Libya national football team

Libya
Nickname(s) The Mediterranean Knights
Association Libyan Football Federation
Confederation CAF (Africa)
Sub-confederation UNAF (North Africa)
Head coach Omar Al-Marime
Captain Muhammad Nashnoush
Most caps Tarik El Taib (77)
Top scorer Fawzi Al-Issawi (40)
Home stadium Tripoli Stadium
FIFA code LBY
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 99 Increase 2 (20 September 2018)
Highest 36 (September 2012)
Lowest 187 (July 1997)
Elo ranking
Current 86 Steady (20 August 2018)
Highest 46 (August 1985)
Lowest 124 (June 2003)
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
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. As of 2017, Libya has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, the only team in North Africa that has failed to do so. 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 gold medal in the 2014 CHAN. However, the ongoing 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 in 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

Palestine Cup of Nations

Recent results

Managers

N° Name Period
1Libya Massoud Zantouny1953
2Libya Salim Faraj Balteb1957-1960
3England James Benjeham1961
4England Billy Elliott1961-1963
5Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vojin Božović1964-1965
6England George Skinner1965-1966
7Algeria Mokhtar Arribi1966-1967
8England Keith Spurgeon1967-1968
9Libya Ali Zantouny1968-1969
10Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milan Selbetishi1969-1970
11England George Ainsley1970-1972
12Libya Hassan Al-Amer1972
13Romania Titus Ozon1972-1974
14Libya Mohammed El-Khamisi (1)1974-1975
15Libya Abed Ali Al-Aqili1975-1976
N° Name Period
16Libya Mohammed El-Khamisi (2)1976-1977
17Libya Ali Al-Zaqori1977-1978
18England Ron Bradley1978-1980
19Libya Mohammed El-Khamisi (3)1980-1982
20Hungary Béla Gutal1982
21Romania Cicerone Manolache[9]1983-1984
22Libya Mohammed El-Khamisi (4)1984
23Libya Hashimi El-Bahlul (1)1984-1986
24Libya Mohammed El-Khamisi (5)1988-1989
25Libya Ahmed Ben Soueid1989
26Libya Hashimi El-Bahlul (2)1991-1997
27Romania Ion Moldovan1998
28Scotland Danny McLennan1998
29Italy Eugenio Bersellini1998-1999
30Argentina Carlos Bilardo1999-2000
N° Name Period
31Argentina Miguel Angel Lemme2000-2001
32Italy Francesco Scoglio2002
33Croatia Ilija Lončarević (1)2003-2004
34Libya Mohammed El-Khamisi (6)2004-2005
35Croatia Ilija Lončarević (2)2005-2006
36Egypt Mohsen Saleh2006
37Libya Abou Bakr Bani2006-2007
38Tunisia Faouzi Benzarti2007-2009
39Croatia Branko Ivanković2009-2010
40Brazil Marcos Paquetá2010-2012
41Libya Abdul-Hafeedh Arbeesh2012-2013
42Spain Javier Clemente2013-2016
43Libya Jalal Damja2016-2018
44Libya Omar Al-Marime (1)2018-2018
45Algeria Adel Amrouche2018-2018
46Libya Omar Al-Marime (2)2018-

Players

Current squad

The following squad was selected The following players have been selected for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Nigeria on 13 and 16 October 2018.

Caps and goals as of 8 September 2018, after the match against South Africa.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Muhammad Nashnoush (1988-06-14) 14 June 1988 69 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
22 1GK Ahmed Azzaga (1988-08-09) 9 August 1988 0 Libya Al-Madina
12 1GK Murad Alwahishi (1997-02-28) 28 February 1997 0 Libya Al-Ittihad
15 2DF Ahmed El Trbi (1992-06-06) 6 June 1992 2 Libya Al-Ittihad
8 2DF Sanad Al-Warfali (1992-05-17) 17 May 1992 3 Morocco Raja Casablanca
25 2DF Mahmoud Ben Wali (1995-04-15) 15 April 1995 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
- 2DF Ali Maatok (1988-01-04) 4 January 1988 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
3 2DF Motasem Sabbou (1993-08-20) 20 August 1993 2 Libya Al-Ittihad Tripoli
13 3MF Mohamed El-Monir (1992-04-08) 8 April 1992 3 United States Orlando City
2 2DF Ahmed Al-Magsi (1993-02-10) 10 February 1993 0 Libya Al-Ittihad Tripoli
16 3MF Ali Elmusrati (1996-04-06) 6 April 1996 4 Portugal Vitória S.C. B
23 3MF Badr Hassan (1987-10-01) 1 October 1987 0 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
11 3MF Ahmad Benali (1992-02-07) 7 February 1992 5 1 Italy Crotone
21 3MF Rabi Al-Shadi (1994-03-06) 6 March 1994 1 0 Libya Al-Ittihad Tripoli
24 4FW Muaid Ellafi (1996-03-07) 7 March 1996 4 No Club
14 4FW Mohammad Sola (1993-07-29) 29 July 1993 0 Bahrain Al-Muharraq
10 4FW Hamdou Elhouni (1994-02-12) 12 February 1994 3 Portugal Deportivo das Aves
17 4FW Ismael Tajouri-Shradi (1994-03-28) 28 March 1994 1 0 United States New York City
27 4FW Mohamed Zubya (1989-03-20) 20 March 1989 10 Libya Al-Ittihad
20 4FW Anis Saltou (1992-04-01) 1 April 1992 1 Libya Al Ahli Tripoli
19 4FW Salem Elmslaty (1992-10-31) 31 October 1992 0 Libya Al-Ittihad
9 4FW Khaled Majdi (1996-01-05) 5 January 1996 0 Libya Al-Nasr

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5

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 (in Arabic) 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.
  9. ↑ Ca selecţioner al Libiei, Cicerone Manolache avea un salariu de 2.000 $, dar statul român oprea 1.700 $, www.libertatea.ro, 29 mars 2011.
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