Jordan women’s football team aims for 4th consecutive Asian win

AMMAN — The women’s national football team plays host Tajikistan on Monday in its fourth Group A qualifier for the 2018 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Football Championship.

Jordan has so far scored three consecutive wins in the qualifiers held in Tajikistan. The squad leads the group on goal difference after they beat Iraq 10-0, and the UAE and Bahrain 6-0. 

In other matches, second placed Philippines beat Tajikistan 8-0, Iraq and UAE 4-0, Bahrain which beat Tajikistan 4-0 is third, UAE is fifth after it held Bahrain 1-1, and Iraq is last after they lost 1-0 to Tajikistan.

North Korea and Uzbekistan lead Group B, Thailand qualified from Group C while Vietnam and Myanmar top Group D.

Technically, Jordan has already secured a slot as host of the 2018 AFC Women’s Football Championship, but seeks to benefit from the qualifiers, where 21 teams are playing in four groups for the top four slots with Asia’s top 8 teams competing for the title.  Reigning champs Japan, Australia, China and host Jordan have automatically qualified. If Jordan tops its group, the runner-up will also advance.

In 2016, Jordan hosted the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East. Now, the Kingdom will be the first country in Western Asia to host the AFC Women’s Football Championship, which is held every 4 years, and has been won by China a total of 8 out of 15 times. 

Following 18 inactive months, Jordan’s women team recently lost its FIFA ranking, after it was world’s 52nd and 11th in Asia. 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.