history of the lebanese team The Lebanon national football team formed in 1933. Lebanon affiliated to FIFA in 1935 and joined the Asian Football Confederation in 1964. The team has performed very well at regional level but has yet to qualify for a world cup. In the early years, the Lebanon national football team gained experience by playing in regional tournaments like the Arab Nations Cup. In the years between their formation and the end of the century, Lebanon competed in as many tournaments as possible. The team always performed well but did not win any trophies. The 1994 world cup saw Lebanon enter qualification for the first time. In the first round group stage, the team only won two out of eight matches. Despite not qualifying, Lebanon finished third in the group of five. The team suffered a similar fate in the 1998 edition. Lebanon won one of r four matches and finished second in a group of three. Fortunes improved by 2002, although Lebanon still did not make the second round. This time the team came within one game of winning their group. In what was basically a play-off match, Lebanon faced Thailand knowing a win would see them through. Despite taking the lead early on, a 2-2 draw was enough for Thailand to hold top spot. The qualifying format changed for the 2006 world, meaning Lebanon gained a bye past the first knock-out round. The second round group stage was another close call for the team. With only one game to play, a win for Lebanon and a loss for South Korea would see the former progress. Unfortunately, the team could only muster a 0-0 draw withVietnam while South Korea beat the Maldives 2-0. In 2010 world cup qualifying, Lebanon was forced to play in the first round knock-out stage. The team was drawn against India in a two-legged tie. A comfortable 4-1 home win was followed by a 2-2 away draw. The 6-3 aggregate win was the first time Lebanon had progressed from a qualifying round on merit rather than rankings. The team’s position did help Lebanon skip the second round and qualify directly for round three. The group stage saw the team endure a terrible run. The team lost all six of their matches and finished bottom of the table
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:46:41 +0000
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