Teams scramble for Jordan Cup semifinal spots

AMMAN — The Jordan Cup quarterfinals will kick off on Friday in a weekend deciding the final shape of contenders for the third of the season’s titles.

Faisali face Wihdat in the most anticipated match as Aqaba play Hussein, while on Saturday Amman FC take on Mugheer Sarhan and Jazira face Ramtha.

The Wihdat-Faisali match will be held without fans after unsportsmanlike conduct in last week’s league matches prompted the Jordan Football Association (JFA) to keep the match at Quweismeh Stadium, but without fans hoping that both clubs and officials can keep problem makers at bay, especially after some fans also heightened tension when they took to social media pages and amplified the tense atmosphere.

It is quite and unlikely grouping of contenders after surprising results ousted some leading clubs. On their way to the quarters Ramtha eliminated Salt 3-1, Faisali beat Sahab 3-0, Hussein ousted Arabi 3-1, Wihdat beat Sarhan 4-0, Aqaba beat Ittihad Ramtha 1-0 while Mugheer Sarhan, Amman FC and Jazira eliminated Sarih, Baqa’a and Shabab Urdun respectively on penalties.

Since the Cup started in 1980, there have been 39 past editions with Faisali record 21-time champions. Wihdat won 1o times, Jazira, Ramtha and Shabab Urdun twice each, while Arabi, That Ras and Ahli won once each.

In the 2021 season, Ramtha won the Jordan Pro League title for the third time in their history after playing 39 years without a league title. Faisali beat Salt to win the Jordan Cup, while relatively unknown newcomers to the Pro League, Jalil, overcame Wihdat to win the 34th JFA Shield and Wihdat beat one-time winners Jazira in the 38th Jordan Super Cup.

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

In 2020, the Jordan Cup was scrapped from the agenda for the first time.