Lebanon national football team

Lebanon

Nickname(s)	رجال الأرز (The Cedars)
Association	Lebanese Football Association (الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم)
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach	Miodrag Radulović
Captain	Hassan Maatouk
Most caps	Hassan Maatouk (121)
Top scorer	Hassan Maatouk (23)
Home stadium	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium
FIFA code	LBN
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	120 5 (4 April 2024)[1]
Highest	77 (September 2018)
Lowest	178 (April–May 2011)
First international
Mandatory Palestine 5–1 Lebanon  (Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine; 27 April 1940)
Biggest win
Lebanon 11–1 Philippines  (Tokyo, Japan; 28 September 1967)
Biggest defeat
Iraq 8–0 Lebanon  (Baghdad, Iraq; 25 November 1959)  Qatar 8–0 Lebanon  (Doha, Qatar; 27 March 1985)
Asian Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 2000)
Best result	Group stage (2000, 2019, 2023)
Arab Cup
Appearances	8 (first in 1963)
Best result	Third place (1963)
WAFF Championship
Appearances	7 (first in 2000)
Best result	Group stage (7 times)
Medal record Men's football Arab Cup 1963 Lebanon Arab Games 1957 Beirut 1997 Beirut Mediterranean Games 1959 Beirut
Website	the-lfa.com.lb (in Arabic)

The Lebanon national football team,^[a] controlled by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), have represented Lebanon in association football since their inception in 1933. The squad is governed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) continentally, and FIFA worldwide. While Lebanon have yet to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, they have qualified three times to the AFC Asian Cup: they first participated in 2000, when they hosted the event. Lebanon's main venue is the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in Beirut; however they also play in other locations such as the Saida Municipal Stadium in Sidon.

In 1935, Lebanon played their first match against the Romanian side CA Timișoara (TAC), but it was not ratified by FIFA. Lebanon played their first FIFA-recognised game in 1940 against Mandatory Palestine. During their 2014 qualification campaign for the World Cup, Lebanon reached the final qualifying round for the first time thanks to a 2–1 victory against South Korea at home in 2011, but failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup finishing bottom of their group. At the 2019 Asian Cup, Lebanon were close to qualifying to the knock-out stages for the first time. However, they lost a tiebreaker to Vietnam in the third-place ranking on the fair play rule and were knocked out of the competition at the group stage. Lebanon also compete in the Arab Cup, the WAFF Championship, and the Arab Games. As hosts, they have finished third—once at the Arab Cup and twice at the Arab Games.

Inspired by their national symbol, the Lebanese team is known as "the Cedars" (Arabic: رجال الأرز) by fans and media. Their home kit is primarily red and their away kit white, a reference to their national flag. After a steady decline in their FIFA ranking from 1998 to 2016, Lebanon jumped 66 places (from 147th in 2016 to 81st in 2018) and reached their highest rank to date—77th—in September 2018. This came after a 16-game unbeaten streak, from 29 March 2016 to 9 September 2018, during which Lebanon won eight games and drew eight.

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