Sultan Al Ali (Dubai)
Lebanon meets Iran today, Thursday, in the fifth round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, in a confrontation whose outcome will bear many calculations, which must be taken into account by both sides, and the rest of the first group teams.
Lebanon is arming itself with the land factor, after vigorous efforts to prepare Sidon Municipal Stadium in the capital, Beirut, to host the qualifiers matches, and the “Rice of the Cedars” will obtain an exceptional advantage, by playing 5 consecutive matches out of the remaining 6 on its soil, which enhances its chances of competing for one of the qualification cards.
Lebanon has not tasted a loss at home since September 2015, 6 years ago, and it came against South Korea 3-0, in a confrontation within the second stage of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
After that, Lebanon did not lose at all, until today it reached 12 consecutive matches, without a loss on its “official and friendly” land.
His series began with a friendly match against Laos, which he won by seven, and then tied with Myanmar 1-1 in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, and then played 4 friendly matches, 3 of which ended in a positive 1-1 draw with Jordan, Palestine and Equatorial Guinea, while he defeated Afghanistan 2-0 .
After that, the national team played 3 matches in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, and came out victorious against Hong Kong 2-0, North Korea 5-0, and Malaysia 2-1.
And the World Cup qualifiers returned again with this “version 2022”, for Lebanon to play Turkmenistan at home and win 2-1, before playing its last two matches in the series against South and North Korea, both of which ended in a goalless draw.
After that, Lebanon was absent from hosting its national team due to security and health conditions, before returning today. Thus, the outcome of the 12-match series is 6 victories and 6 draws, and Lebanon scored 24 goals, received only 6 goals, and exited in 6 clean sheet matches. These distinctive numbers give great motivation to the “Cedar Men” in achieving a positive result today against the strong Iranian competitor.
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