The Libya−Tunisia football rivalry is a football rivalry between the national football teams of Libya and Tunisia, having achieved one Africa Cup of Nations and two African Nations Championship between the two countries. The two nations have played 32 games against each other; Tunisia leads in wins with 21 to Libya's 6, with the two sides drawing five times.
History
The first match between the two teams after their independence was during a friendly match in Tunis, which ended with the hosts winning 4−2. This match is considered Tunisia's first match after its independence. Libya achieved its biggest victory against Tunisia on 11 March 1962 during a friendly match which ended with the Mediterranean Knights winning 6−3, while their most important victory was in an official match in the 1982 African Cup of Nations held in Tripoli, which ended with a 2−0 win. In the 21st century, the superiority seems clear to the Tunisians, as the two teams played 12 matches between 2000 and 2023. Libya won one match, one ended in a draw, and Tunisia won the rest of the matches.
In 2019, the two teams faced off in the 2020 African Nations Championship qualification, Tunisia won both legs 1–0 in Radès and 2–1 in Salé due to the Libyan Civil War to qualify for the finals.[1][2] However, on 20 December 2019, the Tunisian Football Federation withdrew from the tournament due to the intensity of the matches after the teams agreed.[3] This led to the imposition of sanctions by the Confederation of African Football, fining the Tunisian Federation $50,000, in addition to banning the national team from participating in the next edition in Algeria.[4] On 31 January 2020, Libya was qualified instead of Tunisia.[5] It remains the Carthage Eagles' biggest win during the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, as Libya returned to play on home soil for the first time after the civil war and suffered a 2−5 defeat with a clear Tunisian advantage.[6]
