Lone Star Open AFCON 2027 Qualifying Campaign With 3-1 Defeat to Rwanda
Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, venue of Liberia's opening 2027 AFCON qualifier (file photo, 2026). Photo: Nibeza, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Liberia's Lone Star fell 3-1 to Rwanda in Kigali in their opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, with Sylvanus Nimely's goal not enough to prevent defeat after Kpah Sherman was sent off. The team returns home to face Mali next.
Liberia's national football team, the Lone Star, opened its 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Rwanda at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali on Friday, September 25, 2026, in a Group K fixture.
Rwanda took an early lead when Abeddy Biramahire scored in the 2nd minute. Leroy-Jacques Mickels doubled the hosts' advantage in the 33rd minute before Liberia pulled one back through Sylvanus Nimely in the 38th minute. Rwanda restored their two-goal cushion just before halftime when Joy-Lance Mickels converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time, making it 3-1.
Liberia's task was made harder in the second half when defender Kpah Sherman received a straight red card in the 61st minute, leaving the Lone Star to play the remainder of the match a man down. Head coach Mohammed Adil Erradi made changes at halftime in an attempt to shift momentum, but the team could not find a way back into the game.
The result means Liberia starts its qualifying campaign for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, to be co-hosted by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, with zero points from its opening match. Local commentators described the defeat as "another familiar setback" for the Lone Star, calling for deeper structural improvements in player development and consistency.
Liberia will look to respond quickly, with the team set to host Mali in Monrovia on Tuesday in its second Group K match of the qualifying campaign.