U-20 squad plays Northern Mariana Islands in Asian qualifier

AMMAN — Jordan plays the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday in their second match in Group D qualifiers for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-20 Asian Cup which will be held in Uzbekistan in 2023.

Jordan beat Turkmenistan 3-1 in its opening match of group qualifiers currently under way in Amman. They will play next play Syria on September 16 and Chinese Taipei on September 18 as 44 nations are competing in 10 groups with the top team in each group and five second place teams moving to the finals in 2023.

In other Group D matches, Syria beat Northern Mariana Islands 10-0 and Chinese Taipei 1-0 to take the group lead. Turkmenistan beat Northern Mariana Islands 7-0.

Group A qualifiers for the U-17 Asian Cup will also be held in Amman next month. Jordan will play alongside Japan, Syria, Philippines, and Turkmenistan as 44 nations contest qualifiers in 10 groups with the top team in each group and five second place teams moving to the finals in Bahrain in 2023.

This year, the senior football squad secured qualification to the 2023 Asian Cup after an early exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Jordan has now reached the Asian Cup five times since first taking part in qualifiers in 1972. They also reached the Asian Cup in 2011, 2015 and 2019.

Jordan’s U-23 squad was eliminated from Round 1 at the 5th AFC U-23 Championship. In 2014, they finished third; in 2016, reached the quarterfinals; in 2018, they were knocked out of Round 1; and reached the quarterfinals in 2020.