Eswatini vs Libya Prediction: Visiting Libya should enjoy a win

The match between Eswatini and Libya that will take place at the Mbombela Stadium on Friday will mark the beginning of both nations' campaigns to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Following a dismal performance in the qualifications for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, both teams will be looking to gain an advantage over the other in order to get off to a strong start on their way to making their first-ever appearance in the World Cup.

In their previous match, which took place on October 16, Eswatini struggled to gain momentum, and as a result, Botswana defeated them 2-1. Tumisang Orebonye and Lemogang Maswena scored for the Zebras to give them a narrow victory at the Mbombela Stadium. Neliso Meyeni got an equalizer in the 56th minute, but that was not even enough to salvage a point for them. Because of this outcome, Dominic Kunene's side has now gone four straight games without a win across all competitions, suffering two defeats and earning two draws. One of those draws was a scoreless match against Burkina Faso on September 8, which was their penultimate game of the AFCON qualifiers. It was a disappointing qualifying campaign for Eswatini, which was topped off by a draw with Burkina Faso in September. Eswatini failed to win any of their six matches in Group B, and as a result, they finished stuck at the bottom of the table with just three points out of a possible 18.

Libya completed their preparations for the World Cup qualifiers in impressive fashion by picking up a merited 2-1 victory in a friendly victory over Sudan on the last Saturday before the qualifications began. The Mediterranean Knights picked up a morale-boosting victory at the Benina Martyrs Stadium after goals were scored by Faisal Al-Badri and Omar Al-Khoja in each half of an exciting match. Since the beginning of October, Libya has played three warm-up friendly matches, and they have yet to suffer a loss in any of them. They won two of those matches, against Liberia and Sudan, and they have drawn one of those matches, against Niger, with a score of 1-1. On September 6, Libya experienced yet another poor AFCON qualifying campaign, which came to an end as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Equatorial Guinea on their own grounds. Libya's most recent participation in the continental tournament was in 2012, when they were eliminated in the group stage. This time around, they finished dead last in the standings with just three points after losing four of their six matches in Group B while also earning one win and one draw. The team captained by Hamdi Bataw will be looking to get off to a better start in the World Cup qualifiers, but they have lost each of their most recent six or seven competitive matches when playing away from home. In that span, they have let in 12 goals while scoring just twice. The last time Libya won a game away from their home stadium in a competitive setting was in September 2021, when they defeated Angola in a World Cup qualifying match by a score of 1-0 thanks to a goal scored by Anas Al Khouja in the first half of the match.

It is unlikely that either Eswatini or Libya will advance to the next round of the World Cup, but a victory in their opening match could alter the way the rest of the group plays out. Libya has put together a strong run of form heading into the qualifiers, and the team will be optimistic about their chances against an Eswatini team that has lost its previous four competitive home games. There is a possibility that scoring opportunities will be limited and I am leaning with the Mediterranean Knights, eking out a one-goal victory.