Nickname(s) | صبايا الأرز (The Lady Cedars) | ||
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Association | Lebanon Football Association (الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم) | ||
Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
Sub-confederation | WAFF (West Asia) | ||
Head coach | Vacant | ||
Home stadium | Various | ||
FIFA code | LBN | ||
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First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Amman, Jordan; 5 November 2014) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Jounieh, Lebanon; 24 October 2018) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Hanoi, Vietnam; 26 April 2019) | |||
WAFF U-18 Girls Championship | |||
Appearances | 3 (first in 2018) | ||
Best result | Champions (2019, 2022) | ||
Medal record |
The Lebanon women's national under-20 football team (Arabic: منتخب لبنان لكرة القدم تحت 20 سنة للسيدات), colloquially known as "the Lady Cedars" (Arabic: صبايا الأرز),[1][2] represents Lebanon in international women's youth football. The team is controlled by the Lebanon Football Association (LFA), the governing body for football in Lebanon. The team also serves as the women's national under-19 and women's national under-18 football team of Lebanon.
While the team has never participated in either the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup or the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup, they have won two WAFF U-18 Girls Championship titles, in 2019 and 2022, and were runners-up in 2018.
The national team played their first competitive matches at the qualifiers for the 2015 AFC U-19 Women's Championship in November 2014.[3] Drawn with Jordan, Uzbekistan and India, Lebanon lost all three games,[4][5] finishing last in their qualifying group.[3] Following funding and initiatives by the Lebanese Football Association towards women's football,[6] and more specifically youth women's football, the women's national youth teams started to see success, especially in Western Asia.[7] As of 2020, there were separate club leagues for the U15s, U17s, U19s and seniors.[8]
In2018 Lebanon hosted the inaugural WAFF U-18 Women's Championship between August and September, in preparation for the 2019 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualification the following October.[8] After defeating Palestine 3–0 in the opening game, Lebanon lost 2–1 to Jordan in the effective final of the WAFF Championship and finished runners-up.[9] In October 2018, Lebanon hosted their group in the first round of Asian qualifiers, in which they were drawn with Australia, Mongolia and Hong Kong;[8] despite losing 2–0 to Australia, Lebanon won against the other two teams (thanks to four goals by Yara Bou Rada against Hong Kong and three goals by Samira Awad) and qualified to the second round.[10][11] They were the only Arab country to do so.[6]
During this period, most of the U19s players were also called up to the senior team. In January 2019, 17 of the 23 players called up to the 2019 WAFF Women's Championship in Bahrain came from the U19 team, bringing the average age of the squad to 18.9 years. Lebanon eventually finished third.[8] The players returned in April 2019 to compete in the second round of Asian U-19 qualifiers.[8] Needing a second-place finish in their group of four teams to reach the final tournament, Lebanon finished last after losing against South Korea, Vietnam and Iran.[12]
The team's first success came in 2019, in the second edition of the WAFF U-18 Championship in Bahrain. After winning all three games in the group stage, Lebanon advanced the semi-finals, where they defeated Palestine 4–2 to reach the final against hosts Bahrain. Lebanon won 3–0 and were crowned champions for the first time.[13] Three years later, in 2022, Lebanon won their second-consecutive WAFF Championship title on home soil after beating Syria 5–1 in the final.[14]
In March 2023, Lebanon took part in the first round of 2024 Asian Cup qualification,[15] which had been rebranded as an under-20 competition.[16] After defeating Bhutan (6–2) and Mongolia (7–0), Lebanon drew their decisive game against Jordan (0–0) and progressed to the second round for the second consecutive year.[17][18] Less than three months later, in June, Lebanon were drawn with Australia, Vietnam and Iran.[19] Similarly to 2019, Lebanon lost all three matches and finished last in their group.[20]
11 February 2023 (2023-02-11) Friendly | United Arab Emirates ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
19:00 UTC+4 | Report |
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Stadium: Theyab Awana Stadium |
13 February 2023 (2023-02-13) Friendly | United Arab Emirates ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
--:-- UTC+3 | Report |
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Stadium: Theyab Awana Stadium |
8 March 2023 (2023-03-08) 2024 AFC U-20 qualification R1 | Lebanon ![]() | 6–2 | ![]() | Amman, Jordan |
15:00 UTC+3 |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Report |
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Stadium: Petra Stadium Attendance: 25 Referee: Abirami Naidu (Singapore) |
10 March 2023 (2023-03-10) 2024 AFC U-20 qualification R1 | Mongolia ![]() | 0–7 | ![]() | Amman, Jordan |
15:00 UTC+3 | Report |
![]() ![]() |
Stadium: Petra Stadium Attendance: 50 Referee: Jhesa Kaatz (Philippines) |
12 March 2023 (2023-03-12) 2024 AFC U-20 qualification R1 | Lebanon ![]() | 0–0 | ![]() | Amman, Jordan |
19:00 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Petra Stadium Attendance: 800 Referee: Yu Hong (China) |
3 June 2023 2024 AFC U-20 qualification R2 | Australia ![]() | 5–0 | ![]() | Việt Trì, Vietnam |
16:00 UTC+7 |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Report | Stadium: Việt Trì Stadium Referee: Yu Hong (China) |
5 June 2023 2024 AFC U-20 qualification R2 | Lebanon ![]() | 0–3 | ![]() | Việt Trì, Vietnam |
16:00 UTC+7 | Report |
![]() |
Stadium: Việt Trì Stadium Referee: Ranjita Devi Tekcham (India) |
7 June 2023 2024 AFC U-20 qualification R2 | Iran ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() | Việt Trì, Vietnam |
16:00 UTC+7 |
|
Report |
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Stadium: Việt Trì Stadium Referee: Pansa Chaisanit (Thailand) |
The following players were called up for the second round of 2024 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup qualification from 3 to 7 June 2023.[21]
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1GK | Lamitta El Dib | ![]() | |||
21 | 1GK | Clara Khalil | ![]() | |||
23 | 1GK | Selena Malaeb | ![]() | |||
3 | 2DF | Tia Rita Daher | ![]() | |||
5 | 2DF | Waed Raed | ![]() | |||
12 | 2DF | Stephanie El Kazzi | ![]() | |||
13 | 2DF | Lara Bou Hamra | ![]() | |||
2DF | Maria Slim | ![]() | ||||
2 | 3MF | Julie Atallah | ![]() | |||
4 | 3MF | Amina Karime | ![]() | |||
6 | 3MF | Sophie Fayad | ![]() | |||
8 | 3MF | Zahwa Arabi | ![]() | |||
15 | 3MF | Karly Harfouche | ![]() | |||
19 | 3MF | Elissa Hariri | ![]() | |||
7 | 4FW | Lama Abdine | ![]() | |||
9 | 4FW | Zahraa Assaf | ![]() | |||
10 | 4FW | Christy Maalouf | ![]() | |||
11 | 4FW | Serena Mansour | ![]() | |||
17 | 4FW | Hiba Allouch | ![]() | |||
18 | 4FW | Hoda Hamzi | ![]() | |||
22 | 4FW | Shireen Karnib | ![]() |
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup record[22] | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||||
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Host nation(s) and year |
Round | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | Outcome | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
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Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
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Did not qualify | The 2015 AFC U-19 Women's Championship served as the qualifying tournament | |||||||||||||||
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Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
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Did not qualify | The 2019 AFC U-19 Women's Championship served as the qualifying tournament | |||||||||||||||
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The 2024 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup served as the qualifying tournament | ||||||||||||||||
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To be determined | The 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup will serve as the qualifying tournament | |||||||||||||||
Total | – | 0/12 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Total | – | – | – | – | – | – |
AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup record[23] | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||||
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Host nation(s) and year |
Round | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | Outcome | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
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Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
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Did not qualify | 4th of 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 13 | |||||||||
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Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
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Did not qualify | 2nd of 5, 4th of 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 20 | |||||||||
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1st of 4, 4th of 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 12 | ||||||||||
Total | – | 0/11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Total | 15 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 27 | 45 |
WAFF U-18 Girls Championship record | ||||||||
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Host nation(s)
and year |
Round | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
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Runners-up | 2nd of 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
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Champions | 1st of 7 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 3 |
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Champions | 1st of 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
Total | Best: champions | 3/3 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 7 |
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Venues |
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Records and statistics |
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Players |
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Goals |
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Results |
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AFC Asian Cup |
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Other tournaments |
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Notable matches |
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Other LFA teams |
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National teams |
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League competitions |
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Cup competitions |
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Miscellaneous |
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West Asia (WAFF) |
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Central Asia (CAFA) |
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South Asia (SAFF) |
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East Asia (EAFF) |
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Southeast Asia (AFF) |
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