'We don't stand a chance of winning in Nigeria' - Libya coach throws in the towel before a ball is kicked

Libya coach Nasser Al-Hadhiri has admitted that the Super Eagles are superior to his side ahead of tomorrow's 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium.

The North African side have one point from their opening two games and face a herculean side of turning their fortunes around against a resurgent Nigerian side.

Austin Eguavoen's side have been able to put their poor start to the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualification campaign aside by getting four points in their opening two games from the AFCON qualifiers

Historically, the Mediterranean Knights also have a poor record against the Super Eagles, winning just once in their five meetings and losing the other four.

The most glaring factor that hands the 2013 AFCON champions the advantage is the gulf in class between them and Libya, which makes them an overwhelming favourite.

During his pre-match conference ahead of tomorrow's showdown, Nasser Al-Hadhiri conceded that they stand no chance against the Super Eagles but will work on getting a positive result in the second leg next Tuesday.

"We are aware of the strength of the Nigeria national team. They are a very strong team in Africa. The Nigerian team is a very big thing in Africa, very known in Africa, and is a team of sure of qualifying for the Nations Cup," Nasser Al-Hadhiri told reporters in Uyo. 

"No team is very close to Nigerian national team in Africa. They have very good players from Europe. We know the match here is going to be tough. We are playing against a very strong team in Africa.

"What we are going to do is to improve our game and try to get to the next level.

"The most important thing is to see how we can pressure Nigeria . After four days, there won't be the same game in Libya.

"We know we don't stand a chance of winning here in Nigeria, but we are going to make sure to correct our errors in Libya and have a very good result at home."

Libya haven't participated at the Africa Cup of Nations since the 2012 edition and need a massive turnaround in form to end their long drought of not participating in the competition.

They came close to winning the title in 1982 when they hosted the tournament but haven't gone beyond the group stage in the other editions that they have featured.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

Photo Credit: Libyan Football Federation

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