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Why Pirates fans should be confident of a home win against African Stars

Why Pirates fans should be confident of a home win against African Stars
Why Pirates fans should be confident of a home win against African StarsOrlando Pirates

Orlando Pirates have an impressive home record in CAF competitions as they prepare to face African Stars in the return leg of their CAF Champions League second-round tie on Friday.

The Buccaneers hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg played at a neutral venue in Botswana and will be confident of getting the job done against the Namibian side.

Pirates have played 78 games at home across all CAF competitions and have 50 wins to go with 22 draws and just six defeats. They have scored 142 goals and conceded only 43.

It means they have avoided defeat 92% of the time, which is exactly what they need to do on Friday to reach the group stage.

Four of those six losses have perhaps unsurprisingly come in the Champions League, though they have not suffered a home defeat in the competition since 2012.

They lost 2-1 to Primeiro de Agosto from Angola in 1997, and by the same scoreline to Raja Casablanca from Morocco that same year.

They were defeated 3-1 by TP Mazembe from DR Congo in 2002 and then, most shockingly, by Angolan side Recreativo do Libolo by that same scoreline in 2012.

They have suffered two defeats in the CAF Confederation Cup since, losing 2-1 to Zamalek from Egypt in 2015 and 1-0 to Libyan side Al Ahli Tripoli in 2021/22.

Quite remarkably, they are unbeaten in their last 26 Champions League home games, dating back to that clash against Recreativo.

They are also unbeaten in their last 12 home games across all CAF competitions.

They have proven incredibly difficult to score against at home. The team has kept clean sheets in 47 of their 78 CAF home games, including 10 in their last 12.

Conversely, they have failed to score on only 13 occasions.

Penalties have been their nemesis recently, though. Pirates beat Jwaneng Galaxy 1-0 at home in 2023/24 and St Éloi Lupopo 3-0 in 2025/26, but were eliminated on penalties in both ties.

They will be desperate to avoid that fate this time around.

 

Nick Said has been covering African sport for almost three decades, specialising in football, rugby and cricket. He is based in Cape Town, South Africa and you can follow him on X and LinkedIn.

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