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Football in Syria
Country	Syria
Governing body	Fédération Arabe Syrienne de Football (SAFF)
National team(s)	Syria
Nickname(s)	Nosour Qasioun (Arabic: نسور قاسيون French: Les aigles de Qasyoun)
First played	1900s
Club competitions
Syrian Premier League Syrian League 1st Division Syrian Cup Syrian Super Cup
International competitions
List Clubs AFC Champions League: Runners-up in 2006 (Al-Karamah SC) AFC Cup: Champions in 2004 (Al-Jaish SC) and in 2010 (Al-Ittihad SC) National team AFC Asian Cup (2023): Round of 16 WAFF Championship (2012): Champions FIFA Arab Cup (1963, 1966, 1988): Runners-up Mediterranean Games (1987): Champions National U-23 team AFC U-23 Championship (2013, 2020): Quarter-final National U-20 team FIFA U-20 World Cup (1991): Quarter-final AFC U-20 Championship (1994): Champions National U-17 team FIFA U-17 World Cup (2007): Round of 16 AFC U-16 Championship (2014): Semi-final Women's national team WAFF Women's Championship (2005, 2022): Third place Arab Women's Cup (2006): Group stage Women's national U-20 team WAFF U-18 Girls Championship (2022): Runners-up Women's national U-16 team WAFF U-16 Girls Championship (2023): Champions Women's national U-14 team WAFF U-14 Girls Championship (2023): Champions

The sport of football in the country of Syria is run by the Syrian Arab Federation for Football. The association administers the national football team as well as the Syrian Premier League. Football is the most popular sport in the country.

Tishreen SC, Al Wahda SC, Al-Jaish SC and Al-Ittihad are amongst the most popular clubs in the country. All teams compete in the Syrian Premier League, the highest tier of Syrian football.

Domestic football

On 27 November 2004, Al-Jaish won the 2004 AFC Cup. Al Jaish was the first Syrian club to win a continental title, making it all the more interesting that the final opponent was Al Wahda, facing two Syrian clubs in the final. Both games took place in Abbasiyyin Stadium. Both clubs participated in 2005 in the AFC Champions League.

In the Arab Club Champions Cup and the Arab Cup Winners' Cup forerunners of the Arab Champions League, it was Al Jaish who held up the banner of Syrian club football: between 1998 and 2000, the finals were scored twice in both competitions. but had to be defeated every four times.

In the Asian Champions League (AFC Champions League), Al-Karamah achieved the 2006 AFC Champions League second place. In the final, the team was unfortunately defeated by Jeonbuk Motors of South Korea (2–0 in Korea, 2–1 at home). In 2009, Al-Karama reached the AFC Cup final, but lost 1–1 to Al-Kuwait in the 2009 AFC Cup. Al-Ittihad won the 2010 AFC Cup against Al-Qadsia to become the second Syrian team to win the AFC Cup trophy.

Stadiums

Syria has a total of 35 football stadiums spread around the country. The main stadium used to be Abbasiyyin Stadium in Damascus, but when the Aleppo International Stadium was built, it replaced it.

National team

The Syrian national team won the 1957 Pan Arab Games, 1987 Mediterranean Games and 2012 WAFF Championship, yet has never qualified for a football World Cup. Even in the Asian Cup so far succeeded little. After all, the youth selection participated three times (1989, 1995 and 2005) at the FIFA Youth World Cup and reached in 2005 the knockout stages. Syria U20 managed to win the 1994 AFC Youth Championship by beating Japan U20 2–1 in the final. The U-17 selection of the country qualified in 2007 for the World Cup in this age group and was also able to celebrate the knockout stages. In addition to the senior national team of men and various youth teams, there is also a women's national team.

Women's football

The first women's football team in Syria, the Levant and the Middle East was founded in Aleppo in 1950. For a long time there was neither an organized women's league nor an organized cup competition.

Since the end of July 2006, the first official Syrian women's football championship runs in the form of a league with 7 teams. In addition, there is a women's national team, which, however, has not played any official international matches at FIFA level until the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification.

See also

• List of football stadiums in Syria
• List of football clubs in Syria

References

1. Smale, Simon. "Who the Socceroos are facing as the Asian Cup kicks off, and when to watch". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
2. FIFA.com. "Member Association - Syria". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
3. "The AFC.com - The Asian Football Confederation". The AFC. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
4. "Syria hope football success can provide lift from strife - World - Sports - Ahram Online". English.ahram.org.eg. 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
5. "Soccer Players Aim To Bring Joy To Syria Through Sport « CBS Los Angeles". Losangeles.cbslocal.com. 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
6. "For a Night, Iraqis Root for the Home Team, and the Visitors". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-11-02.

Further reading

• Rizvi, Ahmed (20 July 2015). "Football in times of crisis: Syrian game continues on as inspiration, propaganda, shadow". thenationalnews.com. The National News Sport. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2022.

• Football in Syria