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 as one of the earliest women's national teams in the West Asian Football Federation.[4] 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 thanks to an Iman Chaito hat-trick,[6] and finished in third place in the tournament.[7] In their second WAFF Women's Championship in 2011 they were drawn with Iran, Syria and hosts the United Arab Emirates (UAE).[8][9] After losing their first match against Iran 8–1, Lebanon won 1–0 against Syria. In their final match, against the UAE, Lebanon lost 5–0 and were knocked out of the competition.[9]

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

Lebanon were drawn with Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Guam and Palestine in the 2018 Asian Cup qualification, to be played in the West Bank in Palestine.[13] However, Lebanon withdrew as they refused to play on the grounds that "it legitimises Israel’s occupation of the territory".[13]

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 in January. They began their campaign with a slim 3–2 defeat to hosts Bahrain.[14] In their second match, Lebanon's late goals in each half secured a 2–0 win over the UAE.[15] They then suffered a 3–1 defeat to Jordan,[16] before beating Palestine 3–0, finishing in third place.[17]

In the 2021 Arab Women's Cup, played in August, Lebanon were drawn with Egypt, Tunisia and Sudan.[18] Following a 0–0 to Tunisia,[19] Lebanon's first-ever draw,[20] they lost 4–0 to hosts Egypt.[21] In their final group stage game, Lebanon beat Sudan 5–1, and finished third in their group with four points.[22]

The team began the qualifiers for the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup in October 2021, losing 4–0 to Myanmar;[23] a 1–0 win against the UAE,[24] and a 3–0 win against Guam were not enough to qualify them to their first-ever Asian Cup,[25] as Lebanon finished in second place and were eliminated.[25]

The following 23 players were called up for the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification matches against Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates, and Guam, on 18, 21 and 24 October 2021, respectively.[26]

Information correct as of 28 March[27]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Sinal Breiche	(2003-03-03) 3 March 2003	3	0	Akhaa Ahli Aley
22	1GK	Perla Nasr	(2001-08-17) 17 August 2001	2	0	SAS
23	1GK	Racha Yaghi	(2002-06-10) 10 June 2002	10	0	Safa
2	2DF	Aya Jamal-Eddine	(1997-10-11) 11 October 1997	14	0	Safa
3	2DF	Rana Al Mokdad	(1998-11-18) 18 November 1998	13	1	SAS
4	2DF	Jo-Anne Beaumier	(1996-04-10) 10 April 1996	7	0	BFA
5	2DF	Rida Wahab	(2004-02-14) 14 February 2004	5	0	SAS
12	2DF	Stephanie El Kazzi	(2004-09-29) 29 September 2004	6	0	EFP
14	2DF	Nour Noujaim	(2004-02-06) 6 February 2004	6	0	Iowa Raptors FC
15	2DF	Waed Raed	(2006-11-09) 9 November 2006	2	0	SAS
6	3MF	Nathalie Matar (Captain)	(1995-09-20) 20 September 1995	11+	0	EFP
13	3MF	Carla Abdel Khalek	(2001-05-14) 14 May 2001	3	0	BFA
16	3MF	Dima Al Kasti	(2001-12-13) 13 December 2001	7	3	Safa
18	3MF	Evelina El Haddad	(2005-04-30) 30 April 2005	5	0	EFP
20	3MF	Syntia Salha	(2003-01-12) 12 January 2003	8	3	Safa
21	3MF	Zahwa Arabi	(2005-11-02) 2 November 2005	3	0	United Tripoli
7	4FW	Samira Awad	(2000-06-30) 30 June 2000	15	2	Safa
8	4FW	Lili Iskandar	(2002-05-16) 16 May 2002	9	1	HB Køge
9	4FW	Pilar Khoury	(1994-08-25) 25 August 1994	1	0	Nantes
10	4FW	Yara Bou Rada	(2000-08-07) 7 August 2000	14	0	Safa
11	4FW	Hanin Tamim	(2000-04-05) 5 April 2000	14	5	SAS
17	4FW	Yara Srour	(1999-01-12) 12 January 1999	0	0	BFA
19	4FW	Christy Maalouf	(2005-12-20) 20 December 2005	6	1	EFP

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

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Lamitta El Dib	(2005-09-02) 2 September 2005	2	0	EFP	2021 Arab Women's Cup
DF	Mira Hoteit	(2000-09-20) 20 September 2000	10	0	Safa	2021 Arab Women's Cup
DF	Lara Bahlawan	(1994-09-05) 5 September 1994	17+	3	SAS	v.  Jordan, 12 April 2021
DF	Celine Al Haddad	(2001-03-12) 12 March 2001	6	0	SAS	v.  Jordan, 12 April 2021
MF	Rhea May Taleb	(2001-03-20) 20 March 2001	4	0	Safa	2021 Arab Women's Cup
MF	Nancy Tchaylian	(1991-05-28) 28 May 1991	8	0	SAS	v.  Jordan, 12 April 2021
MF	Joya-Maria Azzi	(2000-09-23) 23 September 2000	6	0	Iowa Raptors FC	v.  Jordan, 12 April 2021
MF	Melanie Ghanime	(2000-05-15) 15 May 2000	2	0	EFP	v.  Jordan, 12 April 2021
FW	Israa Toufaily	(2002-05-27) 27 May 2002	1	0	Primo	2021 Arab Women's Cup
FW	Farah El Tayar	(2003-12-10) 10 December 2003	3	1	FIU Panthers	v.  Jordan, 12 April 2021
FW	Ghiya Mtairek	(2000-01-09) 9 January 2000	2	0	Super Girls	v.  Jordan, 12 April 2021

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 140th in 2021, with their lowest ranking at 148th in September 2018).[28]