Lebanon Wins The 2023 Women’s International Friendly Tournament

The SAFF Women’s International Friendly Tournament is an invitational women’s football tournament held in Saudi Arabia. The tournament was initiated by the Women’s Football Department within the Saudi Arabian Football Association (SAFF) with the aim of fostering the growth of women’s football within the nation.

During the inaugural edition of the tournament, which took place in January 2023 in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, the participating teams included Comoros, Mauritius, Pakistan, and the host nation, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian team, known as the Falcons, emerged victorious, securing their first-ever international women’s football championship.

The Second Edition

On a Saturday evening at the King Fahd Sports City Stadium in Taëf, Saudi Arabia, the Lebanese Women’s National Football team achieved a historic milestone by defeating Bhutan with a score of 1-0 in extra time. This victory marked their inaugural senior-level championship title.

Despite the absence of professional players such as Pilar Khoury, Haneen Tamim, Nathalie Matar, Christy Maalouf and Julie Atallah, Lebanon counted on the youngsters and clinched a well-deserved title.

With just three minutes remaining in the first half of extra time, specifically at the 102-minute mark, the forward Lily Iskandar made a decisive play by successfully scoring a goal following an impressive effort from Cynthia Salha on the right-hand side.

This accomplishment not only contributed to their victory but also elevated Lily Iskandar to the status of being the all-time leading scorer for the Lebanese women’s team, with a total of 9 goals to her name.

Lebanon’s Road To The Final

During the group stage of the tournament, Lebanon secured victories over Laos with a score of 3-1 and Bhutan with a score of 3-2.

In the semi-finals, Lebanon faced Malaysia in a thrilling encounter and emerged victorious in a closely contested 4-3 shootout session, with Soleen Zou’bi playing a crucial role in their success.

Awards Ceremony

The head of the Women’s Football Department in the Saudi Football Federation, Alia Al-Rasheed, handed over the championship trophy to the Lebanese national team captain, Rana el-Mokdad.

Al-Rasheed took turns with Moeed Al-Shehri, a member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Federation, to hand over the gold medals to the winner, the silver medal for the Bhutan national team and the bronze medal for Malaysia.

Lili Iskandar received the Top Scorer award having scored 3 goals. Deki Lhazom from Bhutan won the Player of The Tournament award, and the Malaysian Azourin Bent Mazlan was chosen as the tournament’s Best Goalkeeper.

Key Points

• Rana el-Mokdad has become the player with the most appearances with the national team with 23 matches.
• Lili Iskandar has surpassed Christy Maalouf and became the all-time top scorer with 9 goals.
• Lebanon wins their first ever trophy at senior level after having previously won 5 in the youth categories.
• The former Lebanese International Joanna Hamzeh was appointed as the Head Coach on 9 July 2023, becoming the first Women to coach the Lebanese National senior team.
• Cécile Iskandar became the third youngest player to score for the Lebanese National Women’s Team, at 16 years, 10 months and 9 days.