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Nadia Assaf

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Nadia Assaf
Assaf with GFA
Personal information
Full name Nadia Walid Assaf[1]
Date of birth (1985-09-30) 30 September 1985 (age 41)
Place of birth Dubai, United Arab Emirates[1]
Positions
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 Ansar
2009–2011 Athletico
2011–2017 GFA
Total (54)
International career
2008 Lebanon (futsal) 1+ (1)
2007–2013 Lebanon 7+ (5)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing  Lebanon
WAFF Women's Championship
Bronze medal – third place2007
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nadia Assaf (Arabic: ناديا عساف; born 30 September 1985) is a Lebanese football coach and former player who played as a midfielder and forward. She represented Lebanon internationally in football and futsal. In 2011, she co-founded Girls Football Academy (GFA), a women's football academy in Beirut.

Early life

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Born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,[1] to a Lebanese Druze family,[3] Assaf spent part of her childhood in Australia, where she began playing football.[4]

She later studied at the American University of Beirut, where she obtained a bachelor's degree, before completing a master's degree in Sports Education and Development at the University of Bath in England.[5][6]

Club career

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Upon returning to Lebanon, Assaf played for Ansar and Athletico Beirut in the Lebanese Women's Football League.[5][6][7]

In 2011, Assaf co-founded Girls Football Academy (GFA) with Walid Arakji. The project emerged from their shared concerns about the limited resources and training opportunities available to female footballers in Lebanon. The academy aimed to provide girls with professional coaching and facilities, while developing players for the national team.[6][5][8]

The academy began operating in October 2011, with training sessions held at the Al-Ansar Stadium in Beirut. Its programme included teams in several age categories, from under-nine players to a senior team competing in the Lebanese women's first division.[6][8] By March 2013, GFA had more than 45 registered players distributed across several teams and age groups.[9] The senior team finished as runners-up in the 2012 Lebanese women's championship.[9]

Assaf also coached GFA's under-18 teams.[10]

International career

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Assaf represented Lebanon in association football between 2007 and 2013. She scored twice at the 2007 WAFF Women's Championship, where Lebanon finished third, and once at the 2011 WAFF Women's Championship.[11] At the 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification in June 2013, Assaf appeared in all three of Lebanon's matches and scored twice in a 12–1 victory over Kuwait.[2][11]

In futsal, Assaf represented Lebanon at the 2008 WAFF Women's Futsal Championship, scoring once.[12]

Career statistics

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International

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Scores and results list Lebanon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Assaf goal.[11]
List of international goals scored by Nadia Assaf
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 7 September 2007 Amman, Jordan  Syria 7–0 2007 WAFF Women's Championship
2
3 4 October 2011 Zayed Bin Sultan Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  Iran 1–1 1–8 2011 WAFF Women's Championship
4 9 June 2013 Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan  Kuwait 2–0 12–1 2014 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualification [2]
5 8–0

Honours

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Lebanon

Individual

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Nadia Assaf". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "AFC Women's Asian Cup 2014". AFC. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Football Girls of Beirut". Haytham (in French). Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  4. ↑ "Nadia Assaf". Discover Football. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Premières au Proche-Orient, les Libanaises s'emparent du ballon rond". TV5MONDE (in French). 29 January 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Haddad, Makram (15 October 2011). "Nadia Assaf : « Notre objectif est de fournir à l'équipe nationale libanaise féminine des joueuses professionnelles »". L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  7. ↑ "الصداقة يحتكر البطولات ويحرز الـ«دوبليه» الثانية". Al Akhbar (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  8. 1 2 Ilcinkas, Anne (3 January 2012). "Au Liban, une académie de football 100 % filles !". L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  9. 1 2 "أكاديمية لتدريب كرة القدم النسوية بلبنان" [An academy for women's football training in Lebanon]. Al Jazeera (in Arabic). 24 March 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  10. ↑ "Rabia's Free Kick". Heinrich Böll Foundation. 23 December 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 "Nadia Assaf". FA Lebanon. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  12. ↑ "WOMEN FOOTSALE AU LIBAN". Abdo Gedeon (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
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