AFCON 2027: Tunisia lose 2-0 to Libya in Sfax
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on La Presse de Tunisie, Afrik-Foot, Senego and Business News
Tunisia lost 2-0 to Libya on Friday at the Sfax stadium, in matchday 3 of Group H of AFCON 2027 qualifiers, according to La Presse de Tunisie. Ali Youssef opened the scoring from a penalty before half-time, then Hamdou El Houni doubled Libya’s lead in the 64th minute.
Dominant in play, Tunisia mainly struggled with their finishing. After the break, Ben Slimane thought he had equalised, but his goal was disallowed for a contested offside. The Libyan penalty followed a foul by Ali Maaloul.
After the goal, El Houni showed off his shirt to a frustrated crowd, who responded by throwing bottles and flares onto the pitch at the end of the match. The Tunisian players and staff contested several decisions with the Moroccan referee Hamza El Fariq, who was escorted off the pitch as a precaution. On the action leading to the second goal, a possible foul on Ghram, who stayed down for long moments, was not penalised.
With two draws and this defeat, Tunisia are provisionally bottom of Group H, while Libya, coached by Senegalese coach Youssouph Dabo, win their first victory there and move provisionally into joint first place. The group has only one further qualifying place available, Uganda having already secured participation in the competition as host nation. The return fixture will take place on 17 November in Libya, and three other matchdays are scheduled for March 2027.
On social media, anger is now also directed at officials of the Tunisian Football Federation. Mustapha Baazaoui believes that dissolving the federal board would be the minimum after a performance he considers catastrophic. Amel Adouani takes away only the Sfax crowd from the evening, and points out that, for the first time since 1992, Tunisia risk missing a final tournament of the Africa Cup of Nations. Abid Khlifi invokes the Jasmine Revolution to gauge the decline of Tunisian football.
