Thursday, November 14
Rwanda vs Libya
Venue: Amahoro Stadium
Kick-off: 6pm CAT
Rwanda welcome Libya to Amahoro Stadium on Thursday, November 14, in the penultimate game of the AFCON 2025 qualifiers, as a spot in Africa's biggest football fiesta in Morocco beckons.
The match promises to be a tough one as both teams desperately need not one but 3 points at stake. A win for Rwanda will edge them closer to a dream AFCON return after 20 years absence while the visitors still hope for a similar result which would keep them in the picture albeit depending on other results in the Group.
Amavubi came from behind to defeat Benin 2-1 in their last home game in October and they are eager to build on it. The Mediterranean Knights, on the other hand lost 3-0 on forfeit to Nigeria and fined $50,000 after CAF raised their disciplinary rod on them for mistreating the Super Eagles.
The Northern African country confirmed that they a appealed for the forfeit, and they hope justice will prevail. Winning the appeal would keep them in contention of a spot at Morocco 2025 and the pushes them to play hard in Kigali until the last minute.
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Prior to the epic encounter with in Kigali, Amavubi head coach Torsten Spittler emphasized that his players are in good shape and winning the match is the only thing they have in mind.
"The situation is good after we won our last match. More or less, everybody is happy, so we can choose who to play in the match. We are ready for the difficult match on Thursday but I hope we can win," Spittler said in a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
"It is a very important match, everybody in our team knows about it, we have made lots of efforts to get in a situation like this. It was not easy, the last results against the stronger teams, we have a good chance, we are playing at home, we know Libya need a win just like we do."
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On his part, Amavubi skipper Djihad Bizimana pointed out everybody in the dressing room knows that there is a chance to make it to Morocco 2025 but insists that the possibility will be higher if they are able to defeat Libya on Thursday.
"We, the players, are ready. We know that, with a win we stand a brighter chance of making it to the AFCON 2025 finals,” the Kryvbas midfielder said.
"We are ready to fight. This is the right time for the fans to be behind us in big numbers so that we can qualify for AFCON."
Team News
Rwanda: Amavubi have a complete squad with the exception of centre back Clement Niyigena who is with the team but can't play against Libya due to accumulated yellow cards.
Also, centre back Thierry Manzi has returned to the team after missing Benin qualifier in Kigali through a knee injury.
Meanwhile, Spittler could do without Abdul Rwatubyaye who missed Wednesday’s training session after sustaining a minor injury during Tuesday’s session.
Libya: The Mediterranean Knights have all their players intact with no injury situations or suspensions.
Head to head meetings
Rwanda have only one win against Libya which was a 2015 AFCON qualifier. Amavubi won 3-0 but lost on forfeit as Dady Birori, the player who scored the hat trick had multiple identity.
In all, Amavubi have lost five times against Libya of which three was in Kigali. The last meeting between the two teams on September 4 ended 1-1 in Tripoli.
Form Guide
Rwanda form guide (all competitions):
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Libya form guide (all competitions):
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