Sports

ABU DHABI — Gareth Bale scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Japan's Kashima Antlers 3-1 on Wednesday to book a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup Final.

European champions Real will play host side Al Ain FC in the final on Saturday, as they bid to win the title for the third year in a row. 

Japan's Kashima almost made a dream start inside two minutes with a close-range shot from Serginho that was saved by Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

Bale opened the scoring in the 44th minute with a left-foot strike into the bottom corner of the net after playing a one-two with Marcelo.

Bale struck his second in the 53rd minute, taking advantage of a defensive mix-up that left the Kashima goal wide open, and the Wales forward made it 3-0 to the Spanish side two minutes later with a left-foot shot into the top corner.

Asian champions Kashima grabbed a late consolation through Shoma Doi.

A day earlier, host side Al Ain stunned South American champions River Plate 5-4 in a penalty shootout after coming back from a goal down to draw 2-2 in a thrilling club world cup semifinal.

Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa was the hero in the shootout, saving substitute Enzo Perez's penalty to book his side's spot in the tournament's final on Saturday

"I'm very happy. I'm very proud. What happened tonight is incredible," Al Ain coach Zoran Mamic told reporters. "We showed that in football everything is possible," he added after his side became the first from the United Arab Emirates to reach the final. 

"There are no excuses," said River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo, whose side also hit the crossbar from the penalty spot in the 69th minute. 

"We didn't play the match with the right determination."

River Plate, drawn straight into the semifinal, were expected to cruise through against a team that had to win a play-off and a quarter-final to earn their last-four spot.

Al Ain, who qualified as the host nation's champions, got off to a dream start as Swedish forward Marcus Berg headed a corner between the goalkeeper's legs in the third minute. 

River Plate's Santos Borre equalised in the 11th minute from close range before doubling his account and putting the Argentine side 2-1 ahead in the 16th minute.

River Plate travelled to the UAE after winning the Copa Libertadores final against fellow Argentine rivals Boca Juniors, the second leg of which was moved to Madrid following fan violence in Buenos Aires.

James Harden carried the load down the stretch once again as the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to four games with a 102-97 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Monday.

Harden scored a game-high 47 points and contributed six rebounds, five assists and five steals as Houston (15-14) climbed above .500 for the first time since November 23.

After Utah pulled even at 94-94 on a Rudy Gobert tip-in with 1:59 remaining, Harden sank a 3-pointer when Ricky Rubio and Royce O’Neale dropped under a screen set by Chris Paul. After Harden added two free throws, Utah cut the deficit to 99-97 on three Donovan Mitchell free throws with 35 seconds to go.

With 13.3 seconds left, Harden then buried another 3-pointer with Rubio defending, producing the final margin.

Mitchell scored 19 of his team-high 23 points in the second half. Gobert (18 points, 13 rebounds) and Jae Crowder (14 points, 10 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for Utah, the loser in four of their past five games. Rubio added 12 points but also committed seven turnovers.

P.J. Tucker scored 16 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting for the Rockets. Paul chipped in 11 points, nine assists and four steals.

Utah mounted a stunning rally to open the third quarter, burying a flurry of 3-pointers while composing a 26-9 rally to the lead. Mitchell, held to just four points in the first half, scored a dozen in the third quarter to spark the Jazz.

Harden chimed in with back-to-back three-point plays before drilling a 3-pointer that extended Houston’s lead to 66-60. He added a vicious dunk over Gobert that sent the crowd into a frenzy, his second such dunk over an opposing big in three games.

In the fourth quarter, Harden kept it going. He wound up 14 of 31 from the floor and 15 of 16 from the foul line, though he hit just 4 of 12 3-point tries. Harden also committed five turnovers.

Bucks 107, Pistons 104

Giannis Antetokounmpo powered for 32 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, and Milwaukee overcame a triple-double from Blake Griffin to win at Detroit.

Khris Middleton had 22 points and six assists, and Eric Bledsoe contributed 17 points and nine assists for the Bucks, who won for the fourth time in five games.

Griffin had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, but also committed 10 turnovers. Detroit’s Reggie Bullock supplied 24 points and Stanley Johnson contributed 20 points and six rebounds off the bench. Andre Drummond chipped in 10 points with 14 rebounds for the Pistons, who had won their previous contest to snap a six-game skid.

Suns 128, Knicks 110

T.J. Warren scored 17 of his 26 points in a dominating third quarter, and Phoenix opened a season-high, five-game road trip by routing New York.

Devin Booker led the Suns with 38 points in his second game back from a hamstring injury, but it was Warren who helped the Suns turn things around after halftime.

DeAndre Ayton had a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Josh Jackson (14 points) and Richaun Holmes (13) also finished in double figures for Phoenix. Emmanuel Mudiay led the Knicks with 32 points.

Timberwolves 

132, Kings 105

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and eight other Minnesota players produced double-figure point totals as the Timberwolves soundly defeated Sacramento in Minneapolis.

Andrew Wiggins led the Timberwolves with 17 points, and Derrick Rose, starting for the injured Jeff Teague, had 13 points and 11 assists.

Minnesota led by as much as 36 in the first half and then had to weather a Sacramento comeback attempt in the third period. Buddy Hield paced the Kings with 21 points.

Thunder 121, Bulls 96

Paul George scored 24 points to lead Oklahoma City to a win over visiting Chicago.

George scored 16 points in the final 4:47 of the second quarter as the Thunder closed the quarter on a 23-7 run to seize control of the game. It looked as if Oklahoma City had done that earlier, when a 21-3 run in the first quarter brought the Thunder from down five to up 13 before Chicago fought their way back in.

Russell Westbrook had 13 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists for his 111th career triple-double as the Thunder won for the second consecutive game. Lauri Markkanen had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Bulls, and Bobby Portis also scored 16 points.

Spurs 123, 76ers 96

Rudy Gay scored 21 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 points and 10 rebounds as host San Antonio routed Philadelphia to win for the fifth time in six games.

The Spurs led by 11 at halftime but broke open the game in the middle of the third quarter via a 15-0 run that expanded their advantage to 79-53. Gay had 11 points in a period that allowed San Antonio to build as much as a 29-point lead and take a 93-71 cushion into the final 12 minutes.

DeMar DeRozan also scored 20 points for the Spurs. JJ Redick and Ben Simmons led Philadelphia with 16 points each, and Joel Embiid added 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Warriors 110, 

Grizzlies 93

Andre Iguodala returned from a three-game absence to hit two second-quarter 3-pointers, helping Golden State pull away from Memphis in Oakland, California.

Kevin Durant had 23 points, Stephen Curry 20 and Klay Thompson and Jonas Jerebko 16 apiece for the Warriors, who won for the sixth time in their past seven games.

Omri Casspi, a member of Golden State’s championship team last season, had a team-high 20 points for the Grizzlies, who found out shortly before game time that star point guard Mike Conley would be unavailable due to a sore hamstring.

Trail Blazers 131, Clippers 127

Damian Lillard scored 22 of his 39 points in the third quarter, and backcourt mate CJ McCollum added 27 points as Portland held on to win at Los Angeles.

Jusuf Nurkic contributed 20 points and seven assists for the Trail Blazers, who followed a victory over the NBA’s top team, the Toronto Raptors, on Friday with the win over the high-scoring Clippers.

Tobias Harris scored a career-high 39 points including 11 free throws for the Clippers, who lost for just the fourth time in 13 home games this season. However, Los Angeles has lost four consecutive games overall.

LIVERPOOL — Manchester United had not lost to Liverpool in the Premier League for eight games and over four years prior to Sunday’s 3-1 defeat, but the current chasm between the two sides was exposed as Jose Mourinho’s men fell 19 points behind the league leaders at Anfield.

Match-going United fans have been reluctant to turn on Mourinho, instead often pointing fingers at executive vice chairman Ed Woodward’s reluctance to back the manager in the transfer market this summer or the club’s American owners, the Glazer family.

However, by the end of proceedings on Sunday, as two deflected Xherdan Shaqiri strikes in the final 17 minutes sealed a thoroughly deserved victory for the hosts, it was Liverpool fans who sarcastically sang “don’t sack Mourinho”.

The Portuguese coach said he accepted responsibility for a fifth defeat of the season that leaves the 20-time champions of England 11 points adrift of even a top-four finish.

But he also pointed the finger at what he described as “permanently injured” players and claimed both sides played “in relation to their qualities”.

That does not say much for Mourinho’s management as despite Liverpool spending more than any other Premier League club this summer to mount a title challenge, United’s transfer spend under Mourinho in recent years still dwarfs that of any side other than champions Manchester City.

“Not one of the United midfielders can pass a football,” said former United captain Gary Neville on Sky Sports.

“Not one of them. I find it staggering. United were awful.”

Wasted millions

The wasted millions that have led United to this position were laid bare at Anfield as Paul Pogba, who cost a then world-record £89 million in 2016, was left on the bench for the full 90 minutes.

Another near £100 million of attacking talent in Juan Mata and Anthony Martial also started on the sidelines, while £50 million close-season signing Fred did not even make an injury-hit matchday squad.

“If you came down from the moon today and knew nothing about football you’d say United are an average Premier League side,” said another former United captain Roy Keane in a withering assessment of the Red Devils’ predicament.

“They are Manchester United of the 1980s, they can be a decent cup team.”

Liverpool dominated United, England and most of Europe in the 80s, but have not won a league title since 1990.

An end to nearly three decades of hurt could be in sight, though, as victory took Jurgen Klopp’s men back to the top of the table, a point clear of City.

As Klopp bounded onto the field to hug his players and rouse the home fans in one final celebration after the final whistle, the German epitomised the differing mood at the two clubs personified by their managers.

Mourinho had successfully parked the bus to come away from Anfield with 0-0 draws in each of the two previous seasons.

Yet, this United side are not even capable of mastering that gameplan anymore with a defence that has conceded 29 goals in 17 Premier League games.

United must now watch their two fiercest rivals battle it out for the title, while already a top-four finish looks like a tall order for Mourinho’s men.

Ultimately, it was failure to qualify for the Champions League that cost Mourinho’s predecessors Louis van Gaal and David Moyes their jobs.

The same fate is likely to meet Mourinho, despite extending his contract to 2020 earlier this year.

“Will Mourinho leave? I think it will happen,” added Neville, who reserved much of the blame for Woodward and the board.

“Nobody above him can handle him. They don’t know what to do with him, they don’t know what to say to him. They don’t know what he’s going to say at every press conference.

“It will cost a fortune to lose him now.”

LIVERPOOL, England —  Two second-half goals from substitute Xherdan Shaqiri gave Liverpool a 3-1 Premier League win over Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday, as Juergen Klopp's side regained top spot with a pulsating performance in the North West derby.

Unbeaten Liverpool have 45 points from 17 games with champions Manchester City, who beat Everton 3-1 on Saturday, a point behind. 

United are 19 points adrift of Liverpool in sixth place — the biggest gap between the clubs at this stage of this season for 46 years — and a daunting 11 points behind the top four.

Jose Mourinho's side's 26 points is their lowest return after 17 games in the Premier League era and the defeat, which could have been even more emphatic, is sure to re-open questions about the manager's future.

Mourinho left French World Cup-winning midfielder Paul Pogba on the bench as he opted for a defence-orientated line-up, but his attempt to get a third straight draw at Anfield ended in failure.

Klopp's side were faster, smarter and more incisive than a United team again lacking any cutting edge and looking mediocre against opponents who look equipped to fight Manchester City all the way for the title.

Liverpool roared out of the traps and took the game to United, grabbing the lead in the 24th minute when Sadio Mane chested down a pass from Fabinho and slotted past David De Gea.

Against the run of play, United drew level in the 33rd minute when Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker spilled a harmless low cross from Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard pounced on the loose ball to find the net.

The hosts continued to dominate but too often were restricted to long-range efforts, and it was not until the introduction of Swiss international Shaqiri that the game turned decisively in their favour.

Mane's pull back from the byline took two deflections as it ricocheted to Shaqiri on the edge of the area and his shot flew off Ashley Young and into the top corner to make it 2-1 in the 73rd minute.

Seven minutes later fortune was on Shaqiri's side again as another deflected shot, this time off Eric Bailly, beat the helpless De Gea.

LONDON — Even Manchester United’s reliable last line of defence David de Gea has struggled for form this season, but the Spanish keeper will need to be at his best in Sunday’s clash with bitter rivals Liverpool at Anfield.

Last season’s Premier League Golden Glove winner has not looked himself since some uncharacteristic mistakes undermined Spain’s World Cup campaign and they went out in the last 16.

De Gea’s struggles have continued into this season as United sit sixth in the Premier League, 16 points behind the leaders. He had conceded 26 goals in 16 games whereas last season he let in only 28 in 37 appearances.

The 28-year-old may not, therefore, be relishing Sunday’s showdown with Liverpool’s back-in-form forward Mohamed Salah, who scored a hat-trick last week in a 4-0 win at Bournemouth that sent Juergen Klopp’s side to the top of the table and struck the vital winner against Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday.

He has not been helped by manager Jose Mourinho chopping and changing his defence, but De Gea looks low on confidence and not the same formidable barrier that had him linked with moves to Real Madrid, Juventus or Paris St Germain.

With his contract due to be up next year De Gea might have been distracted by thoughts of a move, although United have now activated a one-year extension meaning an escape from Old Trafford may now depend on someone being willing to pay big money.

His form at the moment means his stock has slipped although if he can keep out Liverpool’s free-scoring triumvirate of Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane on Sunday then he will at least put his price back up.

His opposite number at Liverpool Alisson has made a flying start to his Premier League career, keeping 10 clean sheets.

Former Liverpool and United midfielder Paul Ince is torn on who would take the number one jersey in a combined team.

“If you look at reputation you’d say David de Gea but De Gea has made a few mistakes this season, and if you’re looking at what’s happening this year then Alisson would start,” Ince told the Mirror newspaper this week.

United, beaten 2-1 by Valencia in the Champions League in midweek, have drawn 0-0 on their two most recent trips to Anfield, and according to their former midfielder Darren Fletcher would be well-advised to adopt another safety-first approach.

“Manchester United are not drilled enough, they don’t have enough patterns so to go and do that, to play Liverpool in an open game, would be suicidal,” he told the BBC.

Liverpool, bidding for a first league title since 1990, will go into the match extra motivated should Pep Guardiola’s City reclaim top spot on Saturday by beating Everton at home in the day’s early kickoff.

Third-placed Tottenham Hotspur will also be breathing down the Merseysiders’ necks should they overcome Burnley at Wembley.

Fourth-placed Chelsea, who inflicted City’s first league defeat of the season last week, go to Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday when Arsenal play along the coast at Southampton.

Liverpool may be top of the Premier League but Mourinho said that it is trophies in the cabinet that count ahead of the sides’ showdown at Anfield. 

Klopp’s side remain the only unbeaten team in the league this season, but the German has ,yet, to clinch an honour in his three years on Merseyside. 

United languish 16 points behind their rivals in sixth place, but Mourinho led the Old Trafford outfit to Europa League and League Cup victories in his first season in Manchester in 2017. 

“I think trophies matter, it matters, especially when you have the potential to fight for trophies and especially when you clearly say the objective is to win the trophy,” the Portuguese told a news conference on Friday.

“I think Juergen told already they want to win the Premier League, is their objective,” he added.

AMMAN — Jordan has shown tremendous progress in weightlifting after returning from the Arab Championships in Egypt with 13 medals, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Khalid Al Abbudi picked up a silver medal while he was also one of five Jordan lifters to share 12 bronze medals, the others being Raed Al Salaj, Waleed Lafi, Omar Al Zuibi and Zaid Jabri.

DOHA — FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that a majority of national football federations were in favour of expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams.

Infantino said a decision would be made by March, although it was still not clear whether an enlarged tournament would be feasible as it would be “difficult” to stage in Qatar alone.

Qatar has been locked in a bitter dispute with Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain that has complicated the prospect of sharing matches in an expanded tournament.

Those countries, as well as Egypt, began a diplomatic and trade boycott of Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the claims.

FIFA last year voted to increase the size of the tournament from 32 to 48 teams starting from 2026 but, since then, Infantino has been mulling the possibility of bringing the change forward to 2022.

“We gathered the opinions as well of our members, the federations,” he told reporters.

“So far, of course, the majority are in favour because 16 more teams participating not only means that 16 more countries will have World Cup fever, but 50 or 60 countries will be able to dream of qualifying for the World Cup.”

“Whether it is feasible or not is a different question.”

Infantino said it was unlikely that Qatar, which has been planning for a 32-team tournament since it was awarded hosting rights in 2010, could manage 16 extra teams on its own.

“Is it feasible to do it only in Qatar? Difficult probably,” he said, adding that he did not want to share details of discussions with Qatar with the media.

“Is it feasible to have a few games played in neighboring countries? Maybe this is an option.”

“Of course, I’m not naive enough to not know and read the news, and what’s going on, but we are in football not in politics and in football sometimes dreams come true.”

Infantino said a decision needed to be made by March because the draw for the qualifying competition is in the summer.

He said that, even with 16 additional teams, FIFA was committed to playing the tournament in the original 28-day period “because it was a difficult enough process to decide to move the World Cup to November or December”.

He denied that it was too late to make the change.

“For those who think it’s late, I’ve been told that the decision to move the World Cup in 1998 to 32 teams from 24 in 1994 was also taken only four years in advance so there is already a precedent,” he said.

AMMAN — Kufr Youba play Ahli in the best-of-five play-offs for the title of the Jordan Basketball League which tips off on Friday.

An unlikely finalist, Kufr Youba eliminated Orthodoxi in closely contested matches in the best-of-three final, beating them 65-63 and 76-73. Kufr Youba have suffered an endlesss string of injuries but Mousa Awadi, Nidal Sharif and Khaldoun Abu Rqieh’s determined efforts enabled them to get past Orthodoxi. Now their real test begins in the final play-offs where they will face a better equipped line-up of Ahli, who eliminated Wihdat 87-84 and 76-70 to move to the final play-off.

Ahli, who last won the league in 1994, have a chance to make history again. They won the Jordan Cup earlier this year, and now advanced thanks to the combined determined efforts of the team led by Zeid Abbas, Ibrahim Hamati and a young line-up led by a coach Zeid Alkhas who was replaced by veteran club player Imad Saeed. 

This season the league seemed to revive old memories and competitive spirit in the Kingdom’s second most popular sport, with many close matches early in the season. Titleholders Riyadi and Jazira failed to make it to the final four after an inconsistent season. Riyadi, champions for the past two seasons, lacked the winning edge while Orthodoxi stumbled in the final four.

In an effort to revive the game which was suffering from administrative snags, low funding, withdrawal of clubs as well as fan disenchantment, the Jordan Basketball Federation’s temporary board held the Jordan Cup earlier this year and eventually had 21 clubs competing again. The board even held Jordan’s first player draft and national team stars were dispersed to play among the clubs to get the zeal of competition back again. Following the Jordan Cup, won by Ahli, the top six headed into the Premier Division, the rest into the First and Second divisions.

In the 2015/16 season, Riyadi were crowned league champs when they beat titleholders Orthodoxi. Riyadi had last won the league in 1997 by then Jazira-Aramex team (whose players later on formed Riyadi’s line-up). Riyadi won the league again in 2016/17.

Teams like former league and cup champs Applied Science University, Ittihad, and Wihdat had pulled out of the competition over differences with the Jordan Basketball Federation, and players dispersed over the rest of clubs. Orthodoxi, who won their record 23rd league title in the 2014/15 season, won the Jordan Cup in 2016. 

The Basketball League, which started in 1952, has had 59 editions with eight teams crowned champion. It was cancelled in three seasons and discontinued once. Orthodoxi have won 23 times, Ahli 21, Zain (Fastlink) six times, ASU four times, Riyadi and Jazira-Aramex twice each, while Urdun, Watany and the Electricity Co. won once each.

This week, the national team dropped to fifth in the standings in qualifiers for the FIBA World Cup 2019. Jordan is now behind New Zealand, South Korea, Lebanon and China following defeats to South Korea (86-75) and New Zealand (96-69). The qualifiers will resume in February when Jordan plays China and New Zealand. In previous Round 2 matches, Jordan lost 88-79 to China and 86-75 to South Korea. 

In Round 1, Jordan topped Group C after its beat India 102-88, Lebanon 87-83 and Syria 109-72 and Round 1 results were carried over to Round 2 in which seven teams (the top three teams from each group and the best 4th) in addition to host China will move to the FIBA World Cup finals set for August 31, which will include 32 teams.

LIVERPOOL, England — Mohamed Salah’s delightful first-half strike gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over Napoli that sent them into the Champions League’s last 16 and the Italian side crashing out at a tension-filled Anfield on Tuesday.

Liverpool knew that a 1-0 win, or a victory by two goals or more, would be enough to seal a top-two spot in Group C, and Salah was again the hero for the hosts, scoring what proved to be the winner with a magical individual burst in the 34th minute.

Napoli pressed for a leveller in the second- half, with Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson denying Arkadiusz Milik in stoppage time with a superb save, but the home side’s resolute defence stood firm to the intense relief of the home fans.

Paris Saint Germain reached the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday thanks to an inspired performance by their three-pronged attack of Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe in a 4-1 win at Red Star Belgrade.

All three forwards scored in an intimidating atmosphere at Red Star’s Rajko Mitic stadium, and midfielder Marquinhos was also on target to cancel out a sumptuous volley by Red Star defender Marko Gobeljic.

The result lifted the French champions to the top of Group C on 11 points from six games, two ahead of Liverpool who also qualified thanks to a 1-0 home win over Napoli that left them ahead of the Italian side on goals scored.

Paris St Germain’s German coach Thomas Tuchel was pleased with how his side handled the pressure in the cauldron of Red Star’s ground.

“We were on the back foot in the opening 15 minutes of the second half when Red Star scored, but we controlled the rest of the contest,” Tuchel told a news conference.

Klopp stuck with the midfield three that struggled against PSG in their last Champions League match and it was Napoli who found their rhythm first, creating some promising openings early on.

“I’m still full of good feeling,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said. “This game was just amazing. Outstanding, unbelievable. The boys played with their whole heart on the pitch.”

Salah was then presented with a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock, but his touch let him down at the last moment while at the other end, Marek Hamsik could not find the target from a good position. 

Kalidou Koulibaly was doing a fine job of marking Salah, until the Egyptian produced a moment of magic to score the only goal of the game, skipping past Koulibaly before slotting in from a tight angle — his 34th goal for Liverpool in 2018 in all competitions.

Liverpool really should have extended their lead in the second-half, with Salah firing wide from a good position, before Sadio Mane was denied by a fine save from David Ospina.

Napoli saved their best attacking play for the latter stages, with Jose Callejon firing over from close range, before Mane somehow shot wide when he should have scored. 

Milik almost broke Liverpool hearts right at the death, only to be denied by Alisson, who raced from his line to make a game-saving block.

“Napoli have gone very close but not quite far enough,” Napoli Manager Carlo Ancelotti said. 

“We have no regrets really. The players have done well in such a very difficult group. It would have been a wonderful achievement to qualify. Lots of people did not even think we would take it this far.”

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-23 team began a training camp in Oman which follows a local camp amidst preparations for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship qualifiers, which act as a qualifying tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Jordan will play hosts Oman twice on December 12 and 15 before returning home to play Iran on December 25, Palestine on December 29 and Bahrain on January 4.

In the qualifiers, Jordan will play in Group E alongside Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan and Syria, starting on March 22. The top team in each group as well as top five second placed teams will move to the 4th AFC U-23 Championship finals in 2020 .

Earlier this year, the U-23 men’s team was knocked out of Round 1 of the 3rd AFC U-23 Championship. In 2016, Jordan reached the quarter-finals and in 2014 Jordan finished third.

The women’s senior football team became the only national team to advance in Asian qualifiers this season after they qualified to Round 2 topping Round 1, Group D qualifiers in Ramallah, West Bank.

Jordan beat Indonesia 3-0, the Maldives 6-0 and Palestine 7-0 to take the lead atop the group. The tournament also acts as a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Earlier this year, the U-19 women’s team was eliminated from Round 1 qualifiers for the U-19 Championship. Likewise, the men’s U-19 national team was eliminated from Round 1 of the AFC U-19 Championship. The semifinalists advanced to the FIFA U-19 World Cup.

Jordan was hoping to advance in the Asian event after they failed to qualify to the Championships in 2014 and 2016. It was the fifth time for Jordan at the Championship with the best showing when it finished fourth in 2006 and advanced to the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007. Jordan exited the first round in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. 

In U-16 events, Jordan bowed out of the Round 1 of the 2018 AFC U-16 Men’s Championship. Held once every two years, the competition serves as a qualifier for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the top four countries qualifying. The U-16 women’s squad was also eliminated from Round 1 Group A qualifiers for the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship.