Lebanon women's national football team

The Lebanon women's national football team,^[a] nicknamed "the Lady Cedars" (Arabic: صبايا الأرز), represents Lebanon in international women's football. Established in 2005 and governed by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the team has yet to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup or the AFC Women's Asian Cup but has achieved notable milestones in regional competitions. These include finishing as runners-up at the 2022 edition of the WAFF Women's Championship and securing third-place finishes in 2007 and 2019.

Lebanon made their international debut in 2006 at the Arab Women's Cup, suffering a 12–0 defeat to Algeria. Their first qualification campaign came in 2014 for the AFC Women's Asian Cup, where they recorded their largest victory to date, a 12–1 win over Kuwait. The team has since shown steady progress, competing in Olympic qualifiers, the Arab Women's Cup, and unofficial tournaments such as the 2023 SAFF Tournament, which they won.

The Lady Cedars wear a red home kit and a white away kit, reflecting the colors of the Lebanese flag. Since 2011, their FIFA ranking has fluctuated between 102nd (December 2013) and 145th (April – August 2021).

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.^[2] The modern development of organized women's football began in 1998,^[3] when AUB formed its first official women's team, which played its inaugural match against Notre Dame University–Louaize (NDU) in February 1999.^[4] Other institutions, including the American Community School Beirut (ACS) and the International College (IC),^[5] soon followed, leading to the first interscholastic girls' tournament in 2002.^[3]

The Lebanese Women's Football (LWF) committee was established in 2005 and later became affiliated with the Lebanese Football Association (LFA).^[6] That same year, the Lebanon women's national team – nicknamed "the Lady Cedars" (Arabic: صبايا الأرز)^[7][8] – were formed, becoming one of the earliest women's national teams in the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF).^[9] 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.^[10]

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,^[11] finishing third.^[12] 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.^[13][14]

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.^[15] Drawn with Jordan, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait,^[16] 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^[17] – still their largest-margin win to date.^[18] Lebanon finished third in their group and did not advance.^[16]

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."^[19] Later that year, the team made its Olympic qualifying debut, suffering heavy defeats to Iran (8–0)^[20] and Hong Kong (4–0), and were eliminated in the first round.^[21]

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)^[22] and Palestine (3–0),^[7] and losses to Jordan (3–1)^[23] and Bahrain (3–2).^[24]

In August 2021, Lebanon participated in the Arab Women's Cup, achieving their first international draw^[18] (0–0 against Tunisia)^[25] and a 5–1 win over Sudan.^[26] Despite a 4–0 defeat to Egypt,^[27] they finished third in its group with four points.^[26] Later that year, in the 2022 Asian Cup qualifiers, Lebanon defeated the UAE^[28] and Guam^[29] but fell short of qualification after a 4–0 loss to Myanmar.^[30]

A notable milestone came at the 2022 WAFF Championship under coach Hagop Demirjian,^[31] where Lebanon placed second for the first time.^[32] After a 3–0 win over Palestine and a 2–1 defeat to hosts Jordan, they closed with a 5–2 victory over Syria.^[32] Midfielder Lili Iskandar was named the tournament's best player.^[32]

In April 2023, Lebanon competed in the first round of 2024 Olympic qualifiers, losing 5–1 to Chinese Taipei^[33] before defeating Indonesia 5–0.^[34] 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.^[35] Iskandar scored the decisive goal in extra time and was the tournament’s top scorer with three goals.^[35]

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,^[36] following by a 3–2 victory over the host nation Saudi Arabia,^[37] and a 2–0 loss to Jordan.^[38] In the semi-finals, Lebanon were eliminated after a 2–1 defeat to Nepal, with the decisive goal scored in stoppage time.^[39]

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)^[40] and Bhutan (2–1),^[41] 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.^[42] A 1–0 win against Singapore followed, but Lebanon did not advance.^[43]

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.^[18][44] 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).^[17][44] Their longest winning streak is 5 wins, and their highest unbeaten record is 11 consecutive official matches.^[45][44]

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

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

As of 5 July 2025^[46]

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.^[47]

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

As of 28 November 2025^[49][44]

Players in bold are still active with Lebanon.

Lebanon were first included in the FIFA World Ranking in September 2011, placing in 124th place.^[50] Until early 2021, FIFA's ranking criteria required teams to have been active in the previous 18 months to be listed.^[c][51] As Lebanon went inactive for 18 months for several periods,^[18] they were unranked in various years (2014, 2016, 2017, 2020).^[52] Lebanon's best ranking was 102nd in December 2013, and their worst was 145th between April and August 2021.^[52]

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  

• List of women's national association football teams
• List of Lebanon women's national football team managers
• Lebanon women's national under-20 football team
• Lebanon women's national under-17 football team
• Lebanese Women's Football League
• Women's football in Lebanon

• Media related to Lebanon women's national association football team at Wikimedia Commons
• LFA official website (in Arabic)
• FIFA team profile
• AFC team profile
• WAFF team profile