Libya national football team

Libya

Nickname(s)	فرسان المتوسط The Mediterranean Knights
Association	Libyan Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNAF (North Africa)
Head coach	Marcos Paqueta
Captain	Samir Aboud
Home stadium	June 11 Stadium
FIFA code	LBY
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	65
Highest	58 (April 2011)
Lowest	187 (July 1997)
First international
Egypt 10–2 Libya (Egypt; July 29, 1953)[1]
Biggest win
Libya 21–0 Muscat and Oman (Iraq; April 6, 1966)
Biggest defeat
Egypt 10–2 Libya (Egypt; July 29, 1953)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances	3 (first in 1982)
Best result	Runner-up, 1982

The Libya national football team (Template:Lang-ar) is the national association football team of Libya and is controlled by the Libyan Football Federation. The team has never qualified for the senior FIFA World Cup. They have qualified for three Africa Cup of Nations, one in 1982 where they finished runners-up and also hosted the tournament. The second was in 2006, but they failed to progress from their group and the third was in 2011, which was the first time that they qualified without hosting the tournament. They also finished runners-up in the 1964 Arab Nations Cup.

The Libya national team has been a member of CAF since 1965, and has been a member of the sub-confederation UNAF since its official formation in 2005. As of October 2011, Libya are currently ranked 62 in the official FIFA World Rankings, just short of their highest ever ranking. Their lowest ever ranking was 187th in July 1997.

History

Early History

Libya's national team was first initiated in 1918, but did not play an official international until August 3, 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 10–2 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, however. The qualifying tournament increased the profile of Libya's captain Al-Saadi al-Gaddafi, son of national leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, and he received a contract with former Serie A Italian club Perugia shortly afterwards.

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 al-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.

See also

• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) (The closest Libya came to qualifying for the World Cup).

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 agroup 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 March 19. 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.

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 the Ivory Coast. 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 Adis 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, and Serbian Branko Smiljanić was appointed on December 13. 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..

Post Gaddafi Era

Libya played its first match after the Battle of Tripoli (and thus the end of the Gaddafi era in Libya) on September 3 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 on-going 2011 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.

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". The match was played on October 8 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.

Rivalries

Libya's only real rivalries are with its fellow North African footballing nations, Algeria, Morocco and, mainly, Egypt. Matches between Libya and any one of these opponents are highly charged encounters, although the rivalry is not considered intense due to the gulf in quality between the sides. Libya defeated Egypt 2–1 in a World Cup qualifier on October 8, 2004, however they have never managed to defeat the Pharaohs 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 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.

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966	Withdrew
1970	Did not qualify
1974	Did not enter
1978	Did not qualify
1982	Withdrew during qualifying
1986	Did not qualify
1990	Withdrew during qualifying
1994	Disqualified due to UN sanctions
1998	Did not enter
2002	Did not qualify
2006
2010
2014	To Be Determined
2018
2022
Total	N/A	N/A	0	0	0	0	0	0

Libya is the only North African country never to qualify for a World Cup.

Africa Cup of Nations record

Africa Cup of Nations
Titles: 0 Appearances: 2
Year	Position		Year	Position		Year	Position		Year	Position
1957	Did not enter		1976	Did not enter		1994	Did not enter		2012	Qualified
1959			1978			1996			2013	TBD
1962			1980			1998			2015
1963			1982	Runners up		2000	Did not qualify		2017	Qualified
1965			1984	Did not qualify		2002
1968	Did not qualify		1986			2004
1970	Did not enter		1988	Withdrew		2006	Round 1
1972	Did not qualify		1990			2008	Did not qualify
1974	Withdrew		1992	Did not enter		2010

• Red bordered cells indicates Cup was held in Libya.

Results and Upcoming Fixtures

Date	Tournament	Location	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Libya Scorers	Opposition scorers
5 September 2010	2012 African Cup of Nations Qualifier	Estádio da Machava, Maputo	Mozambique	0–0	Libya	-	-
10 October 2010	2012 African Cup of Nations Qualifier	11 June Stadium, Tripoli	Libya	1–0	Zambia	Ahmed Sa'ad 36'	-
26 March 2011	2012 African Cup of Nations Qualifier	Stade 26 mars, Bamako	Libya	3–0	Comoros	Ahmed Abdelkader 41' Mohamed Al Ghanodi 81' Djamal Bindi 83'	-
4 June 2011	2012 African Cup of Nations Qualifier	Stade Said Mohamed Cheikh, Moroni	Comoros	1–1	Libya	Ihaab Boussefi 53'	Mzé Mbaba 83'
3 September 2011	2012 African Cup of Nations Qualifier	Petro Sport Stadium, Cairo	Libya	1–0	Mozambique	Rabee'a al Laafi 31'	-
8 October 2011	2012 African Cup of Nations Qualifier	Nkoloma Stadium, Lusaka	Zambia	0–0	Libya	-	-

Current squad

Squad selected to face Zambia (2012 CAN Qualifying), October 8, 2011:

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Samir Aboud	(1972-09-29) September 29, 1972	39	0	Al Ittihad
16	1GK	Muhammad Nashnoush	(1988-06-15) June 15, 1988	0	0	Al Shat
18	1GK	Ahmed Azzaqa	(1988-08-09) August 9, 1988	0	0	Al Hilal
2	2DF	Abdulaziz Belraysh	(1990-07-12) July 12, 1990	4	0	Al Ittihad
3	2DF	Muhammad al Maghrabi	(1985-04-19) April 19, 1985	12	0	OC Khouribga
5	2DF	Younes al Shibani	(1981-06-27) June 27, 1981	41	4	OC Khouribga
6	2DF	Ahmed al Tawerghi	(1981-12-16) December 16, 1981	2	0	Al Ahly Tripoli
11	2DF	Ossama Chtiba	(1988-09-27) September 27, 1988	2	0	Al Ittihad
21	2DF	Omar Dawood	(1983-04-09) April 9, 1983	11	1	Al Ahly Tripoli
22	2DF	Hamed Snousi	(1989-11-03) November 3, 1989	0	0	Al Ahly Benghazi
24	2DF	Ali Salama	(1987-09-18) September 18, 1987	3	0	Al Ahly Benghazi
4	3MF	Marwan Mabrouk	(1989-12-15) December 15, 1989	2	0	Al Ittihad
7	3MF	Djamal Mahamat	(1983-04-26) April 26, 1983	2	1	Braga
8	3MF	Muhammad al Sanaani	(1984-05-13) May 13, 1984	3	0	US Monastir
9	3MF	Abdulnaser Slil	(1981-09-02) September 2, 1981	10	1	Al Ittihad
10	3MF	Riyadh al Laafi	(1980-07-05) July 5, 1980	8	0	Al Ittihad
12	3MF	Abdallah al Sharif	(1985-03-30) March 30, 1985	1	0	Al Madina
13	3MF	Ibrahim al Haasy	(1987-05-13) May 13, 1987	2	0	Al Nasr
19	3MF	Khalid al Deelawi	(1985-07-27) July 27, 1985	1	0	Al Swihli
20	3MF	Ali Rahuma	(1982-05-16) May 16, 1982	7	1	Al Ittihad
23	3MF	Tariq Q'tait	(1989-07-22) July 22, 1989	1	0	Khaleej Sirte
14	4FW	Ahmed Sa'ad	(1979-08-07) August 7, 1979	35	7	Club Africain
15	4FW	Muhammad Za'abia	(1989-03-20) March 20, 1989	27	1	Al-Arabi SC
17	4FW	Éamon Zayed	(1983-10-04) October 4, 1983	1	0	Derry City

References

External links

• Libyan Football Federation
• African Cup Of Nations 82