Layla Pascal "Lili" Iskandar ( ar, ليلى باسكال "ليلي" اسكندر; 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 le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for Jordanian club

Etihad Etihad Airways ( ar, شَرِكَة ٱلْاِتِّحَاد لِلطَّيْرَان, sharikat al-ittiḥād li-ṭ-ṭayarān) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa ...

and the Lebanon national team. A versatile

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, Iskandar can also play as a winger. Starting out at

Salam Zgharta Salam Zgharta Football Club ( ar, نادي السلام الرياضي زغرتا, lit=Zgharta Peace Sporting Club), known as Salam Zgharta or simply Salam, is a football club based in Zgharta, Lebanon, that competes in the . Founded in 1933 ...

in 2018–19, scoring 10 goals, Iskandar moved to reigning champions

SAS SAS or Sas may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers * ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series * Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...

. 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 HB Køge () is a professional Danish football club based primarily in the town of Herfølge, and secondly in the town of Køge, both in the Køge Municipality, part of 'Region of Zealand', in the eastern part of Zealand, south of Copenhagen. It w ...

, before signing for Etihad in Jordan. Iskandar represented Lebanon at the youth level, winning the

2019 WAFF U-18 Girls Championship The 2019 WAFF U-18 Girls Championship was the 2nd edition of the WAFF U-18 Girls Championship, the international Women's association football, women's football youth championship of Western Asia organised by the West Asian Football Federation (WA ...

as the competition's top goalscorer. Iskandar has also played at senior level since 2018. She helped Lebanon finish runners-up at the WAFF Women's Championship in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

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

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Club career

Lebanon

Iskandar played for hometown club

during the 2018–19 season, scoring 10 goals. In 2019 she moved to reigning champions

. 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 moved to

in the

Elitedivisionen The Danish Women's League ( da, Danmarksturneringens Kvindeliga, Kvinde-DM Liga or Kvindeligaen) is a semi-professional top-flight league for women's football in Denmark. It is organised by the Danish Football Association (DBU) as part of the ...

on a one-year contract.

Etihad

On 3 July 2022, Iskandar joined

Jordan Women's Football League The Jordan Women's Pro League is the main women's football tournament in Jordan. It was first contested in 2005. The league has been known under names throughout its history: 1st Women's League in 2005, Orange A League between 2013 and 2015, Divi ...

club

. She noted that the main reason for choosing the club was reuniting with former Lebanon national team coach

Wael Gharzeddine Wael Gharzeddine ( ar, وائل غرز الدين; born 3 February 1978) is a Lebanese football coach who is the head coach of Jordanian women's club Etihad. Career Beginning his coaching career in Australia, Gharzeddine moved to Brazil where ...

. Iskandar scored her first goal on 17 July, helping Etihad beat

Al-Nasr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yellow ...

3–0 in the league.

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 Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. She played four games during the qualifiers, scoring once. Iskandar was the top goalscorer of the

, 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 ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

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

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

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 (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, which ended in a 3–0 win. Iskandar took part in the

2022 WAFF Women's Championship The 2022 West Asian Football Federation Women's Championship, or simply 2022 WAFF Women's Championship, was the 7th edition of the WAFF Women's Championship, the international women's football championship of Western Asia organised by the West A ...

; she helped her side finish runners-up as the tournament's best player, scoring one goal against

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

on 29 August.

Style of play

Iskandar is an

with good finishing, who is also capable of creating attacking chances.

Personal life

Iskandar speaks three languages:

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

. Her idol is American footballer Alex Morgan, who she described as a "lady on and off the pitch".

Career statistics

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 ( ar, الدوري اللبناني لكرة القدم للسيدات) 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 ...

: 2019–20 Lebanon U18 * WAFF U-18 Girls Championship:

Lebanon * WAFF Women's Championship runner-up:

; third place:

Individual * WAFF Women's Championship best player: 2022 * WAFF U-18 Girls Championship top goalscorer: