Libya national football team
Men's association football team / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Libya national football team (Arabic: منتخب لِيْبيَا لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم) represents Libya in men's international association football and it is controlled by the Libyan Football Federation. The team has never qualified for FIFA World Cup but has qualified for editions of Africa Cup of Nation in 1982, 2006, and 2012. In 1982, the team was both the host and runner-up. In the Arab Cup, Libya finished second in 1964 and 2012, and third in 1966. The team is affiliated with both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Nickname(s) | فُرْسَانُ الْمُتَوَّسِط (Fursan al-Mutawasit) (The Mediterranean Knights) | ||
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Association | Libyan Football Federation | ||
Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
Sub-confederation | UNAF (North Africa) | ||
Head coach | Milutin Sredojevic | ||
Captain | Muhammad Nashnoush | ||
Most caps | Ahmed Saad (74) | ||
Top scorer | Ali Al-Biski (35) | ||
Home stadium | Tripoli Stadium | ||
FIFA code | LBY | ||
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FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 114 6 (4 April 2024)[1] | ||
Highest | 36 (September 2012) | ||
Lowest | 187 (July 1997) | ||
First international | |||
Libya 5–2 Palestine (Alexandria, Egypt; 3 August 1953) | |||
Biggest win | |||
Libya 21–0 Muscat and Oman (Baghdad, Iraq; 6 April 1966) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
Egypt 10–2 Libya (Alexandria, Egypt; 6 August 1953) | |||
Africa Cup of Nations | |||
Appearances | 3 (first in 1982) | ||
Best result | Runner-up (1982) | ||
Due to political circumstances, Libya has typically been less successful in international competition compared to other North African teams like Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia. Libya has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and its participation in AFCON is sporadic, having only qualified for three AFCON editions.
Since the 2010s, Libya's global ranking has improved due to the increasing number of Libyan players playing in foreign leagues. In the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, the team recorded their first-ever win in the tournament outside Libya. Their FIFA world ranking rose to a high of 36 in September 2012; Libya then won a gold medal in the 2014 African Nations Championship. However, the Libyan Civil War caused the stoppage of the Libyan Premier League and severely disrupted domestic affairs. Libya was eliminated in the first round of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification by Rwanda and failed to qualify for the 2016 African Nations Championship as the defending champions.