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Jordan qualifies to Asian U-19 championship

By Aline Bannayan - Nov 09,2017 - Last updated at Nov 09,2017

AMMAN — Jordan qualified to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship after the topped Group E qualifiers, which ended in Amman late Wednesday evening..

Jordan came from 1-0 down to beat Syria 2-1 to snatch the qualifying spot in the match at Prince Mohammad Stadium in Zarqa. 

The youngsters booked their spot despite going behind from a 54th minute strike from Mohammad Al Hallaq. Mohammad Al Zubi levelled for Jordan three minutes later before Omar Hani scored the vital winner in the 72nd minute.

Jordan earlier beat Palestine 2-0 in their opening match, before holding Iran 0-0.

In other matches, Iran beat Palestine 4-0 and held Syria 1-1 to finish second in the group.

The continents’ 43 teams have been split between East and West Asia into groups of five or four teams with the top team from each group and five second-placed teams advancing to the AFC U-19 Asian Championship.

The UAE moved from Group A, Tajikistan from Group B, Qatar and Iraq from Group C, Saudi Arabia from Group D, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia from Group F, China from Group G, Vietnam and Taiwan from Group H, Japan and Thailand from Group I, and Australia and North Korea from Group J.

Jordan had failed to qualify to the Championships in 2014 and 2016 after earlier qualifying four times and reaching the FIFA Youth World Cup in Canada in 2007. The team finished fourth in 2006, but exited the first round in 2008 and 2010 and reached the quarters in 2012. 

On another note, Jordan’s U-23 are also preparing for 3rd AFC U-23 Championship in 2018, as well as the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Jordan advanced to the AFC U-23 Championship from Group E qualifiers in which it finished second behind Palestine. In 2016, Jordan was eliminated from the quarterfinals of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship missed an Olympic slot as the continent’s top three advanced to the Rio Olympics. In the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship in 2014, Jordan took third place when it beat South Korea while Iraq won the title after defeating Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this year, Jordan’s U-16 team qualified to the AFC U-16 Championship after topping Group A qualifiers. Organised by the AFC, and held once every two years for Asian U-16 teams, the competition also serves as a qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the top four countries qualifying. Iraq is the reigning champ. 

 

 

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