Wydad AC Secures Third Place in Botola Pro, Qualifies for CAF Confederation Cup

Wydad Athletic Club closed the 2024-25 Botola Pro campaign with a composed 2-0 home victory over Renaissance Zemamra, a result that locks the Casablanca giants into third place on 54 points and returns them to continental football via next season’s CAF Confederation Cup.

The tone for the evening at a packed Stade Mohamed V was set inside 12 minutes when Dutch-Moroccan winger Mohamed Rayhi coolly rolled a penalty past visiting goalkeeper Mehdi Zougari after Zemamra centre-back Abdelkrim Baadi handled a lofted cross in the box. Rayhi’s spot-kick was his 11th goal of the league season, underlining the 30-year-old’s value since arriving last summer and giving the Red Castle the early control they have too often lacked in a stuttering campaign.

Wydad doubled their cushion just before the interval with a move that captured both their pace in transition and their increasing reliance on South African import Cassius Mailula.

Midfield anchor Ayoub El Amloud sprang a counter down the right, and Thembinkosi Lorch’s threaded pass released Mailula to clip a low finish inside the far post for 2-0 on 44 minutes. The former Mamelodi Sundowns forward has needed time to adapt to Moroccan football, yet his fifth league strike - and second in as many matches - came at exactly the moment Wydad needed a reliable poacher.

After the break head coach Amine Benhachem, promoted on an interim basis following Rulani Mokwena’s exit last month, switched to a compact 4-1-4-1 and invited Zemamra to chase shadows.

The visitors’ best opening fell to Ayoub Fennech on 62 minutes, but his volley flashed wide, and goalkeeper Youssef El-Mootouali was otherwise superbly protected by a back line that conceded just three shots on target.

Although supporters may rue an erratic first half of the season, the victory completes a late surge of 13 points from the final five fixtures and lifts Wydad three clear of FUS Rabat.

The final standings read: RS Berkane champions on 70 points, AS FAR Rabat runners-up on 57, and Wydad third on 54, with Berkane and FAR claiming the two Moroccan CAF Champions League berths.

Third place sends Wydad back to Africa’s secondary competition for the first time since 2013, yet history shows Moroccan clubs have won a record seven Confederation Cup titles - a pedigree Wydad now hope to extend.

Securing continental football is a relief after a turbulent spring in which Mokwena was first granted “exceptional leave” and then formally dismissed following a sequence of damaging draws.

Benhachem steadied dressing-room morale, pairing Lorch’s craft with Mailula’s movement and leaning on stalwarts such as skipper Yahya Jabrane to nurse narrow wins that ultimately vaulted Wydad past their Rabat rivals.

Beyond Rayhi and Mailula, statistical trends underscore why Wydad fell short of a title challenge: only 45 league goals, down from 58 a year ago, and a troubling 12 draws in 30 outings that blunted early momentum. Yet the defence, breached 27 times, remained the division’s third best, offering encouragement that with a settled coach the team can add attacking fluency without sacrificing solidity.

Attention now pivots to squad planning. The club hierarchy have made retaining both Mailula and Lorch a priority amid overseas interest, while talks continue with free-agent centre-back Yahya Benkhaleq as Benhachem seeks depth for the double front of Confederation Cup qualifiers in September and the expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United