Jordan Cup Round of 16 kicks off

By Aline Bannayan - Sep 13,2022 - Last updated at Sep 13,2022

AMMAN — The Jordan Professional League will take a two-week break as another competition — the Jordan Cup — takes centre stage for now with the Round of 16 kicking off on Wednesday.

Week 17 of the league ended with no changes among the top four spots with Faisali and Wihdat sharing the lead followed closely by Hussein and Aqaba.

Shaba Urdun are trying to edge closer to the top while Sahab and holders Ramtha are midway. Salt are having a hard time edging closer up the standings trying to keep clear of the relegation threatened last two spots together with Jazira who were among the top five in past seasons, but are having a challenging two years of late.

The league will take a break before restarting Week 18 on September 29 as the Jordan Cup Round of 16 is played on a knockout basis until Friday, followed by a friendly tourney that will group the national teams of Syria, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.

Faisali are the Jordan Cup titleholders after they beat Salt last year. After Ma’an were knocked out, there are 11 Pro League teams, together with 4 First Division teams and one team from the Second Division left in contention for now.

In two of the 2022 competitions played so far, Faisali won the season opening 35th Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield title when they beat Ramtha who in turn upset Jordan Cup holders Faisali 2-0 to win the 39th Jordan Super Cup.

In the 2021 season, Ramtha won their third Pro League title after 39 years. Newcomers to the Pro League, relatively unknown Jalil, overcame Wihdat to win the 34th JFA Shield; Wihdat beat one-time winners Jazira in the 38th Jordan Super Cup, while Faisali beat Salt to win the Jordan Cup.

Since the league kicked off in 1944 with only Faisali, Ahli, Urdun and Homenetmen competing, Faisali are 34-time record league champs while Wihdat were champs 17 times since they joined in 1980. Although Faisali are the all-time record titleholders, Wihdat’s record is quite impressive. After four years in the Pro League, they won their first title in 1980 and have gone on to win the majority of titles since then. Ahli won eight times, Ramtha and Jazira three times, Shabab Urdun twice each, Amman and Urdun clubs once each.