TEHRAN - Iran’s hopes suffered a setback after falling to a 3-1 defeat against Lebanon in Group A of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 Qualifiers on Wednesday.

The result leaves Iran on six points, with Jordan, their opponents in Saturday’s final round of matches. The win was Lebanon’s first after having suffered defeat in their earlier two games. 

Iran’s high pressing game made Lebanon uncomfortable but the West Asian side quickly turned the disadvantage around in the fifth minute to leave the Central Asian side stunned.

Zahwa Arabi gained possession in her own half before delivering a long-range pass to Layla Iskandar, who surged past her marker and set up an unmarked Christy Maalouf for an easy finish.

The Lebanese duo combined again in the 22nd minute with Arabi’s free-kick finding Iskandar, who nodded the ball down for Maalouf to finish with aplomb, the-afc.com reported.

The Central Asian side were eventually rewarded in the 58th minute after Negin Zandi powered down the right before supplying a cross for Fatemeh Shaban to score with a simple finish.

Lebanon, however, restored their two-goal cushion in the 71st minute when Iskandar pounced on a poor pass from substitute Atefeh Imani and threaded a through ball to Maalouf, who drilled her shot into the bottom right corner to complete her hat-trick.