Jordan plays Malaysia in Asian Cup opener

AMMAN — Jordan plays Malaysia on Monday evening in their first match at the  2023 AFC Asian Cup, the 18th edition of the tournament which kicked off in Doha, Qatar on January 12. 

Playing in Group E, Jordan faces South Korea on January 20 and Bahrain on January 25 with the top two teams from the group moving to the next round.

It will be the Kingdom’s fifth time as the Asian Cup since  1972, with the highlight  in 2004, when Jordan lost to Japan in the quarterfinals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th. They also reached the quarterfinals in 2011. Jordan qualified in 2015 and 2019 and for the current edition which was delayed from 2023 to January 2024 taking into account the weather in the Arab Gulf.

Japan holds the record as four times champions of the Asian Cup organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Among Arab countries, Saudi Arabia won three times while, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq won once each. Iran won three times, South Korea twice and Australia and Israel once. The latter was later expelled from the AFC in 1974 and joined UEFA.

The Asian Cup has brought together 24 teams playing in 6 Groups with Qatar the defending champs. The champions will receive $5 million, the runners-up $3 million, and the losing semifinalists $1 million. All 24 participating teams will also receive $200,000.

Group A: Qatar, China, Tajikistan, Lebanon 

Group B: Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria, India

Group C: Iran, UAE, Hong Kong, Palestine

Group D: Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, Vietnam

Group E: Jordan, Malaysia,  South Korea, Bahrain

Group F: Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Oman

Jordan heads into the tournament with 

Moroccan coach Hussein Amouta who took over the job in summer, having the hard task of advancing the team through Asian and later World Cup qualifiers, while trying to revamp the lineup in an effort to prepare a competitive squad for the future. However, their latest results have raised concerns, after the squad lost 6 matches and only scored one win. 

The team just concluded a training camp in Doha scoring their first win 2-1 over Qatar before going down 6-1 to Japan. Earlier, the lost 2-1 to Lebanon in extra time, 6-0 to Norway, 2-1 to Azerbaijan, 3-1 to Iran and tied Iraq 2-2 before losing on penalties.

Jordan also played Group G qualifiers  for the 23rd World Cup 2026, and had an unimpressive start tying Tajikistan 1-1 before losing 2-0 to Saudi Arabia. They are now 3rd in the group after Saudi beat Pakistan 4-0 while Tajikistan beat Pakistan 6-1. A total of 36 Asian teams are playing in 9 groups, and the top two teams from each group will advance to Round 3. The Kingdom’s third qualifier against Pakistan is set for March 26. The qualifiers also advance teams to the 2027 Asian Cup.

Amouta is hopeful for an advanced spot in the upcoming Asian Cup, as well as qualifying to the 2026 World Cup, with Asia allotted 8 slots in the next edition in additional to a zonal qualifier after expanding the number to include 48 nations.

In World Cup qualifying, Jordan was on the verge of qualifying to the 2014 World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then FIFA 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie before exiting the qualifiers. Jordan had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since first taking part in qualifiers. Round 3 had been the furthest they reached in the  past seven times since the 1986 qualifiers. 

In an effort to bolster team cohesion, U23 team coach Abdullah Abu Zam’eh, who has trained many of the players on the national squad, was last week enlisted as assistant to Amouta for the Asian Cup, thus adding to  challenges in regrouping and training the U-23 team, after he successfully guided them through the qualifiers as Jordan advanced to the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup set for April 2024, which qualifies the top three teams to the Olympics while the fourth will play a playoff to advance.  The Kingdom was drawn in a tough Group A alongside hosts Qatar, Australia and Indonesia.

During their past participation at the U-23 Asian Cup (previously the Asian Championship), Jordan finished 3rd in 2013, reached the quarterfinals in 2016 and 2020 and were knocked out of the first round in 2018 and 2022.