Jordan to play at 2018 women’s Asian football qualifiers

AMMAN — The draw for qualifiers the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Football Championship was held on Saturday with 21 teams divided into four groups and vying for four slots to the final.

Jordan was drawn in Group A along the Philippines, Bahrain, Iraq, the UAE and Tajikistan. 

Other groups are:

Group B: South Korea, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, India and North Korea.

Group C: Thailand, Taiwan, Lebanon, Palestine and Guam.

Group D: Vietnam, Myanmar, Iran, Syria and Singapore.

“The Jordan Football Association hosted a fantastic FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup last year and I would like to congratulate them again for this wonderful achievement” AFC President Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said on the AFC website before the draw.

“I have no doubt that the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in the country next year will be every bit as professionally and passionately delivered. It is an occasion I and the whole continent looks forward to.”

The top team from each group will move to the championship which includes Japan, Australia, China and hosts Jordan who have automatically qualified. Jordan asked to participate in the qualifiers. If Jordan tops its group, the runner-up will also advance.

The women’s team, now 52nd in the latest FIFA rankings, is eagerly anticipating qualifiers for the 2018 AFC Women’s Championship starting in April after the U-17 team participated in the Kingdom’s inaugural appearance in FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2016 where they were eliminated from the first round after playing Spain, Mexico and New Zealand.  

The last time the senior team competed regionally was in 2015, when they exited the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a winless record. They are now 11th in Asia behind leaders Australia, Japan, and North Korea.

The 2018 AFC Women’s Championship will include the continents top eight teams. The event, held every four years, has been won by China a total of eight of 15 times. Japan are reigning champs.

It will be the first time a west Asia zone country hosts the AFC Women’s Championship. That comes after Jordan successfully hosted the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2016 — a big boost not only for the Kingdom but women’s sports in the region. The event, was the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East, as Jordan beat bids from Uruguay, South Africa, Ireland and Bahrain. Jordan was the only Arab team at the U-17 World Cup after Egypt and Morocco were eliminated from the qualifiers. 

Jordan’s women’s football teams have been competing in all age divisions in the Asian zone. In 2007, the Kingdom qualified to the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship as the only Arab team but in 2014 and 2016 the team was eliminated from the qualifiers.