Rivers United Exit CAF Champions League After 2-2 Draw

Rivers United’s CAF Champions League exit was confirmed on Sunday after they drew 2-2 with San Pedro of Ivory Coast at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.

The 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League runners-up were eliminated in the preliminary round after the two legs finished 3-3 on aggregate. San Pedro progressed under the away-goals rule, leaving Rivers United with a disappointing early departure from the competition.

Rivers United entered the second leg needing a strong home performance after securing a 1-1 draw in Ivory Coast the previous weekend. Instead, they found themselves in serious trouble during the opening stages managed to respond before the interval the deficit to 2-1 as San Pedro quickly established control.

The visitors took the lead in the 14th minute before scoring again five minutes later. The two early goals put Rivers United 2-0 down inside the first 20 minutes and left the Nigerian side facing a difficult fight to stay in the tie.

The home team managed to respond before the interval. Rivers United pulled one goal back in the 43rd minute, reducing the deficit to 2-1 as the players headed into half-time.

After the restart, Rivers United increased the pressure as they searched for the goal needed to keep their CAF Champions League campaign alive.

Their efforts eventually produced a breakthrough late in the match. Rivers United were awarded a penalty in the 88th minute, and they converted the spot-kick to bring the score to 2-2.

The late equaliser restored parity at 3-3 on aggregate. However, Rivers United could not find another goal before the final whistle.

With the aggregate score level, San Pedro advanced on the away-goals rule. The result ended Rivers United’s hopes of reaching the next stage of Africa’s premier club competition.

The defeat leaves Rangers International as the only Nigerian club still in the second round of the CAF Champions League preliminary stage. The NPFL champions are scheduled to face USM Alger of Algeria in October.

For Rivers United, the result represents a painful end to their continental campaign after they fought back from two goals down but ultimately fell short of securing qualification.

Can Rivers United recover from this early continental setback and return stronger next season?