Lebanon national under-20 football team

Lebanon under-20
Nickname(s)	منتخب الشباب (The Youth Team)
Association	Lebanon Football Association; (الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم)
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach	Bilal Fleifel
Home stadium	Various
FIFA code	LBN
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Lebanon 0–0 India ; (Tehran, Iran; 16 April 1973)
Biggest win
	Lebanon 6–1 Singapore ; (Dushanbe, Tajikistan; 18 September 2022)
Biggest defeat
	Syria 6–0 Lebanon ; (Fujairah, United Arab Emirates; 2 November 2011)
AFC U-20 Asian Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 1973)
Best result	Quarter-finals (1973)
Arab Cup U-20
Appearances	3 (first in 1985)
Best result	Group stage (1985, 2021, 2022)
WAFF U-18 Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2021)
Best result	Runners-up (2021)

The Lebanon national under-20 football team (Arabic: منتخب لبنان تحت 20 سنة لكرة القدم) is the national under-20 football team of Lebanon and is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The team also serves as the national under-19 and national under-18 football teams of Lebanon.

While the team has never qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, they have participated twice in the AFC U-20 Asian Cup, in 1973 and in 2008, with their best result being reaching the quarter-finals in the 1973 edition.^[1]^[2] In the 2021 WAFF U-18 Championship, the U18 team made history by becoming the first Lebanon men's national team to reach a final, losing to hosts Iraq on penalty-shootouts.^[3] They also participate in the Arab Cup U-20 and Jeux de la Francophonie, failing to go past the group stage in both competitions.

Notable former under-20 players include Nour Mansour, Rabih Ataya, and Mohamad Haidar,^[4] who all went on to play for the senior side.^[5]

Competitive record

FIFA U-20 World Cup

FIFA U-20 World 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
1977	Did not enter									Did not enter
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989	Did not qualify									The 1988 AFC Youth Championship served as the qualifying tournament
1991										The 1990 AFC Youth Championship served as the qualifying tournament
1993										The 1992 AFC Youth Championship served as the qualifying tournament
1995										The 1994 AFC Youth Championship served as the qualifying tournament
1997										The 1996 AFC Youth Championship served as the qualifying tournament
1999										The 1998 AFC Youth Championship served as the qualifying tournament
2001										The 2000 AFC Youth Championship served as the qualifying tournament
2003	Withdrew									Withdrew
2005	Did not qualify									The 2004 AFC Youth Championship served as the qualifying tournament
2007										The 2006 AFC Youth Championship served as the qualifying tournament
2009										The 2008 AFC U-19 Championship served as the qualifying tournament
2011	Withdrew									Withdrew
2013	Did not qualify									The 2012 AFC U-19 Championship served as the qualifying tournament
2015										The 2014 AFC U-19 Championship served as the qualifying tournament
2017										The 2016 AFC U-19 Championship served as the qualifying tournament
2019										The 2018 AFC U-19 Championship served as the qualifying tournament
2023										The 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup served as the qualifying tournament
2025										The 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup served as the qualifying tournament
Total	—	0/24	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Total	—	—	—	—	—	—

AFC U-20 Asian Cup

AFC U-20 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
1959	Did not enter									Did not enter
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973	Quarter-finals	5th of 14	4	1	3	0	3	1	—	Qualified as invitees
1974	Did not enter									Did not enter
1975
1976
1977
1978
1980
1982
1985
1986
1988	Did not qualify									3rd of 3	4	3	0	1	8	4
1990	Did not enter									Did not enter
1992	Did not qualify
1994
1996										4th of 4	3	0	0	3	1	7
1998
2000										4th of 5	4	1	0	3	5	9
2002	Withdrew									Withdrew
2004	Did not qualify									3rd of 3	2	0	1	1	1	2
2006	Did not qualify									3rd of 3	2	0	0	2	1	6
2008	Round 1	15th of 16	3	0	0	3	2	12	Squad	2nd of 6	5	4	0	1	10	4
2010	Withdrew									Withdrew
2012	Did not qualify									3rd of 5	4	2	0	2	3	8
2014										3rd of 4	3	0	1	2	2	8
2016										3rd of 4	3	1	1	1	4	5
2018										3rd of 3	2	0	0	2	0	4
~~2020~~										2nd of 4	3	1	1	1	3	2
2023										2nd of 4	3	2	0	1	7	5
Total	Best: quarter-finals	2/41	7	1	3	3	5	13	—	Total	—	—	—	—	—	—

Arab Cup U-20

Arab Cup U-20 record
Host nation(s) and year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
1983	Did not participate
1985	Group stage	9th of 12	2	1	0	1	1	1	—
1989	Did not participate
2011	Did not participate
2012	Did not participate
2014	Cancelled
2020	Did not participate
2021	Group stage	15th of 16	3	0	0	3	2	10	—
2022	Group stage	14th of 18	2	0	0	2	1	4	Squad
Total	Best: group stage	1/5	5	0	0	5	3	14	—

WAFF U-18 Championship

WAFF U-18 Championship record
Host nation(s) and year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
2019	Did not participate
2021	Runners-up	2nd of 9	4	2	2	0	3	1	—
2024	TBD
Total	Best: N/A	2/3	4	2	2	0	3	1	—

Mediterranean Games

Mediterranean Games record
Host nation, city and year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
1951–1987	See Lebanon national football team
Athens 1991	See Lebanon national under-23 football team
Languedoc-Roussillon 1993
Bari 1997
Tunis 2001	See Lebanon national under-21 football team
Almería 2005	See Lebanon national under-23 football team
Pescara 2009	Did not participate
Mersin 2013
Tarragona 2018
Oran 2022
Taranto 2026	To be determined
Total	—	0/4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Jeux de la Francophonie

Jeux de la Francophonie record
Host nation, city and year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad
Casablanca 1989	Did not participate
Paris 1994
Antananarivo 1997
Ottawa 2001
Niamey 2005
Beirut 2009	Group stage	9th of 9	2	0	0	2	1	5	Squad
Nice 2013	Group stage	14 of 14	3	0	0	3	1	10	Squad
Abidjan 2017	Group stage	13 of 16	3	0	1	2	2	5	Squad
Kinshasa 2023	Group stage	8th of 9	2	0	1	1	1	6	Squad
Total	Best: group stage	4/9	10	0	2	8	5	26	—

Recent results and matches

2023

29 July 2023 (2023-07-29) 2023 Jeux de la Francophonie GS	Cameroon	1–1	Lebanon	Kinshasa, DR Congo
18:00 UTC+1	Nebamkia 47'		Kassas 65'	Stadium: Stade Tata Raphaël

2 August 2023 (2023-08-02) 2023 Jeux de la Francophonie GS	Lebanon	0–5	Niger	Kinshasa, DR Congo
15:00 UTC+1				Stadium: Stade Tata Raphaël

2024

2024 (2024) Friendly	Lebanon	2–2	United Arab Emirates
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2024 (2024) Friendly	Lebanon	0–1	United Arab Emirates
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26 June 2024 (2024-06-26) WAFF U-18 Championship	Lebanon	0–2	Albania	Taif
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28 June 2024 (2024-06-28) WAFF U-18 Championship	Lebanon	0–2	Jordan	Taif
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30 June 2024 (2024-06-30) WAFF U-18 Championship	Lebanon	0–2	Iraq	Taif
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Players

The following players were called up for the WAFF U-18 Championship.^[6]

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1GK	Joseph Bitar		Salam Zgharta
1GK	Christian Awkar		Safa
1GK	Bahaa El Abdallah		AC Tripoli

2DF	Josef Elhajj	(2005-03-30) 30 March 2005 (age 19)	SGV Freiberg
2DF	Rawad Al Jaitani	(2005-04-02) 2 April 2005 (age 19)	Salam Zgharta
2DF	Mahmoud Saif Eddin		Ansar
2DF	Kassem Watfa		Tadamon Sour
2DF	Ryan El Khoury		Shabab Sahel
2DF	Mohammad Al Baalbaki		Safa
2DF	Sajed Faraj		Bint Jbeil

3MF	Hassan Jaafar		Shabab Sahel
3MF	Ibrahim Mhanna		Ukhouwa Kharayeb
3MF	Miguel Karam		Racing Beirut
3MF	Hassan Salami		Shabab Sahel
3MF	Hassan Nasser		Ansar
3MF	Anis Nehme	(2005-07-01) 1 July 2005 (age 19)	TSV Havelse

4FW	Muhammad Kassas		Ukhouwa Kharayeb
4FW	Ali Fakih		Shabab Sahel
4FW	Karim Kassem		Tadamon Sour
4FW	Karim Sleem		Ahed
4FW	Mansour Al Masri		Australasian Soccer Academy
4FW	Zein Salame		Portimonense
4FW	Issa Beydoun	(2005-05-12) 12 May 2005 (age 19)	SV Waldhof Mannheim

References

^ Morrison, Neil (18 June 2015). "Asian U-19 Championship 1973". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
^ Zlotkowski, Andre; Di Maggio, Roberto (15 July 2011). "Asian U-20 Championship 2008". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
^ Al-Hasani, Maytham (1 December 2021). بالصور.. ركلات الترجيح تحفظ لقب غرب آسيا لشباب العراق [In pictures... Penalty kicks save the West Asian title for Iraq's youth team]. Kooora (in Arabic). Retrieved 1 December 2021.
^ "DPR Korea v Lebanon" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. 1 November 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
^ Mamrud, Roberto (2 May 2022). "Lebanon – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
^ 23 لاعبًا على لائحة منتخبنا الوطني للمشاركة في بطولة الديار العربية غرب آسيا للشباب 2024 في السعودية. Lebanese Football Association (in Arabic). 22 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.

[1] Morrison, Neil (18 June 2015). "Asian U-19 Championship 1973". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 August 2018.

[2] Zlotkowski, Andre; Di Maggio, Roberto (15 July 2011). "Asian U-20 Championship 2008". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 August 2018.

[3] Al-Hasani, Maytham (1 December 2021). بالصور.. ركلات الترجيح تحفظ لقب غرب آسيا لشباب العراق [In pictures... Penalty kicks save the West Asian title for Iraq's youth team]. Kooora (in Arabic). Retrieved 1 December 2021.

[4] "DPR Korea v Lebanon" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. 1 November 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2020.

[5] Mamrud, Roberto (2 May 2022). "Lebanon – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 September 2022.

[6] 23 لاعبًا على لائحة منتخبنا الوطني للمشاركة في بطولة الديار العربية غرب آسيا للشباب 2024 في السعودية. Lebanese Football Association (in Arabic). 22 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.

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