Football teams vie for Jordan Cup

AMMAN  — The fourth event on this year's football calendar, the Jordan Cup, is already under way with Second and Third Division teams playing to advance winners who will join First Division and Professional League (Pro League) teams as of Friday.

Last season, the Jordan Cup was scrapped from the agenda for the first time since the competition kicked off in 1980. This year, the season started with a newcomer to the Pro League, relatively unknown Jalil, overcoming Wihdat to win the 34th Jordan Football Association Shield — the first of the season competitions. 

Wihdat came back to win their 14th Super Cup when they beat one time winners Jazira in 38th Jordan Super Cup, the second title up for grabs in the 2021 football season.

The league has just kicked off Leg 2 and the Jordan Cup will be played concurrently.

Since the Cup started in 1980, there have been 39 past editions with Faisali a record 20 time champions. Wihdat won 10 times, Jazira, Ramtha and Shabab Urdun twice each, while Arabi, That Ras and Ahli won once each.

The league has witnessed inconsistent performances, as players returned to their clubs after the national team was eliminated from 2022 World Cup qualifiers, and now has to go through another stage of qualifying to get to the 2023 Asian Cup. 

On the regional scene, Wihdat played Group D of the Asian Champions League but was knocked out in the first round. In the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup, Salt, who played their inaugural AFC Cup, advanced to the semifinals of the West Asia Zone after taking second spot in Group B while Faisali were knocked out after finishing third in Group C. The top team in each of the zone's three groups alongside the best second placed team moved on to the zonal semifinals before teams play the inter zonal knockout stages and final of the second-tier Asian club competition. The zonal semifinals will be played in September when Salt play Kuwait FC and Lebanon's Al Ahed face Bahrain's Muharraq.