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Lebanon women's national under-20 football team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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 and 2024.
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History
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Early history (2014–2019)
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]
In 2018 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]
West Asian success (2019–present)
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]
In November 2024, Lebanon participated in the fourth edition of the WAFF U-18 Girls Championship; the tournament was played in a single round-robin format, with defending champions Lebanon finishing second in a group with Jordan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.[21]
The team played in the 2026 Asian Cup qualification in August 2025, and were drawn with China, Cambodia, and Syria.[22] After consecutive victories against Cambodia (1–0)[23] and Syria (2–1),[24] Lebanon needed a draw to progress to the final tournament. Against China, Lebanon were handed a heavy defeat (8–0) and did not qualify to the tournament on account of having a lower goal difference than other second-placed teams.[25]
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Results and fixtures
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The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win Draw Loss Fixture
2024
| 28 November 2024 2024 WAFF U-18 | Jordan  | 1–1 |  Lebanon | Aqaba, Jordan |
| 19:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report (JFA) Report (LFA) Report (WAFF) |
|
Stadium: Aqaba Stadium Referee: Baraa Abu Aisha (Palestine) |
| 30 November 2024 2024 WAFF U-18 | Lebanon | Voided (0–3) |  Syria | Aqaba, Jordan |
| 16:00 UTC+3 | Report (LFA) Report (WAFF) |
|
Stadium: Aqaba Stadium Referee: Esraa Al-Mbaiden (Jordan) | |
| Note: The West Asian Football Federation received a letter from the Syrian Football Association prior to their match against Saudi Arabia on 6 December 2024, apologizing for their withdrawal from the championship due to prevailing circumstances related to the ongoing Syrian opposition offensives. Consequently, Syria's previous matches were voided.[26] | ||||
| 2 December 2024 2024 WAFF U-18 | Lebanon | 4–0 |  Saudi Arabia | Aqaba, Jordan |
| 19:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report (LFA) Report (WAFF) |
Stadium: Aqaba Stadium Referee: Yasmin Nairoukh (Palestine) |
| 4 December 2024 2024 WAFF U-18 | Palestine  | 1–1 | Lebanon | Aqaba, Jordan |
| 16:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report (WAFF) |
|
Stadium: Aqaba Stadium Referee: Haneen Murad (Jordan) |
| 6 December 2024 Friendly | Lebanon | 4–0 | Saudi Arabia | Aqaba, Jordan |
| --:-- UTC+3 |
|
Report | Stadium: Aqaba Stadium |
2025
| 31 March 2025 2025 UEFA Friendship Cup GS | Lebanon | 0–1 |  Tanzania | Riva, Turkey |
| 16:30 UTC+3 | Report |
|
Stadium: TFF Riva Facility |
| 3 April 2025 2025 UEFA Friendship Cup GS | Finland  | 4–0 | Lebanon | Riva, Turkey |
| 11:30 UTC+3 |
|
Report | Stadium: TFF Riva Facility |
| 6 April 2025 2025 UEFA Friendship Cup GS | Jamaica  | 1–4 | Lebanon | Riva, Turkey |
| 12:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report | Stadium: TFF Riva Facility |
| 9 April 2025 2025 UEFA Friendship Cup 5th–6th | Turkey  | 4–1 | Lebanon | Riva, Turkey |
| 11:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: TFF Riva Facility |
| 6 August 2025 2026 AFC U-20 qualification | Lebanon | 1–0 |  Cambodia | Yinchuan, China |
| 15:30 UTC+8 |
|
Report | Stadium: Helan Mountain Stadium |
| 8 August 2025 2026 AFC U-20 qualification | Syria  | 1–2 | Lebanon | Yinchuan, China |
| 15:30 UTC+8 |
|
Report | Stadium: Helan Mountain Stadium |
| 10 August 2025 2026 AFC U-20 qualification | China  | 8–0 | Lebanon | Yinchuan, China |
| 19:35 UTC+8 |
|
Report | Stadium: Helan Mountain Stadium |
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Players
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Current squad
The following players were called up for the 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup qualification, held in China between 6 and 8 August 2025.[27]
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.
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Top scorers
- As of 8 August 2025[28]
- Players in bold are still active with Lebanon.
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Competitive record
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FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup
WAFF U-18 Girls Championship
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See also
References
External links
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