Shooting Stars beat CS Sfaxien as Lucky Emmanuel settles CAF opener

Shooting Stars secured a 1-0 home win over Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien in the first preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup on Saturday, 5 September 2026.

Lucky Emmanuel scored the only goal of the match in the 25th minute at the Stade MKO Abiola in Ibadan, giving the Nigerian side a narrow lead to take into next week’s return leg in Tunisia.

The result rewards a strong first-half performance from the home team, who found the breakthrough during an intense opening period. Shooting Stars, known as the Oluyole Warriors, managed to turn their pressure into a decisive moment when Emmanuel found the net midway through the first half.

CS Sfaxien, who are commonly known as the Ceistes, attempted to respond after falling behind. However, the Tunisian side was unable to break through a compact Shooting Stars defence, which protected the advantage for the remainder of the match.

The 1-0 victory gives Shooting Stars a positive result from the first meeting of the tie, although the outcome remains finely balanced ahead of the second leg in Tunisia in a week.

The Nigerian club will now seek to preserve its lead over the two matches, while CS Sfaxien will have the opportunity to overturn the deficit on home territory.