The African club handball season reaches its continental climax in Luanda, Angola, where the 47th edition of the CAHB African Club Championship brings together the leading teams from across the continent from 5 to 14 October.

For the first time in history, Angola hosts the competition, with matches scheduled at the Kilamba Arena and Paulo Bunze Pavilion in Luanda. The tournament features both the men’s and women’s competitions, with some of the most successful clubs in African handball returning to the continental stage.

The men’s competition carries a particularly strong historical pedigree. Zamalek SC are the most decorated club in the history of the competition, with 12 titles, followed by Algeria’s MC Alger with 11 and Egyptian rivals Al Ahly with seven.

Al Ahly arrive in Luanda as the reigning African champions and fresh from another appearance on the international stage. The Egyptian club finished third at the 2026 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, securing the bronze medal in Egypt, while Zamalek finished fourth. Al Ahly’s latest continental title in 2025 made them only the third club in the history of the competition to win three editions in a row, joining Zamalek and MC Alger in that achievement.

The men's competition will see four groups - three of three teams and one of four teams - trying to battle for the title. In Group A, FAP from Cameroon will face Benin’s Flowers, Angola’s Petro Atlético and APR HBC from Rwanda. Group B brings together reigning champions Al Ahly of Egypt, Côte d’Ivoire’s Renaissance, Angolan side Interclub and JSK from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Group C features record champions Zamalek of Egypt alongside Ethiopia’s Mechal and Cameroon’s Veto HBC. In Group D, JSK of the Democratic Republic of the Congo will meet Ethiopia’s Mekele 70 and Angolan club Primeiro de Agosto.

The women’s competition carries an even stronger Angolan tradition.

The last 27 editions of the African Club Championship have been won by an Angolan club, with the titles shared between Petro Atlético Luanda and Primeiro de Agosto.

Petro Atlético are the most successful club in the history of the women’s competition, with 21 titles, including their most recent triumph in 2024. Primeiro de Agosto have won the trophy eight times, with their run of success stretching across eight consecutive editions between 2014 and 2023.

The dominance of the two Luanda-based clubs has made their rivalry one of the defining stories of African women’s club handball. Petro ended Primeiro de Agosto’s run by winning the 2024 edition in Yaounde, adding another title to an already remarkable continental record in 2025 in Casablanca, as now they are the title holders.

In the women’s competition, Group A features Egyptian side Al Ahly, reigning African champions Primeiro de Agosto from Angola, Cameroon’s FAP, Abidjan HBC from Côte d’Ivoire and Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Group B brings together Angolan rivals Petro Atlético and CASA, alongside Cameroon’s TKC, Benin’s Flowers and Heritage from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Now, with the competition returning to Angola, the country’s two leading women’s clubs will be looking to keep the trophy at home.

In the men's competition, the top two sides in each group progress to the quarter-finals, while the women's competition sees the top-4 sides in each group making it to the knock-out phase.