adminForcing a 0-0 final-round draw in Zambia, the north Africans scraped through as the best group runners-up and have been drawn in Group A with the same country, co-hosts Equatorial Guinea and Senegal.
Most pundits fancy the Zambians and Senegalese to fill the top-two places and advance to the quarter-finals, but dare Libya be written off after a remarkable passage born of courage and determination?
They began a six-match qualifying campaign under Brazilian coach Manuel Paqueta in Mozambique as representatives of the Muammar Gaddafi regime and wearing green because their leader loved that colour.
But by the time they faced the Mozambicans again at “home” in Cairo, the shirts included the red, black and green of the new rulers, the “Greens” nickname had given way to the “Mediterranean Knights” and they sang a different national anthem.
To Rafie El Lafi from Tunisian side Club Africain went the honour of scoring the first goal for the “new” Libya as the 42-year Gaddafi stranglehold on the oil-rich country collapsed.
Factfile
Qualifying results: Mozambique 1-0 home 0-0 away, Zambia 1-0 0-0, Comoros Islands 3-0 1-1
Scorers: 1 – Ahmed Osman, Walid El Khatroushi, Ahmed Wafa, Jamal Mohamed, Ihab El Busaifi, Rafie El Lafi
Captain: Samir Aboud, Coach: Manuel Paqueta (BRA)
Rankings: Caf 14, Fifa 63, Nickname: Mediterranean Knights
Previous appearances: 1982 – runners-up, 2006 – first round
Record: P8 W2 D4 L2 F8 A9
Record win: Tunisia 2-0, loss: Egypt 0-3 – AFP.
Online Reporter
- Herald
- July 31, 2026
- 24 views
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