Lebanon at the AFC Asian Cup

Lebanon have participated twice at the AFC Asian Cup: in 2000, when Lebanon hosted the tournament after healing from the Lebanese Civil War,[1] and in 2019.[2]

Lebanon during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup match against Saudi Arabia.

Historically, Lebanon has been considered as one of the weakest Asian teams in football as both their qualification results and lack of participation in the tournament show; scarce financing, poor infrastructures and numerous conflicts in the country have also undermined Lebanon's footballing ability.[3] Also, prior to the 2019 Asian Cup, they were the only Arab country, alongside Yemen, not to qualify to the Asian Cup through regular qualification. However, in recent years, Lebanon have been going through a footballing "renaissance": following the narrow miss to the 2014 World Cup, the team maintained a 15-game unbeaten streak[lower-alpha 1] from 2016 to 2018,[4][5] and qualified for the 2019 Asian Cup undefeated in the third round of qualifications.[6]

Lebanon have never qualified past the group stage in the Asian Cup, with them narrowly missing out on the knock-out stage in 2019 due to the fair play rule;[7] both eliminations involved teams from Southeast Asia (Thailand in 2000 and Vietnam in 2019).[7][8]

AFC Asian Cup record

Lebanon's two appearances at the Asian Cup weren't successful, as they weren't able to qualify past the first round. After a 4–0 defeat to Iran in 2000, Abbas Chahrour scored Lebanon's first goal of the tournament against Iraq in a 2–2 draw. In 2019, after losing against Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Lebanon achieved their first Asian Cup win against North Korea (4–1). However, they missed out on the round of 16 as, in the third-place ranking, Vietnam had accumulated less yellow-cards than Lebanon.[7]

2000 AFC Asian Cup

In 2000, Lebanon hosted the AFC Asian Cup despite concerns by FIFA regarding the stadiums' conditions.[1] Under Croatian coach Josip Skoblar,[9] Lebanon, captained by Jamal Taha,[10] was drawn into Group A alongside Iran, Iraq and Thailand; they finished last in the group with only two points; had Lebanon defeated Thailand in the final game, they would have qualified for the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams.[8]

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
 Iran 7321061+5
 Iraq 4311143+1
 Thailand 2302124−2
 Lebanon 2302137−4
Lebanon 0–4 Iran
Report Bagheri  19'
Estili  75', 87'
Daei  90+1'
Attendance: 52,418
Referee: Lu Jun (China)
Lebanon 2–2 Iraq
Chahrour  28'
Hojeij  76'		 Report Jeayer  5', 22'
Attendance: 30,000
Lebanon 1–1 Thailand
Fernandes  83' Report Pituratana  58'
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Lu Jun (China)

2019 AFC Asian Cup

On 9 January 2019, Lebanon played their first game against Qatar. In the 37th minute of play, Ali Hamam scored a goal for Lebanon only for it to be disallowed for a dubious foul on a Qatari player.[11][12] In the second half, two goals by the opposing without reply gave them all three points from the encounter.[13] Three days later, Lebanon lost to Saudi Arabia 2–0, sentencing Lebanon to their second defeat in the tournament.[14] In the final group stage game, played on 17 January against North Korea, Lebanon won their first Asian Cup game 4–1 with goals by Felix Michel Melki, Hassan Maatouk and a brace by Hilal El-Helwe. However, this wasn't enough to qualify Lebanon to the knock-out stages, as they lost out to Vietnam in the third-place ranking on the fairplay rule.[7]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Qatar 3 3 0 0 10 0 +10 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Saudi Arabia 3 2 0 1 6 2 +4 6
3  Lebanon 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3
4  North Korea 3 0 0 3 1 14 −13 0
Source: AFC
Qatar 2–0 Lebanon
 Report
Attendance: 7,847
Referee: Ma Ning (China PR)
Lebanon 0–2 Saudi Arabia
Report
Attendance: 13,792
Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)
Lebanon 4–1 North Korea
 Report
Attendance: 4,332

Overview

Tournaments

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place

Lebanon's AFC Asian Cup record Qualification record
Host nation(s)
and year		 Round Pos Pld W D L GF GA Squad Outcome Pld W D L GF GA Ref
1956 Did not participate Did not participate —
1960 —
1964 —
1968 —
1972 Did not qualify 2nd of 3, semi-final loss 3 1 0 2 4 7 [15]
1976 Withdrew Withdrew [16]
1980 Did not qualify 3rd of 4 3 1 1 1 2 1 [17]
1984 Withdrew Withdrew [18]
1988 Did not participate Did not participate —
1992 —
1996 Did not qualify 2nd of 3 4 2 1 1 7 6 [19]
2000 Group stage 10th of 12 3 0 2 1 3 7 Squad Qualified as hosts [20]
2004 Did not qualify 3rd of 4 6 1 1 4 2 8 [21]
2007 Withdrew Withdrew [22]
2011 Did not qualify Preliminary round win, 4th of 4 8 2 1 5 8 14 [23]
2015 3rd of 4 6 2 2 2 12 14 [24]
2019 Group stage 17th of 24 3 1 0 2 4 5 Squad 2nd of 5, 1st of 4 14 8 3 3 26 10 [25]
2023 To be determined Ongoing
Total Best: group stage 2/17 6 1 2 3 7 12 — Total 43 16 9 18 59 59 —
  Champions    Runners-up    Third place/semi-finalists   Home venue

Matches

Record players
No. Name Matches Asian Cups
1Roda Antar32000
Hilal El-Helwe32019
Gilberto32000
Mohamad Haidar32019
Moussa Hojeij32000
Jadir32000
Mehdi Khalil32019
Hassan Maatouk32019
Nader Matar32019
Alexander Michel Melki32019
Felix Michel Melki32019
Newton32000
Joan Oumari32019
Jamal Taha32000
Haitham Zein32000
2 15 players22000, 2019
3 8 players12000, 2019

Goalscorers
Hilal El-Helwe is the team's top scorer in the competition.
Player Goals 2000 2019
Hilal El-Helwe 2 2
Abbas Chahrour 1 1
Luís Fernandes 1 1
Moussa Hojeij 1 1
Hassan Maatouk 1 1
Felix Michel Melki 1 1
Total 7 3 4

Footnotes
  1. The match played on 9 September 2018 against Oman, which ended in a 0–0 draw, was not considered official by FIFA.

References
  1. "Lebanon's Asian odyssey". The Guardian. 15 October 2000. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  2. "How Lebanon qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup". Socceroos. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  3. "Poor stadiums could cost Lebanon Asian Cup 2000 | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR". www.dailystar.com.lb. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  4. MENAFN. "Kuwait edge win over Lebanon to break record unbeaten run". menafn.com. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  5. "Australia vs Lebanon international friendly preview, teams, Simon Hill analysis". Fox Sports. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  6. "France, Belgium share first-ever joint FIFA ranking – Daily Trust". Daily Trust. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  7. "Group E: Lebanon 4-1 DPR Korea". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  8. Stokkermans, Karel. "Asian Nations Cup 2000". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  9. "Lebanon - Squad Asian Cup 2000 Lebanon". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  10. "JAMAL TAHA". www.abdogedeon.com. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  11. Levy, Uri. "Asian Cup 2019: Qatar routs Lebanon in dramatic debut". alaraby. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  12. "Qatar vs Lebanon: Chiến thắng nhọc nhằn | Kết quả Asian Cup 2019". Thể thao 247 (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  13. "Group E: Qatar 2-0 Lebanon". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  14. "Group E: Lebanon 0-2 Saudi Arabia". www.the-afc.com. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  15. Panahi, Majeed; Veroeveren, Pieter. "Asian Nations Cup 1972". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  16. Jovanovic, Bojan; Panahi, Majeed; Zarei, Asghar; Veroeveren, Pieter. "Asian Nations Cup 1976". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  17. Morrison, Neil; Jovanovic, Bojan; Panahi, Majeed; Veroeveren, Pieter. "Asian Nations Cup 1980". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  18. Morrison, Neil; Panahi, Majeed; Veroeveren, Pieter. "Asian Nations Cup 1984". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  19. Stokkermans, Karel. "Asian Nations Cup 1996". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  20. Stokkermans, Karel. "Asian Nations Cup 2000". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  21. Burkert, Sturmius; Cowlam, Glenn; Díaz Rubio, Julián; Hashim, Refel; Lee, Seungsoo; Naveed, Malik Riaz Hai; Saaid, Hamdan. "Asian Nations Cup 2004". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  22. Zlotkowski, Andre; Naveed, Malik Riaz Hai. "Asian Nations Cup 2007". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  23. King, Ian; Di Maggio, Roberto. "Asian Nations Cup 2011". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  24. Di Maggio, Roberto; Zlotkowski, Andre. "Asian Nations Cup 2015". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  25. Di Maggio, Roberto; Stokkermans, Karel. "Asian Nations Cup 2019". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
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