Jordan’s journey from Asian Cup qualification and its road to the final
Jordan is set to face Qatar in the AFC Asian Cup final after a remarkable campaign so far with many highs and lows. Here’s how the underdog side made it to its its first ever final in a major international tournament.
Having not won a single game in 2023, Jordan was not in the finest of forms and was inches away from heading home after the group stage, however it barely scarped through to the knockouts.
Qualification Rounds
Jordan was given a direct enrty to the round of the qualification process where it was in the group B. Having finished third, it attained qualification to third round of qualification.
A total of 24 teams participated in the 3rd round of qualification where Jordan was grouped with Indonesia, Kuwait and Nepal. Being the top of its group, Jordan successfully made it to the AFC Asain Cup 2024.
Group stage
Jordan was in Group E along with Bahrain, Malaysia and Korea Republic. The Arab side started the tournament on the string foot after a commanding 4-0 win over Malaysia however it had to settle for an impressive draw against Heavyweight Korea Republic lead by Son Heung-min.
Jordan’s worst defeat of the tournament came in its 3rd match of the group stage when it tasted defeat against Bahrain with a solitary goal by Abdulla Yusuf Helal seperating the two sides.
Despite only finishing third in its group, Jordan made it to the knockout rounds being one of the four best third-placed teams of the tournament.
Knockout Stages
Jordan featured in one of the most exciting matches of the Asian Cup this year in its round of 16 and fortunately, it got the larger end of the stick.
In its game vs Iraq, Jordan opened the scoring in first half added time but Iraq pulled ahead with two goals in the space of eight minutes through Suad Natiq and Aymen Hussein in the second 45.
From the 77th minute, Iraq had to play one man down since Hussein was sent off after accumulating two yellow cards.
Jordan used this advantage and scored two crucial stoppage time goals in the 90+5 and 90+7 minutes, completing its remarkable comeback into the quarterfinals.
Jordan had previously been knocked out of twice in the quarterfinal stage, but this time the tide was with it as an own goal by Tajikistan’s Vahdat Hanonov in the 66th minute gifted Jordan a spot in the semifinals.
Jordan was already the second favourite in the semifinal tie, since it was the Arab country’s first time and Korea being its opponents made the challenge even harder.
South Korea’s forward #09 Cho Gue-sung fights for the ball with Jordan’s defender #03 Abdallah Nasib during the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup semi-final football match between Jordan and South Korea at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, west of Doha on February 6, 2024. | Photo Credit: HECTOR RETAMAL
Korea had drawn against Jordan in the group stage, but the latter caused the biggest upset of the tournament after a commanding 2-0 win over Korea which is No. 23 in world rankings.
Korea, which was the favourite to win the Asian Cup, failed to register a single shot on target against this revolutionary Jordan side led by Moroccan coach, Hussein Ammouta.
Jordan was on the verge of being knocked out early on but the dark horse has come from the depths and established itself as a well-deserved finalist of the AFC Asian Cup.
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