Lebanon women's national football team

History

Women's football in Lebanon traces its origins to 1964, when Rose La Sorte, the first women's physical education instructor at the American University of Beirut (AUB), introduced the sport into the university's curriculum. The modern development of organized women's football began in 1998, when AUB formed its first official women's team, which played its inaugural match against Notre Dame University–Louaize (NDU) in February 1999. Other institutions, including the American Community School Beirut (ACS) and the International College (IC), soon followed, leading to the first interscholastic girls' tournament in 2002.

2005–2018: Establishment and early developments

The Lebanese Women's Football (LWF) committee was established in 2005 and later became affiliated with the Lebanese Football Association (LFA). That same year, the Lebanon women's national team – nicknamed "the Lady Cedars" () – were formed, becoming one of the earliest women's national teams in the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF). The team made its competitive debut at the 2006 Arab Women's Championship. In their first-ever official match on 19 April 2006, Lebanon suffered a 12–0 defeat to Algeria. The team then fell 8–0 to Morocco in their second and final group-stage fixture. Failing to score across both matches, Lebanon were eliminated in last place.

Lebanon made its first appearance at the WAFF Women's Championship in 2007. After losses to Jordan and Iran (both 3–0), the team secured a 7–0 win over Syria, with Iman Chaito scoring a hat-trick, finishing third. In the 2011 edition, they again placed third in their group, losing 8–1 to Iran and 5–0 to hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE), but managing a 1–0 win over Syria.

Under coach Farid Nujaim, Lebanon entered qualification for the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup – their first official qualifying campaign, eight years from their inception. Drawn with Jordan, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait, the team opened with a 5–0 loss to Jordan and a 4–0 defeat to Uzbekistan, but ended the campaign with a historic 12–1 win against Kuwait – still their largest-margin win to date. Lebanon finished third in their group and did not advance.

Lebanon were scheduled to compete in 2018 Asian Cup qualification, but withdrew in protest over the tournament's location in the West Bank in Palestine, citing opposition to "legitimizing Israel's occupation of the territory." Later that year, the team made its Olympic qualifying debut, suffering heavy defeats to Iran (8–0) and Hong Kong (4–0), and were eliminated in the first round.

2019–present: Rising competitiveness

Since 2019, Lebanon has shown steady progress in regional competitions. At the 2019 WAFF Championship, coached by Wael Gharzeddine, the team finished third with wins over the UAE (2–0) and Palestine (3–0), and losses to Jordan (3–1) and Bahrain (3–2).

In August 2021, Lebanon participated in the Arab Women's Cup, achieving their first international draw (0–0 against Tunisia) and a 5–1 win over Sudan. Despite a 4–0 defeat to Egypt, they finished third in its group with four points. Later that year, in the 2022 Asian Cup qualifiers, Lebanon defeated the UAE and Guam but fell short of qualification after a 4–0 loss to Myanmar.

A notable milestone came at the 2022 WAFF Championship under coach Hagop Demirjian, where Lebanon placed second for the first time. After a 3–0 win over Palestine and a 2–1 defeat to hosts Jordan, they closed with a 5–2 victory over Syria. Midfielder Lili Iskandar was named the tournament's best player.

In April 2023, Lebanon competed in the first round of 2024 Olympic qualifiers, losing 5–1 to Chinese Taipei before defeating Indonesia 5–0. Later that year, they won the friendly 2023 SAFF Tournament, beating Laos, Bhutan, and Malaysia (via penalties), and defeating Bhutan 1–0 in extra time during the final. Iskandar scored the decisive goal in extra time and was the tournament’s top scorer with three goals.

At the 2024 WAFF Championship in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon advanced to the semi-finals after finishing second in their group. They began with a 4–3 win, featuring a hat-trick by Iskandar, including a stoppage-time winner, following by a 3–2 victory over the host nation Saudi Arabia, and a 2–0 loss to Jordan. In the semi-finals, Lebanon were eliminated after a 2–1 defeat to Nepal, with the decisive goal scored in stoppage time.

In the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, played in July 2025, Lebanon were drawn alongside Iran, Jordan, Singapore, and Bhutan. Following early defeats to Jordan (4–0) and Bhutan (2–1), Lebanon earned a historic 3–1 victory over Iran – who went on to top the group and qualify – thanks to a hat-trick by Christy Maalouf. A 1–0 win against Singapore followed, but Lebanon did not advance.

Results and fixtures

Main article: Lebanon women's national football team results

As of 28 November 2025, the complete official match record of the Lebanese women's national team comprises 72 matches: 29 wins, 5 draws, and 38 losses. During these matches, the team scored 120 times and conceded 190 goals. Lebanon's highest winning margin is 11 goals, which has been achieved against Kuwait in 2013 (12–1). Their longest winning streak is 5 wins, and their highest unbeaten record is 11 consecutive official matches.

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

;Legend

2025

• Win Theingi Tun
• Shwe Yee Tun
• San Thaw Thaw
• Iskandar
• Bhandari
• Maalouf
• Mhanna
• Maalouf
• Chamsoudine
• Al Kasti
• Khoury
• Maalouf
• Iskandar
• Youssef
• Salha
• Iskandar
• Nasr
• Jbarah
• Al-Bitar
• Abu Tayeh
• Tshering
• Khoury
• Maalouf
• Shaban
• Iskandar
• Kord
• Osorio
• Qassis
• Sweilem
• Tamimi
• Al-Fararjeh
• Arabi
• Abu Tayeh

Coaching staff

Main article: List of Lebanon women's national football team managers

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2025 WAFF Women's Championship, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between 24 November and 2 December 2025.

Recent call-ups

The following footballers were part of a national selection in the past 12 months, but are not part of the current squad.

Individual records

Top scorers

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

Summer Olympics

AFC Women's Asian Cup

Arab Women's Cup

WAFF Women's Championship

Other tournaments

FIFA world rankings

Lebanon were first included in the FIFA World Ranking in September 2011, placing in 124th place. Until early 2021, FIFA's ranking criteria required teams to have been active in the previous 18 months to be listed. As Lebanon went inactive for 18 months for several periods, they were unranked in various years (2014, 2016, 2017, 2020). Lebanon's best ranking was 102nd in December 2013, and their worst was 145th between April and August 2021.

The table shows the position that Lebanon held in December of each year (and the current position as of 2025), as well as the highest and lowest positions annually.

Best ranking Worst ranking

Footnotes

References

References

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5. Wehbé, Johana. (2019-06-27). "Au Liban aussi les femmes ont leur place sur un terrain de foot - Johana Wehbé".
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