The Lebanon women's national under-20 football team (), colloquially known as "the Young Cedars" (), represents Lebanon in international women's youth football. The team is controlled by the Lebanese 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.

History

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. Drawn with Jordan, Uzbekistan and India, Lebanon lost all three games, finishing last in their qualifying group. Following funding and initiatives by the Lebanese Football Association towards women's football, and more specifically youth women's football, the women's national youth teams started to see success, especially in Western Asia. As of 2020, there were separate club leagues for the U15s, U17s, U19s and seniors.

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. 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. 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; 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. They were the only Arab country to do so.

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. The players returned in April 2019 to compete in the second round of Asian U-19 qualifiers. 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.

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. Three years later, in 2022, Lebanon won their second-consecutive WAFF Championship title on home soil after beating Syria 5–1 in the final.

In March 2023, Lebanon took part in the first round of 2024 Asian Cup qualification, which had been rebranded as an under-20 competition. 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. Less than three months later, in June, Lebanon were drawn with Australia, Vietnam and Iran. Similarly to 2019, Lebanon lost all three matches and finished last in their group.

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.

The team played in the 2026 Asian Cup qualification in August 2025, and were drawn with China, Cambodia, and Syria. After consecutive victories against Cambodia (1–0) and Syria (2–1), 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.

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

2025

Players Current squad The following 16 players were called up for the friendly matches against Malta on 22 and 24 October 2025.

Top scorers

Players in bold are still active with Lebanon. RankPlayerGoals1Christy Maalouf112Lili Iskandar103Sherin Hasno84Farah El Tayar6

Competitive record

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup record Source note: To view Lebanon's tournament-specific details in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, click on the specific year under "Palmares", then "Asia" or "AFC" under "Overview qualifying tournaments".Qualification recordHost nation(s)and yearRoundSquadOutcome 2002Did not enterDid not enter 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016Did not qualifyThe 2015 AFC U-19 Women's Championship served as the qualifying tournament 2018Did not enterDid not enter 2022Did not qualifyThe 2019 AFC U-19 Women's Championship served as the qualifying tournament 2024The 2024 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup served as the qualifying tournament 2026The 2026 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup will serve as the qualifying tournamentTotal–0/12–––––––Total––––––

AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup record Source note: To view Lebanon's tournament-specific details in the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup, click on the specific year under "Palmares".Qualification recordHost nation(s)and yearRoundSquadOutcome 2002Did not enterDid not enter 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015Did not qualify4th of 43003113 2017Did not enterDid not enter 2019Did not qualify2nd of 5, 4th of 462041220 20241st of 4, 4th of 462131412 20262nd of 4320139Total–0/11–––––––Total1861113054

WAFF U-18 Girls Championship WAFF U-20 Girls Championship recordHost nation(s) and yearRound 2018Runners-up2nd of 3210142 2019Champions1st of 75500173 2022Champions1st of 74400132 2024Runners-up2nd of 4312062 2025Did not participateTotalBest: champions4/5141121409

See also Lebanon women's national football team Lebanon women's national under-17 football team Lebanon national under-20 football team Women's football in Lebanon Football in Lebanon

References

External links