Women's football in Lebanon

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Women's football in Lebanon
Lebanon Women 2019 WAFF.png
The women's national team celebrating third place at the 2019 WAFF Women's Championship
CountryLebanon
Governing body Lebanon Football Association
National team Women's national team
First played1964 (unofficially)
2005 (officially)
Registered players650 (as of 2019)
Clubs11 (2023–24)
National competitions
Club competitions
International competitions

Women's football in Lebanon officially began in 2005, with the creation of the Lebanese Women's Football (LWF). Founded in 2008, the Lebanese Women's Football League is the national club league; Sadaka and SAS won the league a record seven times each. Internationally, Safa became the first Lebanese team to win the WAFF Women's Clubs Championship in 2022.

Contents

The senior national team, who made their debut in 2006, finished runners-up in the WAFF Women's Championship in 2022, and in third place twice in 2007 and 2019. The youth teams won the Arab U-17 Women's Cup in 2015, the WAFF U-18 Girls Championship in 2019 and 2022, and the WAFF U-17 Girls Championship in 2019, 2023, and 2025. The under-17 team also qualified for the 2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup, becoming the first Lebanese women's national team to reach the Asian Cup.

History

In 1964, the American University of Beirut (AUB) appointed their first-ever women's physical education teacher, Rose La Sorte from the United States. She introduced women's football to AUB's curriculum for the first time. [1]

The AUB formed a proper women's football team in October–November 1998 under the initiative of student Luma Shihab-Eldin. [2] In February 1999, the AUB played their first game against the women's team of the Notre Dame University–Louaize (NDU), which finished 4–4. [3] Two other schools in Lebanon also had a women's football team: the American Community School Beirut (ACS) and the International College, Beirut (IC). [4] In 2002, the first interscholastic girls' football tournament was played. [2]

In 2005, the Lebanese Women's Football (LWF) committee was formed, affiliated to the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), to oversee the women's national teams. [5] From the late 2010s, football became more widespread among the female population in Lebanon. [6] Indeed, in 2019 there were 650 registered players, compared to 150 in 2005. [5] With the LFA investing more into the women's youth system, Lebanon has achieved considerable success within its region (West Asia) both at the national team and club levels. [6] [7]

A turning point in youth development came in 2017–2018, when a new head of women's football launched a nationwide plan to organize U15, U17, and U19 leagues and national teams. This structured approach produced early results in regional tournaments. However, political and economic crises — including the 2019–20 revolution, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion — disrupted momentum. [8]

Clubs

Match between SAS and Safa in 2020 2020 SAS vs Safa (friendly) 02.jpg
Match between SAS and Safa in 2020

The Lebanese Women's Football League was founded in 2008, with Sadaka winning the first title. [9] They went on to win seven league titles in a row, [9] until they dissolved in 2014. From the 2014–15 season onwards, Stars Association for Sports (SAS) became the dominating force in Lebanon, winning seven of the following 10 league titles. [9] There are two domestic women's cup competitions in Lebanon: the Lebanese Women's Cup and the Lebanese Women's Super Cup. [10]

In 2019, SAS finished runners-up in the inaugural edition of the WAFF Women's Clubs Championship, a club competition for teams from West Asia. [11] Safa became the first Lebanese team to win the competition, winning the final of the second edition in 2022. [12]

National teams

Established in 2005, the Lebanon women's national football team was among the first in West Asia. The senior team made its debut at the 2006 Arab Women's Championship, finishing last in the tournament. [13] Their first participation in an official qualification campaign came at the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifiers. [14] Over the years, Lebanon have shown gradual progress, finishing third at the WAFF Women's Championship in 2007 and 2019, [15] [16] and reaching the final in 2022, where they finished as runners-up. [17]

Lebanon's youth teams have played a key role in the development of women's football in the country. The under-17 team won the 2015 Arab U-17 Women's Cup – the first official title ever achieved by any Lebanese national football team, male or female. [18] Subsequent success followed, with victories in the WAFF U-15 and U-18 Girls Championships in 2019, [19] [20] a second WAFF U-18 title in 2022 after a 5–1 win over Syria in the final as hosts, [21] and a second WAFF U-16 title in 2023. [22] Lebanon won their third WAFF U-17 title in 2025. [23]

In October 2025, the under-17 team achieved a historic milestone by defeating Iran 2–0 to qualify for the 2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup. This marked the first time any Lebanese women's national team, senior or youth, qualified for an Asian Cup tournament. [24]

Reception

While not popular, women's football has mainly been played in affluent areas in Lebanon since the 2000s. [5] [25] One of the barriers of the growing sport has been the prejudice that many women have faced for playing it. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]

The sport has become more popular since the late 2010s, [6] with increasing numbers in participation nationwide and more supporters (both women and men) in the stands. [5] Many parents also encourage their daughters to play. [6] However, while women's participation in football has been generally viewed positively in most cities, the more conservative communities still view football as a "male sport". [5]

In 2017, Doumouh Al Bakkar became the first Lebanese female referee to officiate a game between men, in a friendly game between Lebanese Premier League sides Safa and Tadamon Sour. [31] Regarding her experience refereeing a match between two top-tier men's clubs, Al Bakkar stated: "Some players were surprised at the idea of a woman officiating the game, others laughed. But of course, on the other hand, some were cooperative and offered me words of encouragement". [31]

Former Lebanese national team player and PhD researcher Assile Toufaily spoke about the structural and cultural barriers that female players face in Lebanon. Despite the growth in youth participation and national success, she noted persistent issues such as inadequate training times, lack of proper equipment, and the marginalization of women's teams compared to men's teams. For instance, while male players often trained at 4–5 p.m., girls as young as 15 were often assigned late training hours (9–10 p.m.). [8]

"We invest time, we invest money, we invest effort — and we get nothing in return."

Assile Toufaily

Toufaily also highlighted the lack of financial support, as many club presidents paid expenses from their own pockets due to the absence of investors or federation support. [8]

See also

References

  1. "AUB has first women's physical education teacher". Outlook. American University of Beirut. 24 October 1964. p. 7.
  2. 1 2 Assile Toufaily [@the.supersubs]; (11 May 2023). "How has Women's Football developed in Lebanon?" via Instagram.
  3. Abdul Hussein, Sara (June 1999). "Women's soccer team defeats NDU twice". Outlook. American University of Beirut. p. 21.
  4. Abdul-Hussain, Sara (March 1999). "Are the Girls up for the Challenge?". Outlook. American University of Beirut. p. 15.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Wehbé, Johana (27 June 2019). "Au Liban aussi les femmes ont leur place sur un terrain de foot - Johana Wehbé". L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Afiouni, Nadim (4 March 2020). "Women's National Team head coach Wael Gharzeddine: the best is yet to come". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  7. FIFA.com. "Women's Football - News - New horizons for women's football in Lebanon". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 FIFA Women's World Cup 2023: Lebanon's Assile Toufaily on women's football in the Middle East (Video). The Asian Game. 27 July 2023 via YouTube.
  9. 1 2 3 "Lebanon - List of Women Champions". RSSSF . Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  10. "Lebanon - List of Women Cup Winners". RSSSF . Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  11. "Shabab Al Ordon claim title with perfect 10". the-AFC. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  12. بالصور: سيدات الصفاء اللبناني يحصدن لقب بطولة غرب اسيا [Lebanese club Safa win the WAFF Championship title]. Kooora (in Arabic). 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  13. "Arab Women's Football Cup – Egypt 2006". goalzz.com. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  14. "Lebanon's women breaking new ground". FIFA . 2 June 2013. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  15. "West Asia Womens Championship". www.goalzz.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  16. "Perfect Jordan retain West Asian title". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  17. الأردن يتوج ببطولة السيدات السابعة.. ويضيف اللقب الخامس إلى سجله [Jordan win the seventh women's championship.. and add a fifth title to their record]. West Asian Football Federation (in Arabic). 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  18. Abou Diab, Rami (16 December 2019). "Lebanon wins the 2019 U-15 West Asian Football Championship". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  19. Abou Diab, Rami (16 December 2019). "Lebanon wins the 2019 U-15 West Asian Football Championship". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  20. "THE WAFF- Lebanon crowned the "WAFF U18" title". www.the-waff.com. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  21. "The Lebanese national team wins the third U-18 women's championship". the-Waff.com. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  22. "لبنان يهزم الاردن ويحتفظ بلقب اتحاد غرب آسيا للناشئات". Elsport News (in Arabic). Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  23. https://www.the-lfa.com.lb/news/Waff_U17girls_final25.php
  24. "تأهل تاريخي لناشئات لبنان إلى نهائيات كأس آسيا 2026". The LFA. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  25. "Lebanon optimistic towards women's football future". AFC . Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  26. "Lebanese women futsal players kick down barriers". The Times of India . 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  27. "Lebanon's women breaking new ground". FIFA. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  28. "Lebanese women's football revolution". Khaleej Times . Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  29. "Sports of The Times - A Female Kicker's Dream Continues at". The New York Times . Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  30. "The all-female refugee football team smashing stereotypes". ActionAid UK. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  31. 1 2 "الحكم الدولي دموع البقار.. تجربة أنثوية مميّزة في عالم الكرة!". Lebanon24 (in Arabic). Retrieved 20 July 2023.