Liberia national men’s football team

Liberia national men’s football team

• It’s a member of FIFA and the Confederation of African Football [CAF]
• It has never qualified for FIFA World Cup
• It’s controlled by the Liberia Football Association

Liberia national football team also known as the Lone Stars represents Liberia men’s international football and is controlled by the Liberia Football Association.

Since the team began, it has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup but it produced the player of the year in the 1995 FIFA World Cup-George Weah, qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations two times.

It is a member of both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football [CAF].

History of the National Team

Liberia played in its first African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign in 1967 drawing its first match against Guinea.

Liberia national football team. Photo/Liberian Observer

They also went on a draw in a match against Senegal but they lost both returning fixtures and were eliminated in the first round.

The team however returned to qualifying in 1976 but lost it in the preliminary round to Togo, being defeated in both fixtures.

After another absence, Liberia again joined AFCON and they qualified for the preliminary rounds but failed to progress after two draws against Gambia, losing on the away goals rule.

After two years, the Africa Cup of Nations was held, Liberia withdrew from qualifying but in the following tournament, they managed to secure their first win in a qualifying match over Mauritania. However, in the second leg, they failed to capitalize o the previous win losing to Sierra Leone and Mali.

Liberia withdrew from qualifying before a match in 1992 and two years later was put into a group with two participants that also withdrew during a qualifying match that is Tanzania and Burkina Faso.

The team again didn’t take advantage of those participants that withdrew and finished last losing to Ghana twice.

Fortunately, in the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, the team managed to register three wins against Togo, Tunisia and Mauritania, on four draws which saw them finish second in qualifying for their first Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

Nigeria withdrew and Liberia was placed with Zaire and Gabon, Liberia opened the tournament with a victory over Gabon but lost to Zaire, failing to progress to the knock-out stages.

Liberia did not return to the Africa Cup of Nations two years later as they missed in a point in the qualification. Two years later, they won over Niger in the preliminary rounds but also failed to advance to the main tournament finishing behind Nigeria.

After the numerous defeats, Liberia decided to set a pace by showcasing their best in the 2002 African Cup of Nations qualification, beating Cape Verde in the preliminary rounds and finishing top of their group for the main tournament.

Liberia’s National Team Players

The team is pulling up to give the best they can. Every institution is bound by rules and regulations and the team is not left out. The average height for the players is 1.84m while the preferred age is 25 years.

Liberia national football team. Photo/Liberian Observer

Keita, Ansumana is the current coach of the team and he has a supportive team that makes playing easier and more interesting. The players too are very cooperative and with effort, success is on the way.

All the best to the team.