Asante Kotoko of Ghana edged Kwara United of Nigeria 4-3 on Sunday as 2025-26 CAF Confederation Cup qualifying kicked off.
Hosts Kotoko led twice in the first half of the first round, first leg through goals from Emmanuel Antwi and Albert Amoah at the national stadium in Accra.
But Johnmark Atule twice equalised for a 2-2 scoreline at half-time in the stand-out tie of 26 in the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League.
Goals by Joseph Ablorh and Amoah again, from a penalty, gave Kotoko a two-goal advantage in the second half that was halved five minutes from time when Abdulraheem Shola netted for Kwara.
The result sets the stage for an intriguing second leg on September 28 in Abeokuta, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of commercial capital Lagos.
Kotoko are trying to become a force in Africa again after reaching seven CAF Champions League finals between 1967 and 1993, two of which they won.
The Porcupine Warriors also featured in the first Confederation Cup final in 2004, which they lost after a penalty shootout with fellow Ghanaian club Hearts of Oak.
Kwara are appearing in the Confederation Cup a third time. They failed to get past the qualifying phase two seasons ago, losing to Moroccan outfit Renaissance Berkane on away goals.
Abia Warriors, the other Nigerian contenders for the $2 million first prize, are facing an early exit after conceding with three minutes left to be held 1-1 by Malian visitors Djoliba.
Debutants Abia had taken the lead on 21 minutes through Chukwuemeka Obioma in Uyo, the capital of a southeastern state.
Troubled South African club Kaizer Chiefs fell 1-0 away to Angolan club Kabuscorp in Luanda with Democratic Republic of Congo-born Edo Bokota nodding the 60th-minute winner.
Chiefs, who regularly draw 90,000 crowds to Soweto derbies against Orlando Pirates, have won a record 53 domestic trophies, but only one in the past 10 seasons.
The lone recent title came this year in the FA Cup final against Pirates, and the architect of the success was Tunisian coach Nasreddine Nabi.
But he did not travel to Angola amid a row over his coaching qualifications. Chiefs believe they are not up to date, preventing him being on the sideline in CAF fixtures. The coach disagrees.
Assistant coaches Khalil Ben Youssef from Tunisia and Burundian Cedric Kaze took charge for the first leg, with Chiefs giving an underwhelming performance.
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