Libya national football team

Libya

Nickname(s)	The Mediterranean Knights
Association	Libyan Football Federation
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation	UNAF (North Africa)
Head coach	Jalal Damja
Captain	Ali Salama
Most caps	Tarik El Taib (77)
Top scorer	Tarik El Taib (23)
Home stadium	Tripoli International Stadium
FIFA code	LBY
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	86 10 (24 November 2016)
Highest	36 (September 2012)
Lowest	187 (July 1997)
Elo ranking
Current	83 (17 November 2015)
Highest	46 (August 1985)
Lowest	124 (June 2003)
First international
Egypt 10–2 Libya (Egypt; July 29, 1953)
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	Runners-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. Libya has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but has made it to three Africa Cup of Nations; the first was in 1982 where they finished runners-up as hosts of the tournament. The team's second participation did not come until 2006, which was the first time the side qualified without hosting the tournament. The squad failed to progress from the group stages in 2006, as was the case in their third participation in 2012. Libya finished runners-up in the 1964 and 2012 Arab Nations Cup and came third in the 1966 edition in Baghdad.

Libya's national team is considered one of the stronger teams in Africa and the Arab world, particularly in recent years. The good performances recorded in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations under Brazilian Coach Marcos Paqueta saw the team record their first win in the tournament outside of 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 silverware 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 prvious 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.

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,^[1] and Serbian Branko Smiljanić was appointed on December 13.^[2] 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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".^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7]

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:

• 1982 2nd Place

Arab Cup of Nations:

• 1964, 2012 2nd place
• 1966 3rd place

African Nations Championship:

• 2014 Champions

Competitive record

World Cup record FIFA World Cup Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1930 Part of  Italy 1934 1938 1950 1954 Did not enter 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 2018 To Be Determined 2022 Total 0/20

Olympic Games record Olympic Games Appearances: 0 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1896 – 1948 Did not exist 1952 Did not enter 1956 1960 1964 1968 Did not qualify 1972 Did not enter 1976 Did not qualify 1980 Withdrew in qualification 1984 Did not qualify 1988 Did not enter 1992 1996 2000 2004 Did not qualify 2008 2012 2016 Did not enter 2020 To be determined Total 0/25 Football at the Summer Olympics has been an under-23 tournament since the 1992 edition.

Africa Cup of Nations Record Africa Cup of Nations Appearances: 3 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1957 Did not enter 1959 1962 1963 1965 1968 Did not qualify 1970 Did not enter 1972 Did not qualify 1974 Withdrew 1976 Did not enter 1978 1980 1982 Runners-up 2nd 5 2 3 0 7 4 1984 Did not qualify 1986 1988 Withdrew 1990 1992 Did not enter 1994 1996 1998 2000 Did not qualify 2002 2004 2006 Group Stage 14th 3 0 1 2 1 5 2008 Did not enter 2010 2012 Group Stage 10th 3 1 1 1 4 4 2013 Did not qualify 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 Total Runners-up 3/29 11 3 5 3 12 13

All-Africa Games Record All-Africa Games Appearances: 1 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1965 Did not enter 1973 1978 Group Stage ^1 8th 3 1 0 2 3 4 1987 Did not enter 1991 1995 1999 2003 Did not qualify 2007 2011 Did not enter 2015 2019 To be determined All Total Group Stage 1/11 3 1 0 2 3 4 Prior to the Cairo 1991 campaign, the Football at the All-Africa Games was open to full senior national teams. ^1 Libya disqualified from the tournament due to vilence with the Egyptian team during the match in the group stage.

African Nations Championship record African Nations Championship Appearances: 2 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 2009 Group Stage 7th 3 0 2 1 1 3 2011 Did not qualify 2014 Champions 1st 6 1 5 0 6 4 2016 To be determined 2018 Total 1 title 2/3 9 1 7 1 7 7

Mediterranean Games Record Mediterranean Games Appearances: 8 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1951 Part of  Italy 1955 Did not enter 1959 1963 1967 Group Stage 8th 3 0 1 2 1 5 1971 Did not enter 1975 Group Stage 7th 4 1 0 3 4 8 1979 Did not enter 1983 Group Stage 9th 2 0 0 2 2 5 1987 Did not enter 1991 1993 1997 Group Stage 10th 3 0 2 1 3 4 2001 7th 2 0 1 1 1 2 2005 Bronze Medal 3rd 5 1 2 2 3 10 2009 4 0 3 1 0 1 2013 Fourth Place 4th 5 1 1 3 6 12 2017 To be determined Total Bronze Medal 8/17 28 3 10 15 20 47 Prior to the Athens 1991 campaign, the Football at the Mediterranean Games was open to full senior national teams.

Arab Nations Cup record Arab Nations Cup Appearances: 4 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1963 Did not enter 1964 Runners-up 2nd 4 2 2 0 9 5 1966 Third Place 3rd 5 2 2 1 20 4 1985 Did not enter 1988 1992 1998 Group Stage 11th 4 0 0 2 2 4 2002 Withdrew 2012 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 2 0 11 8 Total Runners-up 4/9 18 7 6 3 42 21

Pan Arab Games record Pan Arab Games Appearances: 9 Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA 1953 Bronze Medal 3rd 3 2 0 1 10 14 1957 Group Stage 8th 3 0 0 3 5 12 1961 Bronze Medal 3rd 5 2 1 2 13 13 1965 6 4 0 2 44 18 1976 Did not enter 1985 Group Stage 5th 2 1 0 1 2 2 1992 Did not enter 1997 Group Stage 6th 3 0 2 1 4 5 1999 Bronze Medal 3rd 6 3 2 1 11 6 2004 No tournament 2007 Silver Medal 2nd 4 3 1 0 7 1 2011 Group Stage 7th 3 0 2 1 1 2 Total Silver Medal 9/11 35 15 8 12 97 73

Recent results

Tunisia  v  Libya

19 October 2015 2016 African Nations Championship qualification	Tunisia	1–0	Libya	Radès, Tunisia
18:00 WAT	Bguir  75'	Report		Stadium: Stade Olympique de Radès Referee: Redouane Necib (Algeria)

Libya  v  Morocco

22 October 2015 2016 African Nations Championship qualification	Libya	0–4	Morocco	Radès, Tunisia
18:00 WAT		Report	Benjelloun  26' Lembarki  39' Housni  84' Ounajem  90+4'	Stadium: Stade Olympique de Radès Referee: Daouda Gueye (Senegal)

Libya  v  Rwanda

13 November 2015 2018 World Cup qualification	Libya	1–0	Rwanda	Sousse, Tunisia
14:30 WAT	Al Badri  48' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Stade Olympique de Sousse Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal)

Rwanda  v  Libya

17 November 2015 2018 World Cup qualification	Rwanda	1–3	Libya	Kigali, Rwanda
15:30 CAT	Tuyisenge  45+3'	Report	El Monir  36', 90+3' Al Ghanodi  48'	Stadium: Stade Régional Nyamirambo Referee: Djamal Aden (Djibouti)

Egypt  v  Libya

29 January 2016 Friendly	Egypt	2–0	Libya	Aswan, Egypt
17:00 EET	Gabr  30' Morsi  74'	Report		Stadium: Aswan Stadium Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Gehad Grisha (Egypt)

São Tomé and Príncipe  v  Libya

23 March 2016 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	São Tomé and Príncipe	2–1	Libya	São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
15:30 GMT	Leal  83', 88'	Report	Al Badri  23'	Stadium: Estádio Nacional 12 de Julho Referee: Aboubacar Bangoura (Guinea)

Libya  v  São Tomé and Príncipe

28 March 2016 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	Libya	4–0	São Tomé and Príncipe	Cairo, Egypt
19:00 EET	Zubya  51', 56', 74' Abdusalam  70'	Report		Stadium: Petro Sport Stadium Referee: Akintoye Koole (Benin)

Libya  v  Morocco

3 June 2016 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	Libya	1–1	Morocco	Radès, Tunisia
19:00 WAT	Al Ouarfali  90'	Report	Dirar  38'	Stadium: Stade Olympique de Radès Referee: Youssef Essrayri (Tunisia)

Cape Verde  v  Libya

3 September 2016 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification	Cape Verde	0–1	Libya	Praia, Cape Verde
16:00 CVT		Report	Al Triki  90'	Stadium: Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde Referee: Bamlak Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia)

DR Congo  v  Libya

8 October 2016 2018 World Cup qualification	DR Congo	4-0	Libya	Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
15:30 WAT		Report		Stadium: Stade des Martyrs

Libya  v  Tunisia

11 November 2016 2018 World Cup qualification	Libya	0-1	Tunisia	Algiers, Algeria[note 1]
20:00 UTC+1		Report (FIFA) Report (CAF)	Khazri  50' (pen.)	Stadium: Stade Omar Hamadi Referee: Davies Ogenche Omweno (Kenya)

Guinea  v  Libya

28 August 2017 2018 World Cup qualification	Guinea	v	Libya	TBD
		Report		Stadium: TBD

Libya  v  Guinea

2 September 2017 2018 World Cup qualification	Libya	v	Guinea	TBD
		Report		Stadium: TBD

Libya  v  DR Congo

2 October 2017 2018 World Cup qualification	Libya	v	DR Congo	TBD
		Report		Stadium: TBD

Tunisia  v  Libya

6 November 2017 2018 World Cup qualification	Tunisia	v	Libya	TBD
		Libya  v  DR Congo 2 October 2017 2018 World Cup qualification Libya  v  DR Congo TBD Report Stadium: TBD		Stadium: TBD

See also

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

Notes

1. Libya will play their home matches outside Libya due to security concerns from the ongoing civil war.

References

1. 22 March 2009, LFF Sacks Fauzi Benzarti, Tripoli Post, Accessed March 22, 2009.
2. لجنة المنتخبات تقدم المدرب الجديد للمنتخب الى وسائل الإعلام (Arabic) LFF 2009-12-13
3. Brazilian Paqueta signs to coach Libya
4. 4 September 2011, Libyan football enters post-Gaddafi era, BBC News Online, Accessed September 5, 2011.
5. 7 October 2011, Libya eye unlikely qualification, BBC Sport, Accessed October 8, 2011.
6. 8 October 2011, Zambia, Libya make Nations Cup cut, BBC Sport, Accessed October 8, 2011.
7. 29 November 2011, Libyan National Football Team and the Libyan National Chess Team Reception, [SmugMug Sohail Nakhooda], Accessed 30 November 2011.

External links

• Libyan Football Federation
• African Cup Of Nations 82