ASKO de Kara will begin their CAF Confederation Cup campaign in the first preliminary round, a second successive season in the competition after the Togolese club’s recent fall from domestic dominance.
The club, long accustomed to competing in the CAF Champions League, must now adjust their continental ambitions for the 2026-27 season after finishing as runners-up in Togo’s top division.
ASKO’s opening tie will be against Nigerien side AS ZAM, with the first leg scheduled for 5 September 2026. The return match will be played in Lome on 13 September.
The winner of the tie will face either FC Diarra of Mali or Ghana’s Nations FC in the second preliminary round. ASKO’s immediate priority will be to negotiate that first obstacle and revive their hopes of reaching the group stage of African competition.
For much of the past decade, ASKO de Kara were the dominant force in the D1 Lonato. Known as the Kondonas, they built an imposing record of domestic success and won four consecutive Togolese league titles between 2020 and 2023.
That sustained supremacy earned the club repeated appearances in the CAF Champions League, where they accumulated significant experience against leading teams from across the continent.
Their most notable recent achievement came during the 2022-23 season, when ASKO reached the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a landmark moment for a modern Togolese club and underlined their status as the country’s leading representative in African football.
However, ASKO have been unable to reproduce that progress in their subsequent Champions League campaigns. They failed to advance beyond the qualifying rounds in their latest attempts, ending their hopes of another deep continental run before the group stage.
At home, meanwhile, the balance of power has shifted during the past three seasons. ASKO’s long-standing control of the national championship has been challenged by local rivals ASCK, or Association Sportive des Chauffeurs de la Kozah.
That rivalry became particularly significant in the 2024-25 season, when ASCK won the Togolese title and ended ASKO’s recent run of success.
The same outcome followed in 2025-26. ASKO finished the campaign with an emphatic 3-0 victory over AC Barracuda on the final day, but the result was not enough to change the final standings. They had to settle for second place behind ASCK.
That runners-up finish is why ASKO will compete in the CAF Confederation Cup rather than the CAF Champions League this season. ASCK claimed the qualification place reserved for Togo’s champions.
ASKO now face the task of turning disappointment at domestic level into renewed continental momentum. Their previous early exits in the Champions League have increased the importance of this campaign, with the club seeking to show they retain the experience and maturity required to return to the group stage of African competition.
A successful start against AS ZAM would provide the first step towards that objective, while also offering ASKO the chance to re-establish themselves among the leading clubs in the region.