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AMMAN – Jordan plays reigning champs Japan at 2:30 pm on Friday as the quarterfinals of the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup kick off in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom’s team hopes to go beyond the quarters and reach the semis for a second time: In the past 6 times at the competition, Jordan’s best performance came in the inaugural 2013 edition, finishing 3rd after eliminating South Korea on penalties. They reached the quarters in 2016 and 2020 and exited the first round in 2018 and 2022 and 2024.
This time, Jordan started the competition with a 2-0 defeat to Vietnam, before recalling Ali Azaizeh who was on club duty in Kuwait. The player was instrumental in their 3-2 victory against hosts Saudi Arabia before beating Kyrgyzstan 1-0. However, qualification came in in dramatic fashion, as Jordan’s quarterfinal spot was booked only after Vietnam beat Saudi 1-0 in the other match.
Now, Jordan is hoping they can get past Japan, whom they tied 1-1 as well as Uzbekistan 0-0 in their training camp ahead of the U23 event.
Other quarterfinal matches will see Vietnam vs UAE Friday, while Uzbekistan play China and Australia play South Korea Saturday.
Past champions are Iraq 2013, Japan 2016, Uzbekistan 2018, South Korea 2020, Saudi Arabia 2022 and Japan 2024.
In their quest to qualify to the 7th edition of the U23 Asian Cup, Jordan clinched the sole berth from Group A after beating Turkmenistan 2-1, Bhutan 11-0 and Chinese Taipei 6-0 to
Fans and officials are optimistic that the squad, led by senior team coach Jamal Sellami’s assistant Moroccan Omar Najhi, will provide a good base for Jordan’s future lineup as it already includes players who joined the recently concluded Arab Cup, where Jordan finished runner-up headed by Odeh Fakhouri, Ali Hajbi. Ibrahim Sabra and Ali Azaizeh.
Last year, Jordan lost to Oman in the final of the 6th U23 West Asia Championship in their fifth time at the competition which they won in 2021.
Age group divisions saw fluctuating performances in 2025: Jordan’s U17 men’s squad lost its qualifying chance to the U17 AFC Asian Cup set for May 2026 from which the top eight finishers from the Asian Cup will represent Asia at the 2026 Qatar FIFA U17 World Cup.
Since first participating in 1985, Jordan has qualified to the U17 Asian Cup three times: 1990, 2010, and 2018. The Kingdom exited the semifinals of the U17 West Asia Championship after they were crowned champs in 2022.
In the women’s game, Jordan will play the 2026 AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup in a tough Group B which includes reigning champs North Korea, two time winners South Korea and Uzbekistan. Jordan advanced as best runner-up alongside Bangladesh and Chinese Taipei, joining group winners South Korea, Vietnam, Australia, India, China, Japan, Uzbekistan, South Korea in addition to hosts Thailand. It will be Jordan’s second time after they reached the Asian Cup in 2006 where they exited Round 1. Japan are six time champs, North Korea and South Korea twice and China once. North Korea are 2024 reigning champs.
The U20 achievement made up for the senior team’s failure in Group A qualifiers for the 2026 Women’s AFC Asian Cup which Jordan reached twice before: in 2014 as group winner, and in 2018, as host.
In 2025, the women’s U17 team exited qualifiers for the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2026. Qualifiers to 10th edition of the finals,will be joined by the four AFC squads from the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2025 who have automatically qualified: North Korea, Japan, South Korea and China.
