Lebanon women's national football team

Known as "the Lady Cedars" (Arabic: صبايا الأرز‎),[2][3] the Lebanon women's national team was formed in 2005.[4] Along with Jordan, Iran, Palestine and Syria, they are one of the earliest women's national teams in the West Asian Football Federation. Their first match was a 12–0 defeat against Algeria at the 2006 Arab Women's Championship. They finished in last place after three games without having scored a single goal.[5] Their first WAFF Women's Championship campaign was in 2007; after two 3–0 losses, first against Jordan and then against Iran, Lebanon beat Syria 7–0 finishing in third place in the tournament.[6]

In their second WAFF Women's Championship in 2011 they were drawn with Iran, Syria and hosts the United Arab Emirates (UAE).[7][8] After losing their first match on 4 October against Iran 8–1, Lebanon won 1–0 thanks to a Ghinwa Saleh goal against Syria. In their final match, against the UAE, Lebanon lost 5–0 and were knocked out of the competition.[8]

Managed first by Vatche Sarkissian and then by Farid Nujaim, Lebanon took part in the qualification campaign for the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup. This would be their first official qualification tournament, eight years from their inception.[9] They were drawn with Jordan, Uzbekistan and Kuwait in their group.[10] In their first match, they lost 0–5 against Jordan before being defeated by Uzbekistan 0–4. Already eliminated, Lebanon beat Kuwait 12–1 in a consolatory victory,[11] ending their qualifying campaign with three points.[10]

Lebanon during the 2019 WAFF Women's Championship third place award ceremony.

Coached by Wael Gharzeddine, Lebanon competed in the 2019 WAFF Women's Championship. They began their campaign on 7 January with a slim 3–2 defeat to hosts Bahrain; in the 57th minute Hanin Tamim gave Lebanon the lead, but the opposing team scored three goals in 12 minutes. Dima Al Kasti's late consolation goal was not enough for a comeback.[12] In their second match, played two days later, Lebanon's late goals in each half, the first by Rana Mokdad, the second by Samira Awad, secured a 2–0 win over the UAE.[13] On 11 January, Lebanon suffered a 3–1 defeat to Jordan; after conceding two goals in the first 12 minutes and a third in the 56th minute, Hanin Tamim scored a goal to end the match.[14] After a four-day rest, Lebanon played their final match against Palestine. Three first-half goals, scored by Hanin Tamim, who grabbed her third goal of the tournament, Aya Jurdi and Samira Awad gave Lebanon all three points, finishing in third place.[2]

As of 15 January 2019, the complete official match record of the Lebanese women's national team comprises 27 matches: seven wins and 20 losses.[16] During these matches, the team scored 43 times and conceded 110 goals. Lebanon's highest winning margin is 11 goals, which has been achieved against Kuwait in 2013 (12–1).[11]

FIFA rankings

Below is a chart of Lebanon's FIFA ranking from 2006 to the present. Following a drastic increase of 52 positions (from 144th in 2007 to 92nd in 2009, their best ranking to date), the country went through a steady decline (from 92nd in 2009 to 137th in 2019, with their lowest ranking at 148th in September 2018).[17]

• List of women's national association football teams
• Lebanese Women's Football League
• Lebanese football league system
• Women's football in Lebanon
• Football in Lebanon

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lebanon women's national association football team.

• LFA official website (in Arabic)
• FIFA team profile
• AFC team profile