Football in Libya

Football in Libya
Football in Libya
Country	Libya
Governing body	Libyan Football Federation
National team(s)	men's national team
Club competitions
	Libyan Premier League
International competitions
	African Cup of Nations(National Team)

Football is the most popular sport in Libya, the North African country with a population of around 6,800,000.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] The governing body is the Libyan Football Federation, which was founded in 1962.

Al-Ittihad fans during a Champions League game in 2007

.

Football culture

Libyans are passionate towards football.

Ahly Benghazi face off. Though Libya has not achieved big on both International and Club level, Libyans are known to be skillful, having produced such talented players such as TarIk El-Taib, Jehad Muntasser, Ahmed Saad, and Fawzi Al-Issawi

.

National championships

Prior to national championships, football was held at regional level.

WW2

.

There were three regional leagues in Libya since 1949:[11] West, East and South.

Libyan Premier League

This is the top flight of Libyan football. This is a semi-professional league, although some foreign players are professionals. The first championship was held in 1963, and was won by

Al Ittihad

have won the most championships, with 14, including the last 4 titles.

The league is ranked as the 56th best league in the world for 2009, according to IFFHS.^[12]

There are two other divisions, the Libyan Second Division, and the Libyan Third Division.

Libyan Cup

This competition was first initiated in 1976, although only 5 editions of the competition were played in the following twenty years. In the past, the runners-up of the Libyan Premier League were named the domestic cup champions.

2008 Libyan Al-Fatih Cup Final

)

Libyan Trophy

This competition was initiated in 2007. It is contested by members of the Premier League only.

Khaleej Sirte

won the inaugural competition.

National team

The national team, nicknamed The Mediterranean Knights, is considered one of the stronger teams in

FIFA world rankings

rise to the highest it had ever been at 53, which later rose again to 36 in September 2012.

1900s

They had one of their most successful periods in the 1980s, when such players as Salim Abu Jarrad, Fawzi Al-Issawi and Ali Al-Beshari almost led the side to silverware. In 1982, Libya hosted the 1982 African Cup of Nations, a competition in which they came second, losing 7-6 to Ghana on penalty kicks. The team was also very close to qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, where they lost 3-1 to Morocco over two legs.

The 1990s was a poor period for the national team. Libya was disqualified from

1999 Pan Arab Games

.

2000–present

The 2000s were better for the nation, and with players such as

African Cup Of Nations 2008 tournament. The side suffered disappointing away defeats against Ethiopia and Namibia, which ruined their chances of qualifying.^[13]

The club came very close to qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The team secured a famous victory against Ghana, with an 86th-minute goal from Ahmed Saad Osman, but fell at the final hurdle, losing 1-0 to Gabon, which eliminated them on goal difference.

In 2014 African Nations Championship the Libyan national team won its first title beating Ghana on penalties.

Football stadiums in Libya

#	Stadium	Capacity	City	Tenants	Image
1	Tripoli Stadium	65,000	Tripoli	Libya national football team
2	Martyrs of February Stadium	10,550	Benghazi	Al-Nasr SCSC

References

^ Almasri, Omar. "The State Of Football In Pre And Post-Revolution Tunisia, Egypt And Libya". Sabotage Times. Archived from the original on 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
^ "Soccer Helps Rebuild Libya Post-Qaddafi". Pulitzer Center. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
^ McDonnell, Patrick J. (2011-05-14). "Libya Moammar Kadafi soccer: In Libya, politics turned soccer into Kadafi's game – Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
^ "United by fate: The story of Libya's rebel national soccer team – CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
^ "Libya's footballers in the firing line – CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
^ "Libya's Soccer Rebellion: A Revolution Foreshadowed on the Pitch of Benghazi – SPIEGEL ONLINE". Spiegel.de. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
^ "Libya says women's soccer team can't play tournament due to Ramadan". GlobalPost. 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
^ Stephen, Christopher (2013-07-18). "Female Footballers Covered Head to Toe Inflame Islamists". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
^ Libya championships 1928–1940
^ Campionato tripolino 1939
^ Libya championships 1949–1962
^ "IFFHS". Iffhs.de. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
^ "Revitalised Libya in CHAN quarterfinals by Firdose Moonda". Espn Fc. 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[1] Almasri, Omar. "The State Of Football In Pre And Post-Revolution Tunisia, Egypt And Libya". Sabotage Times. Archived from the original on 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[2] "Soccer Helps Rebuild Libya Post-Qaddafi". Pulitzer Center. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[3] McDonnell, Patrick J. (2011-05-14). "Libya Moammar Kadafi soccer: In Libya, politics turned soccer into Kadafi's game – Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[4] "United by fate: The story of Libya's rebel national soccer team – CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[5] "Libya's footballers in the firing line – CNN.com". Edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[6] "Libya's Soccer Rebellion: A Revolution Foreshadowed on the Pitch of Benghazi – SPIEGEL ONLINE". Spiegel.de. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[7] "Libya says women's soccer team can't play tournament due to Ramadan". GlobalPost. 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[8] Stephen, Christopher (2013-07-18). "Female Footballers Covered Head to Toe Inflame Islamists". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[9] Libya championships 1928–1940

[10] Campionato tripolino 1939

[11] Libya championships 1949–1962

[12] "IFFHS". Iffhs.de. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

[13] "Revitalised Libya in CHAN quarterfinals by Firdose Moonda". Espn Fc. 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2014-02-15.

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v t e Libyan Premier League 2021−22
Group A	Al-Ahly Benghazi Al-Akhdar Al-Hilal Benghazi Al Nasr Benghazi Al-Sadaqa Al-Ta'awon Al-Tahaddy Darnes Khaleej Sirte Shabaab Al-Jabal
Group B	Abu Salem Al-Ahly Tripoli Al-Ittihad Misurata Al-Ittihad Tripoli Al-Khums Al-Madina Al-Mahalla Aschat Asswehly Olympic Azzaweya
Former teams	Abi al Ashar Afriqi Al-Ahly Sabha Al-Amn Alaam Al-Andalus Al-Dhahra Al-Intilaaq Al-Jazeera Al-Murooj Al-Mustaqbal Al Sawa'ed Al-Suqoor Al-Yarmouk Annajma Ascharara Attahaddy Attayaran Attersana Al-Urouba Al-Wahda Majd Tripoli Nahdha Nojom Ajdabiya Qurdabia Sabha Wefaq Sabratha Rafik Sorman
Seasons	1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 (unfinished) 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1987 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2013–14 2016 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23

v t e Football in Africa
Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland
Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain) Madeira (Portugal) Mayotte / Réunion (France) Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)