You are here

Kingdom’s U-16 women bow out of Asian football qualifiers

By Aline Bannayan - Sep 24,2018 - Last updated at Sep 24,2018

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-16 women’s football squad ended Group A Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Women’s Championship Round 1 qualifiers in Colombo, Sri Lanka, finishing second in the group.

Jordan beat Guam 9-0 on the final day after it crashed 9-0 to China, beat Sri Lanka 7-0 and held Uzbekistan 0-0. China took the Group A lead as Jordan came in second. Arab teams at the qualifiers, including Palestine, Lebanon, the UAE and Bahrain were all eliminated.

As 29 teams in six groups ended their campaign, six group winners and the best two second placed teams moved to Round 2 set for February 2019. The qualifiers are China, Laos, Iran, Australia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Philippines. In Round 2 of the qualifiers the eight teams will be divided into two groups of four, and the group winners and runners-up will advance to the finals. North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Thailand have already qualified for the championship finals in September 2019.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s U-16 men’s team drew 2-2 with Oman on Monday in Group B 2018 AFC U-16 Championship in Malaysia. They earlier held North Korea 2-2. Jordan will next play Yemen on September 27.

Organised by the AFC, and held once every two years for Asian U-16 teams, the competition also serves as a qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the top four countries qualifying. Iraq are the reigning champs. 

The U-19 women’s squad has started a training camp in Iran in preparation for the AFC U-19 Championship Round 1 qualifiers set for October 20-28. A total of 27 teams will play in six groups with Jordan in Group E alongside Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore, who replaced the Northern Mariana Islands. 

The group winners and the top two second placed teams move to Round 2 set for April 2019 where the teams will play in two groups with the group winner and runner up advancing to the finals to join Japan, North Korea and  China.

Jordan recently topped the West Asian Football Federation three team WAFF U-18 Championship beating 4-1 Palestine and Lebanon 2-1 to head into the U-19 qualifiers with a competitive edge. 

In men’s competitions, Jordan’s U-19 team returned home from Saudi Arabia where it held a training camp drawing 2-2 and beating the host 1-0.

Coach Ahmad Abdul Qader underlined the benefit of the two matches saying it was “a great chance to assess preparedness, amend mistakes and engage all players on the line-up”.

Jordan will play in Group C at the AFC U-19 Championship alongside Australia, South Korea and Vietnam. The Championship hosted by Indonesia as of October 17, will see 16 teams playing in four groups with the eventual semifinalists playing in the FIFA U-19 World Cup.

Jordan had failed to qualify to the championships in 2014 and 2016 after earlier qualifying four times and reaching the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007. The team finished fourth in 2006, but exited the first round in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. 

Earlier this year, Jordan’s U-23 team was knocked out of the first round of the 3rd AFC U-23 Championship which acts as a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2016, Jordan reached the quarter-finals and in 2014 Jordan finished third.

In women’s competitions, 2018 saw Jordan become the first country in the West Asia Zone to host the AFC Women’s Asian Cup which is held every four years. The continent’s top eight teams played the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. In 2016, Jordan hosted the U-17 FIFA World Cup, the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East from which the top five advanced to the Women’s World Cup 2019 in France.

up
39 users have voted.


Newsletter

Get top stories and blog posts emailed to you each day.

PDF