Jordan comes head-to-head with South Korea in World Cup qualifiers

AMMAN — Jordan faces South Korea in an away match at 2:00 pm Amman time on Tuesday in Round 3/Group B qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup hoping to consolidate their qualifying chances after they beat Palestine 3-1 on the weekend to move up to second in the group.

Also Tuesday, Palestine plays Iraq in Amman while Kuwait plays Oman in matches that will somewhat determine the group qualifiers. Eighteen Asian nations playing in three groups in home and away format, now enter the final stretch of qualifying with the top two from each group advancing directly to the World Cup while the rest will play Round 4 in two groups with group leaders advancing , and a possible ninth team advancing through intercontinental playoffs.

After reaching the Asian Cup final last year, expectations are high Jordan can make it to the World Cup finals for the first time after FIFA expanded the format to include 16 more teams in the upcoming 2026 edition.

Jordan’s win against Palestine on goals by Yazan Al Arab, Abdullah Nasib and Mousa Ta’mari boosted the squad’s qualifying chances ahead of the Korea match as Yonhap News Agency reported “undermanned Korea has gone from feeling hopeful it could grab an early World Cup berth to standing on the precipice of losing the top spot in the qualification group”.

So far, Jordan held Iraq 0-0 and Kuwait 1-1 after earlier held Kuwait 1-1, beat Palestine 3-1, lost 2-0 to South Korea and beat Oman 4-0. Jordan will play Oman and Iraq in the concluding qualifiers in June.

In other matches, Iraq managed to equalise against Kuwait in the final minute as Oman held South Korea 1-1 on Thursday. Iraq will next play Palestine whichdrew 1-1 with South Korea as Iraq beat Oman 1-0 earlier.

World No. 23, South Korea now leads the group with 15 points but 64th-ranked Jordan is only three points behind after beating Palestine. Therefore, if Jordan beats South Korea on Tuesday, it will climb top of Group B. Iraq is in third place, also with 12 points, butwith a +2 goal differential, and it could threaten South Korea for second place too.

In the first leg it was Jordan which had a depleted lineup with star striker Ta’mari sidelined against South Korea , whileYazan Nu’eimat joined the second half as Jordan lost 2-0. 

Now, the Korean team will be without several injured players. The squad will miss Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Lee Kang-in, who had replaced Birmingham City midfielder Paik Seung-ho late in the first half after Paik, starting in place of banged-up Feyenoord midfielder Hwang In-beom, sustained a hamstring injury.

Their lineup was already without Bayern Munich centre back Kim Min-jae, due to left Achilles tendinitis. Jung Seung-hyun of Al-Wasl, a candidate to take Kim's place, also sat out against Oman due to a calf injury.On the weekend, head coach Hong Myung-bo dropped Lee, Paik and Jung from the squad. 

Looking back, had South Korea defeated Oman, a win over Jordan would have put South Korea in the 2026 World Cup with two matches left. However, after the draw -- Hong called it the team's "worst performance" so far in the third round -- South Korea must beat Jordan just to stay atop the Group B tables.

On the other hand, throughout earlier rounds, Jordan’s Moroccan coach Jamal Sellami has had to contend with constant injuries to top strikers like Ta’mari and Nue’imat, and now Ali Alwan will miss the upcomingtwo qualifiers. As he announced the lineup last weekend, the coach was eyeing players abroad like Yousef Saleh who plays for England’s Cardiff City and Ahmad Bani Mustafa who plays in Romanian’s league’s Otelul Galati. However, both players will not be part of the upcoming two matches as the lineup also included absentees Noor Bani Atiya, Saad Rousan, Rizeq Bani Hani and U-23 team star goalie Antwan Awad.

Sellami has recalled players including Hussein Irbid’s Adham Qureishi, and Wisam Riyalat, Salt’s Mohammad Amwasi as well as Mohammad Assaf who plays for Germany’s Bremer SV and Mohammad Nasser who plays in Denmark’s for HB Koje.