Shabab Urdun, Faisali advance to JFA Shield final

AMMAN — Shabab Urdun and Faisali have advanced to play for the title of the Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield which is set for Friday as the second event on the 2016/17 football calendar.

Over the weekend, Shabab Urdun beat Sahab 1-0 while Faisali eliminated Wihdat by the same score to advance to the final where the winner will receive JD15,000 and the runner-up JD10,000.

In Round 1, Shabab Urdun led Group B followed by Wihdat while Faisali led Group A followed by Sahab. Super Cup champs Ahli, as well as Ramtha, Jazira and Baqa’a all had a shot at advancing to the knockout Round 2, but were eliminated while Manshieh and That Ras were knocked out earlier.

Last season’s top overall team, Ahli, won the first event of the 2016/17 football season when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup. The Professional League will kick off on October 22 while the Jordan Cup preliminary round will kick-off October 31 after the conclusion of the U-17 Women’s World Cup. 

Last season, Wihdat won their third consecutive and 15th league title since they moved up to the professional league in 1975. Faisali beat league and Super Cup titleholders Wihdat 1-0 to clinch the Super Cup while it was Ahli, who after years in the backstage, beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final. 

The JFA Shield was not played for the past four seasons. Wihdat are a record eight-time winners, Faisali seven, Ramtha five, Hussein three, Jazira and Amman twice each, and Shabab Urdun, Kufrsoum and Yarmouk once each. Hussein were finalists seven times. Amman, have since scrapped football while Qadissieh were relegated and have since merged with Shabab Urdun.