Art & Culture

2022 FIFA World Cup Semi-Finalist Sofiane Boufal Officially Joins Libyan Club

BYYassine Hariss

September 15, 2026

Life can come at you fast: one day, you’re playing in a World Cup semi-final for the first time in your country’s history, and a few years later, you’re packing your bags for Libya. At least, that’s how things have played out for Sofiane Boufal, who has officially joined the Libyan league in what is easily one of the more unexpected transfers of the summer.

The 32-year-old Moroccan international inked a deal with Ittihad Tripoli, putting an end to a six-months spell in Ligue 1 at Le Havre all while adding another destination to a career that has already taken him from France to England, Spain, Qatar, and Belgium.

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According to reports, the free agent has agreed to a contract worth around $5 million per season, though no information regarding the length of the deal has been made public just yet. The move marks Boufal’s first time playing on the African continent at club level and could prove to be quite the coup for the Libyan league. Beyond what he could bring on the pitch, signing a player of his profile also carries a certain amount of soft power for a league, and a country more broadly, still working to shake off the negative image that has followed Libya since the fall of Gaddafi.

It’s worth remembering that the midfielder was part of the squad that took Morocco all the way to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, making the Atlas Lions the first Arab and African nation to ever reach that stage of the tournament. Featured in all seven of Morocco’s games in Qatar, he was one of the architects behind the North African Kingdom’s success, helping his side knock out Spain and Portugal before eventually falling to France in the final four. Though he didn’t register a goal or assist during the tournament, his performances made him one of the more recognizable faces of a Moroccan side that, for a few weeks, had the entire region dreaming beyond usual limits.

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2022 FIFA World Cup Semi-Finalist Sofiane Boufal Officially Joins Libyan Club

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