In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to forget the rules of the game. This is what happened to the Libyan U20 team on Saturday afternoon during their match against Tunisia.
Their goal was clearly and justly disallowed for offside. The Libyans made a misjudgment. Young Libyan players made a blunder and pointed fingers at the referees.
At first glance, the goal scored in the last minute of stoppage time seemed perfectly valid. On a counterattack, a player received the ball on the left flank, while a Tunisian defender remained behind. However, the flag was raised for offside.
What happened?
In reality, the previous action was a corner for Tunisia. With the score at 1-1, which was not enough to hope for qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations, the Tunisian goalkeeper also moved forward.
That’s where the problem lay. With the goalkeeper not yet back, only the Tunisian defender was behind the ball. They had missed that detail.
The Tunisian attacker could have avoided this inconvenience by taking a moment to slow down and stay in his half of the field, but he rushed forward and thus found himself clearly offside. They did not grasp that at all.
The assistant referee who signaled the goal was quickly confronted by a group of furious staff members, while the attacker, whose goal was disallowed, remained on the field, his face contorted.
After a brief explanation, play resumed. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, meaning both the Libyan and Tunisian U20 teams were eliminated from the qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The young Libyans might take this break to better understand the rules of the game.
احتجاج كبير من منتخب ليبيا بسبب احتساب الحكم تسلل في هجمة خطيرة للمنتخب الليبي أمام المرمى الخالي لتونس ✋ https://t.co/5AYpVAXt41
— ON Sport (@ONTimeSports) October 3, 2026
