Liberia national football team

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Liberia
Nickname(s)Lone Star
AssociationLiberia Football Association
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationWAFU (West Africa)
Head coachPeter Butler
CaptainAllen Njie
Most capsJoe Nagbe (77)
Top scorerGeorge Weah (18)
Home stadiumSKD Stadium
FIFA codeLBR
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 144 Steady (23 December 2021)[1]
Highest66 (July 2001)
Lowest164 (October–November 2010)
First international
France Ivory Coast 0–2 Liberia 
(Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Unknown date 1954)
Biggest win
 Liberia 5–0 Djibouti 
(Monrovia, Liberia; March 29, 2016)
Biggest defeat
 Ghana 6–0 Liberia 
(Ghana; April 6, 1975)
Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances2 (first in 1996)
Best resultGroup stage, 1996 and 2002

The Liberia national football team, nicknamed the Lone Stars, represents Liberia in men's international football and is controlled by the Liberia Football Association. Although the nation produced the 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year, George Weah, its football team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and has qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations just twice—in 1996 and 2002. It is a member of both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

History[]

African Cup of Nations[]

In 1967 Liberia played in its first African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, drawing its first match 2–2 against Guinea. They also drew against Senegal however lost both returning fixtures and were eliminated in the first round. Liberia returned to qualifying in 1976 but lost in the preliminary round to Togo, falling to defeat in both fixtures. After another absence, Liberia again joined AFCON qualifying in 1982 in the preliminary rounds but failed to progress after two draws against Gambia, losing on the away goals rule.

Liberia withdrew from qualifying for the 1984 African Cup of Nations, but the following tournament they managed to secure their first win during qualifying, a 3–1 first leg victory over Mauritania. They failed to capitalise on this advantage, losing 3–0 in the second leg. Liberia then faced Sierra Leone and Mali during the 1988 qualification and 1990 qualification respectively, but again failed to progress. In 1992, Liberia withdrew from qualifying before playing a match and in 1994, Liberia was put into a group with two participants that withdrew during qualifying (Tanzania and Burkina Faso) however they failed to take advantage of this, and finished with zero points, having lost to Ghana twice.

In the 1996 African Cup of Nations qualification, Liberia managed to register three wins (against Togo, Tunisia and Mauritania) and four draws, which saw them finish the group in second place and qualify for their first African Cup of Nations tournament. Following the withdrawal of Nigeria, Liberia were placed in a group with Gabon and Zaire. Liberia opened the tournament with a 2–1 victory over Gabon with goals from Kelvin Sebwe and Mass Sarr Jr., but lost 2–0 to Zaire. This meant that Liberia finished bottom of the group on goal difference and failed to progress to the knock-out stages.

Liberia missed out on returning to the African Cup of Nations in 1998 as they finished one point off of qualification. In 2000, they defeated Niger in the preliminary rounds, but again failed to advance to the main tournament, this time finishing behind Algeria on goal-difference.

In 2002 African Cup of Nations qualification, Liberia beat Cape Verde in the preliminary rounds, then they finished top of their group to qualify for the main tournament for the second time in their history. In the 2002 African Cup of Nations, Liberia drew their first game 1–1 with Mali (goal scored by George Weah) and drew their second game 2–2 against Algeria (goals from Prince Daye and Kelvin Sebwe), but in their final group game, needing a win against Nigeria, they lost 1–0.

FIFA World Cup[]

Liberia first entered the qualifying process for the FIFA World Cup in 1966, however they withdrew in protest against the fact that too few places had been reserved for Africa and Asia, along with all fourteen other African nations that had initially entered qualifying.

Liberia next entered qualifying in 1982 against Guinea after receiving a bye in the first round. They lost 1–0 over the two legs and were eliminated. In 1986, Liberia was again eliminated without having scored a goal, falling 4–0 to Nigeria. In 1990, Liberia won its first FIFA qualifying match defeating Ghana to progress to the second round. Despite finishing second in their group, Liberia failed to advance to the final qualification round, ending two points behind group winners Egypt.

In 1998, Liberia beat Gambia in the first qualification round, but finished twelve points adrift of Tunisia in their group. In 2002, Liberia had their strongest qualifying campaign, however a loss against Ghana in their penultimate group game gave Nigeria the opportunity to overtake them and secure the only qualification spot.

Results and fixtures[]

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

2021[]

27 March Friendly Saudi Arabia  3–2  Liberia Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
14:30 (UTC±0) Maran Goal 55'
Al-Ghamdi Goal 84'
Al-Eisa Goal 90+6'
Report Macauley Goal 72'
Goal 90+2'
Stadium: Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium
Attendance: 0
30 March Friendly Saudi Arabia  0–0  Liberia Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
14:05 (UTC±0) Report Stadium: Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium
Attendance: 0
11 June Friendly Mauritania  1–0  Liberia Tunis, Tunisia
15:30 UTC±0
Report Stadium: Stade Chedly Zouiten
Attendance: 0
Referee: Naim Hosni (Tunisia)
14 June Friendly Libya  0–1  Liberia Tunis, Tunisia
15:30 UTC±0 Report
Stadium: Stade Chadly Zouiten
Attendance: 0
Referee: Youssef Essrairi (Tunisia)
17 June Friendly Algeria  5–1  Liberia Oran, Algeria
20:45 UTC+1
Report
Stadium: Olympic Stadium
Referee: Ibrahim Mutaz (Libya)
3 September 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Nigeria  2–0  Liberia Lagos, Nigeria
11:00 UTC+1 Report Stadium: Teslim Balogun Stadium
Referee: Koussai Attidgbe (Togo)
6 September 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Liberia  1–0  Central African Republic Douala, Cameroon
11:00 UTC+1 Report Stadium: Stade de la Réunification
Referee: Sekou Ahmed Toure (Guinea)
30 September Friendly Egypt  2–0  Liberia Alexandria, Egypt
21:00 CAT (UTC+2)
Report Stadium: Borg El Arab Stadium
Referee: Youssef Essrayri (Tunisia)
7 October 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Liberia  1–2  Cape Verde Accra, Ghana
13:00 UTC±0
Report
Stadium: Accra Sports Stadium
Referee: Jean Ouattara (Burkina Faso)
10 October 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Cape Verde  1–0  Liberia Mindelo, Cape Verde
15:00 UTC−1
  • Mendes Goal 90'
Report Stadium: Estádio Municipal Adérito Sena
Referee: Mohamed Ali Moussa (Niger)
13 November 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Liberia  0–2  Nigeria Tangiers, Morocco
17:00 UTC+1 Report
  • Osimhen Goal 15' (pen.)
  • Musa Goal 90+4' (pen.)
Stadium: Stade Ibn Batouta
Referee: Youssef Essrayri (Tunisia)
16 November 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Liberia  3–1  Central African Republic Tangier, Morocco
17:00 UTC+1
Report
Stadium: Stade Ibn Batouta
Referee: Kalilou Ibrahim Traore (Ivory Coast)

Coaching staff[]

Position Name
Head coach England Peter Butler
Assistant coach Liberia Christopher Wreh
Goalkeeping coach Liberia Sunday Seah
Fitness coach Liberia George Gebro

Coaching history[]

Caretaker managers are listed in italics

Players[]

Current squad[]

The following players were called up for two 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Nigeria and Central African Republic on 13 and 16 November 2021.[3]
Caps and goals updated after the match against Central African Republic on 16 November 2021.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Tommy Songo (1995-04-20) 20 April 1995 (age 26) 16 0 Liberia LISCR
1GK Boison Wynney (1996-12-27) 27 December 1996 (age 24) 3 0 Romania
1GK (2002-05-13) 13 May 2002 (age 19) 0 0 Liberia Watanga

2DF Alvin Maccornell (1993-01-13) 13 January 1993 (age 28) 19 0 Liberia Watanga
2DF Prince Balde (1998-03-23) 23 March 1998 (age 23) 9 0 Kosovo Drita
2DF (2001-10-10) 10 October 2001 (age 20) 9 0 Liberia LPRC Oilers
2DF (1992-12-06) 6 December 1992 (age 29) 5 0 Liberia LPRC Oilers
2DF Carlos Williams (1990-06-26) 26 June 1990 (age 31) 3 0 Liberia Watanga
2DF Jamal Arago (1993-08-28) 28 August 1993 (age 28) 2 0 Azerbaijan Sabail
2DF Mark Pabai (2000-09-30) 30 September 2000 (age 21) 2 0 Netherlands PEC Zwolle

3MF Oscar Dorley (1998-07-19) 19 July 1998 (age 23) 26 1 Czech Republic Slavia Prague
3MF Marcus Macauley (1991-10-27) 27 October 1991 (age 30) 19 5 Jordan Sahab
3MF Allen Njie (1999-07-26) 26 July 1999 (age 22) 18 0 Switzerland Aarau
3MF Seth Hellberg (1995-08-19) 19 August 1995 (age 26) 7 0 Sweden IK Brage
3MF Brem Soumaoro (1996-07-08) 8 July 1996 (age 25) 6 0 Cyprus PAEEK
3MF Abu Kamara (1997-04-01) 1 April 1997 (age 24) 5 0 North Macedonia Makedonija
3MF Justin Salmon (1999-01-25) 25 January 1999 (age 22) 2 0 Sweden Degerfors IF

4FW Kpah Sherman (1992-02-03) 3 February 1992 (age 29) 16 3 Malaysia Kedah
4FW Sylvanus Nimely (1998-09-04) 4 September 1998 (age 23) 12 0 Finland Ilves
4FW Van-Dave Harmon (1995-09-22) 22 September 1995 (age 26) 7 1 Albania Laçi
4FW Peter Wilson (1996-10-09) 9 October 1996 (age 25) 8 2 Cyprus Olympiakos Nicosia
4FW Moussa Sanoh (1995-07-20) 20 July 1995 (age 26) 3 0 Romania Mioveni

Recent call-ups[]

The following players have been called up for the team in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Ashley Williams (2000-10-30) 30 October 2000 (age 21) 13 0 Spain Linense v.  Cape Verde; 10 October 2021
GK (1994-09-03) 3 September 1994 (age 27) 1 0 Liberia Mighty Barolle v.  Cape Verde; 10 October 2021

DF Teah Dennis Jr. (1992-05-07) 7 May 1992 (age 29) 38 1 Liberia Monrovia Club Breweries v.  Cape Verde; 10 October 2021
DF (2001-06-01) 1 June 2001 (age 20) 9 0 Spain Linense v.  Cape Verde; 10 October 2021
DF Daniel Paye (2000-07-10) 10 July 2000 (age 21) 2 0 Denmark Jammerbugt v.  Central African Republic; 6 September 2021

MF Terrence Tisdell (1998-03-16) 16 March 1998 (age 23) 11 1 Turkey Kocaelispor v.  Cape Verde; 10 October 2021
MF 1 0 Liberia Fassell v.  Cape Verde; 10 October 2021
MF Patrick Weah (2003-12-15) 15 December 2003 (age 18) 0 0 United States Sacramento Republic v.  Cape Verde; 10 October 2021
MF David Tweh (1998-12-25) 25 December 1998 (age 23) 8 0 Belarus Rukh Brest v.  Central African Republic; 6 September 2021

FW Ayouba Kosiah (2001-07-22) 22 July 2001 (age 20) 3 0 Netherlands NAC Breda v.  Cape Verde; 10 October 2021

Records[]

As of 16 November 2021[4]
Players in bold are still active with Liberia.

Competitive record[]

FIFA World Cup record[]

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 to
Argentina 1978
Did not enter Did not enter
Spain 1982 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 0 1
Mexico 1986 2 0 0 2 0 4
Italy 1990 8 3 3 2 4 3
United States 1994 Withdrew during qualifying Withdrew during qualifying
France 1998 Did not qualify 8 2 1 5 7 12
South KoreaJapan 2002 10 6 1 3 11 2
Germany 2006 12 2 1 9 6 29
South Africa 2010 6 0 3 3 4 12
Brazil 2014 6 1 1 4 3 9
Russia 2018 4 1 1 2 4 6
Qatar 2022 8 3 0 5 7 10
CanadaMexicoUnited States 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 0/22 66 18 12 36 46 88

Africa Cup of Nations record[]

Africa Cup of Nations
Appearances: 2
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Sudan 1957 Not affiliated to CAF
Egypt 1959
Ethiopia 1962
Ghana 1963 Did not enter
Tunisia 1965
Ethiopia 1968 Did not qualify
Sudan 1970 Did not enter
Cameroon 1972
Egypt 1974
Ethiopia 1976 Did not qualify
Ghana 1978 Did not enter
Nigeria 1980
Libya 1982 Did not qualify
Ivory Coast 1984 Withdrew
Egypt 1986 Did not qualify
Morocco 1988
Algeria 1990
Senegal 1992 Withdrew
Tunisia 1994 Did not qualify
South Africa 1996 Round 1 13th 2 1 0 1 2 3
Burkina Faso 1998 Did not qualify
Ghana Nigeria 2000
Mali 2002 Round 1 9th 3 0 2 1 3 4
Tunisia 2004 Did not qualify
Egypt 2006
Ghana 2008
Angola 2010
Equatorial Guinea Gabon 2012
South Africa 2013
Equatorial Guinea 2015
Gabon 2017
Egypt 2019
Cameroon 2021
Ivory Coast 2023 To be determined
Guinea 2025
Total Group stage 2/33 5 1 2 2 5 7

Achievements[]

West African Nations Cup :
  • 1 Time Runners-up
CEDEAO Cup :
  • 1 Time Runners-up

Notes[]

  1. ^ Nagbe retired from international duty in 2001 but later played two farewell matches in 2011.
  2. ^ a b Weah retired from international duty in 2002 but later played a farewell match in 2018.
  3. ^ a b Debbah retired from international duty in 2004 but later played a farewell match in 2018.

References[]

  1. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. December 23, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  2. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. December 26, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
  3. ^ "Butler names 22-man squad for final World Cup qualifiers". Facebook. Liberia Football Association. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  4. ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Liberia - Record International Players". RSSSF.

External links[]

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