Lebanon News
The Lebanon national Rugby League team are known by the nickname of ‘The Cedars’ and have represented the country since there formation in 1997.
Although the sport as proven popular with Lebanese immigrants into Australia, thanks to superstars of the sport such as Hazem El Masri and it has developed a dedicated following in the country itself, the ongoing difficulties in the region has found the sport often struggling for survival.
Those same issues can also make it difficult for fans of ‘The Cedars’ to keep up to date with all of the latest news regarding the Lebanese national Rugby League team but that at least is now much easier as we bring you all of the latest headlines from around the globe.
Lebanon Breaking News
If you are looking for all of the latest Lebanon RL breaking news headlines, you are in the right place as we bring you all of the latest Lebanon Rugby League breaking news headlines.
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Lebanon Latest News Today
If a story has broken today regarding the ‘Cedars’ national team today, we will bring it to you right here on this very page.
So no longer do you need to search the web or numerous sports websites to get up to date with all of the latest stories as we do all of that work for you.
If a headline is of interest to you, all you need to do is click on it to be taken to the original source where you can read the whole story.
Stadium
It has been difficult for the Lebanese team to host opponents down the years thanks to the instability of their home nation but when they have been able to play home matches, they have taken place at either the International Olympic Stadium or the Beirut Municipal Stadium.
Confederation
Despite been based in the Middle East, Lebanon are part of the European Rugby League (ERL) Federation, with their national team and domestic competitions been under the control of the Lebanese Rugby League Federation governing body.
About
Despite been a relatively new nation to the sport and the challengers of country, the Lebanese national Rugby League have already enjoyed regional success and have played on the grandest stage of them all at the Rugby League World Cup.
History
The establishment of a national representative side for Lebanon can actually be traced to the seven a side version of the sport and far from the Mediterranean coast as it was a group of Lebanese Australians who established a side for the 1997 Rugby League World Sevens.
Their first full international came in 1998 when they headed to Tokyo to take on Japan for a match that they won 28 points to 52.
They entered into the RLWC 2000 qualification process where they were placed in the Mediterranean pool, and they got off to a great start by defeating Italy in their opening match and then thrashing Morocco 104-0 for their biggest ever win.
In that match, star winger Hazem El Masri would score an incredible 48 points to break the record for points scored by a single player in an international test match.
They then had to face the USA in a play-off and after a 62-8 win, they would make the step up to the biggest event in the sport after just a couple of years of existence.
In 2002, Lebanon would welcome France to Tripoli for the Mediterranean Cup where nearly 17,000 fans would see them win the cup which would become a regular occurrence as they would win the trophy 3 tournaments running during this period.
Lebanon would be placed in a qualifying group for the 2008 World Cup featuring Russia and Ireland but despite comfortable win against Russia, they would come up short against Ireland with a draw in their ‘home’ match, played in England due to safety concerns, proving to be their downfall.
It was enough however to give them a second chance of qualifying, but they would need to take on the likes of Samoa, the USA and Wales.
In the end it came down to a match between Samoa and Lebanon for the final World Cup place, with Samoa running out 16-38 winners.
For the 2013 edition, Lebanon faced a qualifying group featuring Serbia, Italy and Russia but despite wins over Serbia and Russia, they would draw with Italy in a result that saw the Italians head to the tournament thanks to a better points difference.
For the 2017 edition, the Middle East- Africa region was granted 1 place at the tournament proper and that helped ‘The Cedars’ retune to the global stage as they faced off against South Africa in a match they won comfortably.
At the World Cup, they were placed in a tough group featuring France, England and Australia and thanks to a big win over France, they would make it through to the quarter-final stage.
They would lose that match 24-22 to Tonga but it would be enough to see them qualify automatically for the 2021 RLWC.
Unfortunately, what was starting to look like a great period for the country soon saw huge issues as players considered a match boycott and they would cover up the LRLF’s logo during training and at media events due to the perceived lack of support from the governing body and due to concerns over the domestic competition in Lebanon that could lead to the expulsion of the national team from the next World Cup.
That would be the RLWC 2021, held in 2022, where they would be placed in a group featuring New Zealand, Jamaica and Ireland.
Lebanon Cedars News Headlines
Here at 13v13, we bring you all the latest Lebanon RL news headlines from around the world so that fans of the ‘Cedars’ can keep up to date with their national team.
Lebanon Rugby League News Update
It is often the case that when a major story breaks, it will take some time for the full story to be known as media outlets race to be the first to break the story.
That lead fan having to continue to search for the story as it updates but here at 13v13 we do that for you.