Lili Iskandar

Layla Pascal "Lili" Iskandar (ليلى باسكال "ليلي" اسكندر; born 16 May 2002) is a Lebanese footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Women's Premier League club Al-Ittihad and the Lebanon national team. A versatile forward, Iskandar can also play as a winger.

Starting out at Salam Zgharta 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.

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 in 2022 as the competition's best player, and in third place in 2019. Iskandar is the Lebanon women's national team top goalscorer.

Lebanon
Iskandar played for hometown club Salam Zgharta 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 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 Al-Ittihad during the 2023–24 Saudi Women's Premier League 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.

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 came on 8 November 2018, coming on as a substitute against Iran in a 2020 AFC Olympic qualification match. Iskandar also played four games for Lebanon at the 2019 WAFF Championship, 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, 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 on 29 August. On 8 April 2023, Iskandar scored her first international brace in a 5–0 win against Indonesia 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. In the process, she broke Christy Maalouf's record of eight international goals for Lebanon.

Iskandar opened the 2024 WAFF Championship with a hat-trick against Guam 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
Iskandar is an attacking midfielder with good finishing, who is also capable of creating attacking chances.

Personal life
Iskandar speaks three languages: English, French, and Arabic. Her idol is American footballer Alex Morgan, who she described as a "lady on and off the pitch".

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: 2019–20

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

Lebanon U18
 * WAFF U-18 Girls Championship: 2019

Lebanon
 * WAFF Women's Championship runner-up: 2022; third place: 2019

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: 2019

Records
 * Lebanon all-time top goalscorer: 12 goals (as of 19 February 2024)