Libya national football team

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Libya
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Mediterranean Knights, The Tuareg.
AssociationLibyan Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationUNAF (North Africa)
Head coachHany Ramzy
CaptainAli Salama
Most capsTarik El Taib (77)
Top scorerFawzi Al-Issawi (40)
Home stadiumTripoli International Stadium
FIFA codeLBY
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current88 Decrease 11 (21 December 2017)
Highest36 (September 2012)
Lowest187 (July 1997)
First international
 Egypt 10–2 Libya Libya
(Egypt; July 29, 1953)
Biggest win
 Libya 21–0 Muscat and Oman
(Iraq; April 6, 1966)
Biggest defeat
 Egypt 10–2 Libya Libya
(Egypt; July 29, 1953)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances3 (first in 1982)
Best resultRunners-up, 1982

The Libya national football team (Arabic: منتخب ليبيا لكرة القدم) is the national association football team of Libya and is controlled by the Libyan Football Federation. As of 2017, Libya has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. The team has qualified for three Africa Cup of Nations: 1982, 2006, and 2012. In 1982, the team was both the host and runner-up. In the Arab Nations Cup, Libya finished second in 1964 and 2012, and third in the 1966.

The good performances recorded in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations under Brazilian Coach Marcos Paquetá saw the team record their first win in the tournament outside Libya in their final match against Senegal. This saw their FIFA world rankings rise to the highest it had ever been at 53, which later rose again to 36 in September 2012 before winning their first silver medal in the 2014 CHAN. However, the continued civil war in 2014 affected the team along with the stoppage of the Libyan league, thus the team was knocked from the First Round of the 2015 CAN qualifiers by Rwanda and failed to qualify for CHAN 2016 after winning the previous tournament

History

Early history

Libya's national team was first initiated in 1918, but did not play an official international until 3 August 1953, when they defeated Palestine 5–2 in the first Pan Arab Games in 1953. The first manager ever to manage the Libyan national team was Masoud Zantouny, and the first foreign manager was Englishman James Bingham, who took charge of the Libyan national team for the 1961 Pan Arab Games. The first player ever to score for the Libyan national team in an official international was Mukhtar Ghonaay.

The first penalty ever scored by a member of the national team was in the 1953 Pan Arab Games group stage; in the match against Egypt, Ali Zantouny scored in the 3–2 defeat. The national team's first participation in the Arab Cup was in 1964, the second edition of the competition, held in Kuwait.

The first ever player to score for the Libyan national team in a non-official international was Mustapha Makki in a warm-up friendly played prior to the 1953 Pan Arab Games tournament, played against Palestine in Alexandria in 1952. The national team's first attempt to qualify for an Olympic football tournament was in 1967, where they played their first qualification match against Niger in an attempt to qualify for the 1968 Olympic football tournament in Mexico City.

World Cups

Libya first entered the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 1970. Their early attempts failed, but during the 1980s the national side strengthened. The country's geopolitical position, however, affected the football team, who had to withdraw from qualifying for the 1982 and 1990 World Cups.

Libya came closest to qualifying for the world cup in 1986. They came to within a game of reaching the finals in Mexico. After winning their match against Sudan in their first game, the Libyans beat Ghana in the next round before taking on Morocco for a place at the finals. Morocco won the first game 3–0 and went through, even though Libya won the return leg 1–0.

After not entering the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup competition, Libya came back in the qualifying competition for Korea/Japan. The Libyans advanced to the second round at the expense of Mali, who were beaten 4–3 on aggregate. In the group stage, Libya managed only two draws in eight games.

In the qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a 9–0 two-legged victory against São Tome and Principe put the Libyans through to the group stage. However, during these two games Al-Saadi Gaddafi was banned when he failed a drug test.

A difficult group followed containing Egypt, Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire, the eventual group winners and qualifiers for the World Cup. However, The Knights were able to secure good results against these sides, as they beat Egypt 2–1 in Tripoli, and held Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire to 0–0 draws, helping them to a 4th-place finish and a place at the 2006 African Cup of Nations finals in Egypt.

African Cup Of Nations

Libya 1982

The biggest football tournament to be held in Libya was the 1982 African Cup of Nations. Libya qualified automatically as hosts and were put in a group alongside Ghana, Cameroon and Tunisia. The opening match of the tournament saw the hosts take on Ghana in Tripoli in a 2–2 draw. A 2–0 win over Tunisia and a goalless draw against Cameroon saw Libya topping the group.

In the semi-finals, Libya came from behind to beat Zambia 2–1 and set up another match with Ghana, this time in the final on 19 March. Ghana scored first in the 35th minute, but Libya equalised in the 70th. This was followed by a tense period of extra time in which no goals were scored. In a long penalty shootout, Ghana came out triumphant 7–6.[1]

Egypt 2006

Libya's second African Cup of Nations saw a return to the higher levels of the international footballing scene at the 2006 African Cup of Nations finals in Egypt. They qualified for the competition after a goalless draw with Sudan in their ninth qualifying match.

Libya were drawn in Group A with Egypt (the hosts and eventual winners), 2006 World Cup-qualifiers Côte d'Ivoire and Morocco. Libya lost 3–0 to Egypt in Cairo, then lost 2–1 to Côte d'Ivoire. A goalless draw against Morocco saw Libya finish bottom of the group.

Recent years

Faouzi Benzarti became the coach of the national team in 2006. He failed to lead the team to the 2008 African Nations Cup, despite being drawn in what was seen as an easy group along with DR Congo, Namibia and Ethiopia; away defeats in Addis Ababa and Windhoek prevented qualification.

The next challenge for the Libyans was the qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. They were drawn in Group 5 along with Gabon, Lesotho and Ghana: Libya were eliminated on goal difference after losing their final match against Gabon.

Libya had a chance to come back from World Cup misfortune during the qualifiers for the 2009 African Championship of Nations. They overcame Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco to go through to the tournament, but Libya finished bottom of their group after losing to Congo DR and drawing with Ghana and Zimbabwe. Benzarti was sacked,[2] and Serbian Branko Smiljanić was appointed on December 13.[3] In July 2010, Brazilian coach Marcos Paqueta was appointed the head coach of the Libyan team, and signed a four-year contract ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.[4]

Post Gaddafi Era

Libya played its first match after the Battle of Tripoli (and thus the end of the Gaddafi era in Libya) on 3 September 2011, with a new uniform sporting the National Transitional Council flag of Libya.

The match, part of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign, resulted in a 1–0 victory over Mozambique. The historic goal was scored by Rabee'a al Laafi. Like Libya's previous home match, a 3–0 defeat of Comoros in qualifying, played in Stade 26 mars in Bamako, Mali, a relocation was necessary due to the ongoing Libyan Civil War, and so the Petro Sport Stadium in Cairo, Egypt became the venue. The match was played behind closed doors for security reasons.[5]

Prior to the team's final game in the qualification campaign, against Zambia, coach Marcos Paquetá claimed that the team was now "not only playing for football success but for a new government and a new country".[6] The match was played on 8 October 2011, and resulted in a 0–0 draw which was good enough for both teams to qualify. Paquetá and his team danced and celebrated afterwards.[7]

In November 2011 the team travelled to the United Arab Emirates to play a friendly match against Belarus organized by FIFA and broadcast Dubai Sports. The team members, along with the Libyan national Chess team, also attended an event at the Libyan Consulate in Dubai organized to honour their contribution to their country in the field of sports.[8]

On 7 June 2013, Libya met DR Congo on its first match on home ground in two years.

2012 Africa Cup of Nations

Having qualified, Libya were drawn into Group A with co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, qualification rivals Zambia and pre-tournament favourites Senegal, Paquetá's men faced a tough task in progressing from the group.

The Mediterranean Knights' first game, the tournament's opening match, saw them lose to an 87th-minute winner from ex-Real Madrid winger Javier Ángel Balboa. Despite this setback, Libya's performances improved as the tournament went on; they went on to secure a 2–2 draw with Zambia in terrible conditions at the Estadio de Bata, before a brace from Ihaab al Bousseffi guided them to a famous 2–1 victory over Senegal, their first Nations Cup win in 30 years and a first on foreign soil. A respectable return of four points from three games was, sadly, not enough for Libya to progress, as they bowed out at the group stage.

The team will certainly learn from such an experience, however; despite a fairly conservative approach in the opening match, Libya began to offer more going forward, with Ahmed Sa'ad winning the man of the match award for the games against Zambia and Senegal as he showcased his obvious talent on a continental and global stage.

With six members of the squad aged 30 and above, notably Samir Aboud, for whom the match against Senegal brought down the curtain on a long international career, the focus now turns to the future of Libyan football; although domestic football has yet to be rescheduled following a year-long hiatus, qualification for next year's Cup of Nations could see a new-look Libya side enter the fray in South Africa.

2014 African Nations Championship

Libya drew against Ghana in a very tough and tiring match. Extra time was given ( two 15 minutes), however both teams failed to score. It was taken to penalty shootouts, where the Libyan team scored the first three penalties, missed two others and scored the final sixth (making it 4 in total, that they scored) and their Ghanaian opponents missed the first two, scored the next three then missed the final sixth penalty (resulting in 3 penalties scored). The match finished (0–0) and was won by the Mediterranean Knights by penalties (4–3).

Rivalries

Libya's only real rivalries are with its fellow North African footballing nations, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and, mainly, Tunisia. Matches between Libya and any one of these opponents are highly charged encounters. Libya defeated Egypt 2–1 in a World Cup qualifier on 8 October 2004, the Pharaohs never managed to beat the Libyans on their own turf. The rivalry was rekindled at the 2007 Pan Arab Games, where the teams drew 0–0; Egypt eventually claimed the gold medal on goal difference from the Libyans.

Libya's last clash with Morocco was at the 2006 African Nations Cup, where it finished goalless (However, Libya also recently contested a fiery two-legged play-off tie for the 2009 African Championship of Nations, which Libya won 4–3 on aggregate). The height of the rivalry was in the 1980s, where a strong Libya side, which at that time was regarded as one of the top teams in the continent, had its World Cup '86 dreams crushed by a resurgent Morocco side. The Moroccans won the play-off 3–1 on aggregate, and progressed to the knockout stage, where they were defeated by West Germany.

Honours

Africa Cup of Nations:

Arab Cup of Nations:

African Nations Championship:

Competitive record

Recent results

5 June 2017 Friendly Egypt  1–0  Libya Cairo, Egypt
23:00 EET
  • Hakim 65'
 Report Stadium: Petro Sport Stadium
Attendance: 100
Referee: Mahmoud Al Banna (Egypt)
9 June 2017 2019 AFCONQ Libya  5–1  Seychelles Cairo, Egypt[note 1]
22:00 EET
Report
Stadium: Petro Sport Stadium
Referee: Baba Leno (Guinea)
12 August 2017 2018 CHANQ Algeria  1–2  Libya Constantine, Algeria
20:45 WAT
Report
Stadium: Mohamed Hamlaoui Stadium
Attendance: 13,000
Referee: Samir Guezzaz (Morocco)
18 August 2017 2018 CHANQ Libya  1–1
(3–2 agg.)		  Algeria Sfax, Tunisia[note 1]
19:00 WAT
Report
Stadium: Stade Taïeb Mhiri
Referee: Amin Mohamed Amin Mohamed Omar (Egypt)
28 August 2017 2018 WCQ Guinea  3–2  Libya Conakry, Guinea
17:00 GMT
Report
Referee: Souleiman Ahmed Djama
4 September 2017 2018 WCQ Libya  1–0  Guinea Monastir, Tunisia[note 1]
20:00 CET
Report Stadium: Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet
Referee: Abou Coulibaly (Ivory Coast)
7 October 2017 2018 WCQ Libya  1–2  DR Congo Monastir, Tunisia[note 1]
18:00 CET
Report
Stadium: Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet
Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal)
11 November 2017 2018 WCQ Tunisia  0–0  Libya Radès, Tunisia
18:30 WAT Report Stadium: Stade Olympique de Radès
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Hamada Nampiandraza (Madagascar)
25 December 2017 Friendly Jordan  1–1  Libya Amman, Jordan
 Report
Stadium: King Abdullah II Stadium
23 March 2018 2019 AFCONQ South Africa  v  Libya South Africa
Report
5 September 2018 2019 AFCONQ Nigeria  v  Libya Nigeria
Report
9 September 2018 2019 AFCONQ Libya  v  Nigeria TBD[note 1]
Report
12 October 2018 2019 AFCONQ Seychelles  v  Libya Seychelles
Report
9 November 2018 2019 AFCONQ Libya  v  South Africa TBD[note 1]
Report

Players

See also: Libya international footballers

The following squad was selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against DR Congo on 31 August & 4 September 2017.

Caps and goals updated as of 4 October 2017.
No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Muhammad Nashnoush (1988-06-14) 14 June 1988 (age 35) 51 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
1GK Ali Shanena (1984-02-08) 8 February 1984 (age 40) 3 0 Unknown
1GK Ahmed Azzaqa (1988-08-09) 9 August 1988 (age 35) 1 0 Unknown
2DF Abboud Maaz (1986-09-04) 4 September 1986 (age 37) 4 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
2DF Ahmad Ahwedi (1994-02-26) 26 February 1994 (age 30) 3 0 Unknown
2DF Mohammed Al-Tarhouni (1991-07-10) 10 July 1991 (age 32) 7 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
2DF Mohamed Abdulaziz 0 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
2DF Sanad Al-Warfali (1992-02-17) 17 February 1992 (age 32) 10 1 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
2DF Abdelrahman Ramadan Fetori (1984-07-02) 2 July 1984 (age 39) 18 2 Libya Al-Ahly Benghazi
3MF Motasem Sabbou (1993-08-20) 20 August 1993 (age 30) 27 1 Libya Al-Ittihad Tripoli
3MF Mohammed Al-Tubal (1993-06-23) 23 June 1993 (age 30) 18 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
3MF Badr Hassan (1987-10-01) 1 October 1987 (age 36) 4 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
3MF Ali Elmusrati (1996-04-06) 6 April 1996 (age 28) 23 2 Portugal Vitória S.C. B
3MF Mohamed Salih Ali (1993-07-29) 29 July 1993 (age 30) 0 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
3MF Muhammed Mayden (1994-03-25) 25 March 1994 (age 30) 0 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
3MF Anwar Makhlouf (1991-11-29) 29 November 1991 (age 32) 0 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
3MF Mohamed Al-Gadi (1990-06-22) 22 June 1990 (age 33) 23 0 Portugal Santa Clara
3MF Mohamed El Monir (1992-04-08) 8 April 1992 (age 32) 16 3 United States Orlando City
4FW Salim Baleid 0 0 Unknown
4FW Mohamed Al Ghanodi (1992-11-22) 22 November 1992 (age 31) 45 6 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
4FW Hamdou Elhouni (1994-02-12) 12 February 1994 (age 30) 16 2 Portugal Chaves
4FW Muaid Ellafi (1996-03-07) 7 March 1996 (age 28) 7 3 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
4FW Akram Zuway (1991-12-24) 24 December 1991 (age 32) 7 1 Jordan Al-Faisaly
4FW Anis Saltou (1992-04-01) 1 April 1992 (age 32) 7 1 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Libya will play their home matches outside Libya due to security concerns from the ongoing civil war.

References

  1. ^ Anaman, Fiifi. "The Last Time: How Ghana managed an unlikely ascension unto the African football throne". Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  2. ^ 22 March 2009, LFF Sacks Fauzi Benzarti Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, Tripoli Post, Accessed March 22, 2009.
  3. ^ لجنة المنتخبات تقدم المدرب الجديد للمنتخب الى وسائل الإعلام Template:Ar icon LFF 2009-12-13
  4. ^ Brazilian Paqueta signs to coach Libya
  5. ^ 4 September 2011, Libyan football enters post-Gaddafi era, BBC News Online, Accessed September 5, 2011.
  6. ^ 7 October 2011, Libya eye unlikely qualification, BBC Sport, Accessed October 8, 2011.
  7. ^ 8 October 2011, Zambia, Libya make Nations Cup cut, BBC Sport, Accessed October 8, 2011.
  8. ^ 29 November 2011, Libyan National Football Team and the Libyan National Chess Team Reception, [SmugMug Sohail Nakhooda], Accessed 30 November 2011.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Libya_national_football_team&oldid=818982781"