Libyan sports have lost a towering figure, the legendary goalkeeper Mehdi Al-Sadiq Kouiri, the first goalkeeper in the history of the Libyan national football team. He passed away at 95, leaving a rich legacy of achievements and memories.
Kouiri is considered one of the most prominent players who shone in the Libyan football scene during the fifties, where he excelled as a goalkeeper for the Al-Najma club during its golden era. He also had the honor of representing the Libyan national team in its first participation in the Arab Championship held in Egypt in 1953, thus becoming part of the country’s football history.
Kouiri was born in Benghazi in 1930, and his father was a football enthusiast, establishing a local team named “Kouiri Team” in 1930. Mehdi Kouiri began his sports career with Al-Sabah team in “ Hamid stores” in 1944, then played for several other teams before joining Al-Najma club from 1950 to 1957, where he achieved many accomplishments, including winning the Benghazi championship in the 1952/1953 and 1954/1955 seasons. He also played for Al-Ahly club and won the Benghazi championship title with them in the 1955/1956 season.
In addition, Kouiri was part of the Benghazi team in the fifties and represented Libya in the first Arab Sports Games in Alexandria in 1953.
Kouiri worked in the Ministry of Youth and Sports and attended the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960 before retiring on July 15, 1970. He left Libya in the mid-eighties, residing in Egypt and then the United States of America, where he passed away on Monday, February 10, 2025, in Houston, Texas.
