Layla Pascal "Lili" Iskandar (; born 16 May 2002) is a Lebanese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a forward for the Lebanon national team. Starting out at

Salam Zgharta Salam Zgharta Football Club (), known as Salam Zgharta or simply Salam, is a football club based in Zgharta, Lebanon, that competes in the . Founded in 1933 as Salam Achrafieh, the club was renamed Salam Zgharta in 1971; their supporters are ...

in 2018–19, Iskandar moved to reigning champions SAS. In her first season at the club ( 2019–20), she helped SAS lift their fifth league title, scoring 15 goals in the process. Iskandar joined Danish side HB Køge for the 2021–22 season. In 2022 she moved to Etihad in Jordan, winning the 2023 league title as top goalscorer (14 goals). At the end of the season, Iskandar joined Saudi club

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

. Iskandar represented Lebanon at the youth level, winning the 2019 WAFF U-18 Girls Championship as the competition's top scorer. Iskandar has also played at senior level since 2018. She helped Lebanon finish runners-up at the

WAFF Women's Championship The West Asian Football Federation Women's Championship (), or simply WAFF Women's Championship, is an international women's association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the West Asian Footbal ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

as the competition's best player, and in third place in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Club career

Lebanon

Iskandar played for hometown club

during the 2018–19 season, scoring 10 goals. In 2019 she moved to reigning champions SAS. In the final matchday of the season, Iskandar scored a brace against EFP to help her side win the 2019–20 league title. She ended the season with 15 goals, scoring at a rate of more than one goal per game.

HB Køge

On 9 July 2021, Iskandar joined HB Køge ahead of the

2021–22 Danish Women's League The 2021–22 Danish Women's League, also known as Gjensidige Kvindeligaen, is the 50th season of the highest women's football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ...

on a one-year contract.

Etihad

On 3 July 2022, Iskandar moved to Jordan Women's Pro League club Etihad. She cited reuniting with former Lebanon national team coach Wael Gharzeddine as the main reason for joining the club. Iskandar scored her first goal on 17 July, helping Etihad beat Al-Nasr 3–0 in the league. She finished the season with five goals in 12 games, helping her side finish runners-up in the league and the cup. On 2 September 2023, Iskandar led Ettihad to win the 2023 Jordanian-Saudi Women's Clubs Championship as top scorer with four goals. She finished the 2023 Jordan Women's Pro League as top scorer with 14 goals in 12 games, helping Etihad win their first league title.

Al-Ittihad

In October 2023, Iskandar joined

during the

2023–24 Saudi Women's Premier League The 2023–24 Saudi Women's Premier League was the second season of the Saudi Women's Premier League, the top-level women's football league in Saudi Arabia. Al-Nassr were the defending champions and successfully retained their title. Overview ...

on loan until the end of the season. She finished the season with seven goals and one assist in 17 games in all competitions. In July 2024, Al-Ittihad signed her on a permanent contract for one year. Iskandar left the club at the end of the season; she played 31 games over two seasons in the Saudi Women's Premier League, scoring 10 goals in the process.

International career

Youth

Iskandar's first international goal came on her debut for the Lebanon under-19 national team, on 24 October 2018, in a 2019 AFC U-19 Championship qualification match against Hong Kong U19. She played four games during the qualifiers, scoring once. Iskandar was the top goalscorer of the 2019 WAFF U-18 Championship, which she won, scoring seven goals in five matches. In December 2020, Iskandar played two friendly games against Egypt U19, a 3–1 defeat and a 3–2 win, scoring in both games. With her two goals against Egypt, Iskandar became the first player to reach 10 goals for the under-18 and under-19 teams.

Senior

Iskandar's senior debut for

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

came on 8 November 2018, coming on as a substitute against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in a 2020 AFC Olympic qualification match. Iskandar also played four games for Lebanon at the

2019 WAFF Championship The 2019 West Asian Football Federation Championship, also called Asiacell WAFF Championship Iraq 2019 due to sponsorship by Asiacell, was the 9th edition of the WAFF Championship, an international tournament for member nations of the West Asian ...

, helping her team reach third place. On 24 October 2021, Iskandar scored her first goal in a 2022 AFC Asian Cup qualification game against

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

, which ended in a 3–0 win. Iskandar took part in the 2022 WAFF Championship; she helped her side finish runners-up as the tournament's best player, scoring one goal against

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

on 29 August. On 8 April 2023, Iskandar scored her first international brace in a 5–0 win against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

in the 2024 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament. On 30 September 2023, Iskandar scored in the 102nd minute of the 2023 SAFF Friendly Tournament final, a 1–0 win against

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

. In the process, she broke

Christy Maalouf Christy Tony Maalouf (; born 20 December 2005) is a Lebanese footballer who plays as forward for French club and the Lebanon national team. Club career Maalouf began her career at the Jeita Country Club, before moving to Zouk Mosbeh in 20 ...

's record of eight international goals for Lebanon. Iskandar opened the 2024 WAFF Championship with a hat-trick against

on 19 February 2024, helping her side win 4–3; she became the first player to score 10 goals for her national team. Iskandar's third goal of the match was also the Lebanon women's national team's 100th of all time.

Style of play

In her youth, Iskandar was an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

with good finishing and capable of creating attacking chances.

Personal life

Iskandar speaks three languages: English, French, and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. Her idol is American footballer

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American former professional association football, soccer player.She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team with ...

, who she described as a "lady on and off the pitch".

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Iskandar goal''.

Honours

SAS *

Lebanese Women's Football League The Lebanese Women's Football League () is the only league of women's football in Lebanon. It is run by the Lebanese Football Association and began in May 2008, with six teams participating in the debut season. As of the 2024–25 season, ni ...

: 2019–20 Etihad * Jordan Women's Pro League: 2023; runner-up: 2022 * Jordanian-Saudi Women's Clubs Championship:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* Jordan Women's Cup runner-up: 2022 Lebanon U18 * WAFF U-18 Girls Championship:

Lebanon *

runner-up:

; third place:

Individual * Jordan Women's Pro League top scorer: 2023 * Women's Club Championship top scorer: 2023 * WAFF Women's Championship best player: 2022 * WAFF U-18 Girls Championship top goalscorer:

Records * Lebanon all-time top goalscorer: 15 goals (''as of 1 June 2025'')

References

External links

Profile
at HB Køge * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iskandar, Lili 2002 births Living people People from Zgharta Sportspeople from North Governorate Lebanese women's footballers 21st-century Lebanese sportswomen Women's association football forwards Salam Zgharta FC (women) players Stars Association for Sports players HB Køge (women) players Etihad Club players Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah, women) players Lebanese Women's Football League players Jordan Women's Pro League players Saudi Women's Premier League players Lebanon women's youth international footballers Lebanon women's international footballers Lebanese expatriate women's footballers Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Jordan Lebanese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate women's footballers in Denmark Expatriate women's footballers in Jordan Expatriate women's footballers in Saudi Arabia