Wihdat, Salt play for Shield title

AMMAN —  Salt take on Wihdat Wednesday in the final of the Jordan Football Association Shield Cup– the second major competition on the local football calendar.

Aiming to win the first of the season’s four titles, both teams have different aspirations: Salt is the only undefeated team in the Shield Cup and winning the final would give them their first major title. For Wihdat, it would be the 11th Shield title, and the first of the season as they strive to make a strong local comeback after Ramtha and Hussein won the Pro League in the past two seasons.

On their way to the final, Salt eliminated league champs Hussein 7-6 (2-2) on penalties while Wihdat ousted Sarih 4-2 in the semis. Although Wihdat have not won the Shield since 2020, observers favour them to win the match. In Group 1, Hussein beat Wihdat 3-1 in first round matches and booked their semifinal spot early on as Wihdat rebounded to win the rest of their encounters and advanced to the semis after holding Shabab Urdun 1-1. In Group 2, Sarih topped the table after they ousted Faisali 1-0 and advanced alongside Salt who beat Ramtha 2-0. 

Looking back at the history of the Shield tournament, Wihdat are a record 10 time winners, Faisali nine, Ramtha five, Hussein three, Jazira and Amman and Shabab Urdun twice, Jalil, Kufrsoum and Yarmouk once. Hussein were finalists 7 times. Amman, have since scrapped football while Qadissieh were relegated and have since merged with Shabab Urdun.

This year’s  competition gave younger players a chance to gain competitive experience as the Shield had a shortened format with lineups missing key players on national team duty for the 2026 World Cup. In the case of Hussein and Wihdat, coaches have also been overloaded with Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League Two matches as well.

The Shield had teams playing in two groups with the top two of each group moving to the semis. Group A included Wihdat, Hussein, Ma’an, Shabab Urdun, Aqaba and Jazira. Group B included, Ahli, Faisali, Ramtha, Salt, Sarih, and Mughayer Sarhan.