Lebanon and Jordan victorious in the opening of the 8th Women’s Championship

The eighth West Asian Women’s Championship kicked off, February 19, 2024, hosted by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.

The first round of the tournament opened with two matches for Group A: Guam vs. Lebanon and Saudi Arabia vs. Jordan successively at the King Abdullah Sports City secondary field in Jeddah.

In the first match, the Lebanese national team overturned their deficit to win against Guam 4-3, with a halftime score of 0-2. Layla Iskandar scored a hat-trick in the 48th, 89th, and 90+2 minutes, and Christie Maalouf added a goal in the 74th minute. On the other side, Rebecca Bartusch scored in the 9th and 18th minutes, and Maria Anaya scored in the 84th minute for Guam.

In the second match, the Jordanian national team defeated their Saudi counterparts 3-1 in the first half (1-1). Saudi Arabia’s only goal was scored by Leen Mohammed in the 34th minute, while Jordan’s goals were scored by Mai Sweilem (26th minute), Maisa Jabara (62nd minute), and Aya Al-Majali (73rd minute).

With this, the Jordanian national team tops Group A with 3 points, narrowly ahead of the Lebanese national team on goal difference. Guam is in third place, and the Saudi national team is fourth.

The competition continues on February 20 with two matches in Group B: Nepal vs. Syria at 5:00 PM Saudi time, followed by the match between Palestine and Iraq at 8:00 PM. The following day, on February 21, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia will play, followed by a match between the Jordanian national team and Guam.

The tournament proceeds on February 22, with Iraq facing Nepal and Syria playing against Palestine. Then, the next day, Lebanon competes against Jordan, and Saudi Arabia faces Guam. The group stage concludes on February 24 with two matches: Syria vs. Iraq and Palestine vs. Nepal.

Afterward, the tournament takes a break on February 25 and 26, resuming on February 27 with the quarterfinals. Finally, the tournament concludes with the final match on February 29.