Jordan loses to Kyrgyzstan; Australia takes group lead

By JT - Nov 17,2015 - Last updated at Nov 17,2015

Tim Cahill of Australia celebrates with Mile Jedinak after scoring the 1st goal against Bangladesh during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification match between Bangladesh and Australia on Tuesday in Dhaka (Photo courtesy of fifa.com)

AMMAN – Jordan lost its return game with Kyrgyzstan in Group B of the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifiers.

A goal in the 48th minute by Anton Zemlianuhin was enough to give Kyrgyzstan a win over Jordan and its third win in the group.

The 1-0 defeat to the Central Asian and with Australia easing to 4-0 win over Bangladesh, Jordan is now second on the table with 13 points, followed by Kyrgystan with 11 points.

Australia, the 2014 AFC Asian Cup holders, lead the table with 15 points. Jordan and Australia still have two games each. Kyrgyzstan played a game more than Jordan and Australia.

Jordan will play Bangladesh at home on March 24 and Australia in an away match on March 29.

The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.

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