I know that 'li' it is a child of the parent 'ul' so We can't achieve it only with CSS3 or is it possible? I can add JavaScript but i can't change HTML because it is generated by PHP. With this simple example:
#container{width: 500px;
  min-height: 300px;
  background: url("https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/03/09/11/44/network-1246209_960_720.jpg");}
ul{list-style: none}
a { text-decoration: none;
color: white;
font-size: 32px;}
a:hover { text-decoration: none;
color: Chartreuse;
font-size: 32px;}
li{padding-top: 1em;}
/* url("https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/08/12/14/25/abstract-1588720_1280.jpg")
  
url("https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/01/12/17/40/padlock-597495_960_720.jpg")
  
  url("https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/01/14/05/51/rj45-1139366_960_720.jpg")
  
  */<ul id="container">
  <li id="option1">
    <a href="#">Number 1</a>
  </li>
  <li id="option2">
    <a href="#">Number 2</a>
  </li>
  <li id="option3">
    <a href="#">Number 3</a>
  </li>
</ul> when I hover 'Number 1' I want that ul background it will be this image:
url("https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/08/12/14/25/abstract-1588720_1280.jpg")
hovering 'Number 2' I want this ul background image:
url("https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/01/12/17/40/padlock-597495_960_720.jpg")
and finally when I hover li 'Number 3' the correspondent ul background change for this image:
url("https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/01/14/05/51/rj45-1139366_960_720.jpg")
Thank You
 
    