Tunis, Cairo
Status
Final result

Related stories

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. BOSA's Solomons flags one-ballot problem at Cape Town voting stations
  2. Mashatile urges new councillors to put voters first
  3. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll

See every update

US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update