Kingdom hosts Lebanon, plays Trinidad and Tobago in June

AMMAN  — Jordan has three friendlies line-up up in the next few weeks as the squad readies for qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup doubling as part of the qualification for 2019 Asian Cup as well. 

The Jordan Football Association announced that the Kingdom’s squad will host Lebanon on May 30 before leaving to Turkey for a training camp during which they will face Kuwait on June 5. They will also play World’s 65th-ranked Trinidad and Tobago on June 16.

The Kingdom will play their first Group B qualifier against Kyrgyzstan on June 11 before playing Asian Cup champs Australia, Tajikistan, and Bangladesh.

“It has been a long season, and there has been little time after the end of local competitions and regrouping for our upcoming agenda,” coach Ahmad Abdul Qader noted adding that he waited for the U-23 squad’s qualifiers and the completion of Wihdat and Jazira’s Round of 16 of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup matches to finalise his line-up.

 “Playing a team like Trinidad and Tobago which previously qualified to the World Cup will help our team in the upcoming phase,” Abdul Qader said adding ‘’regardless of the results, facing advanced teams is crucial and always beneficial”.

Jordan is now 103rd in the latest FIFA World Rankings — and 12th among Asian teams. The squad dropped out of the top 100 after two friendlies where it lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia and 1-0 to Syria. In their last official competition, Jordan failed to reach the quarters of the 16th AFC Asian Cup 2015. It was its third time at the finals first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1972.

Jordan’s best ever FIFA ranking was 37th in 2004 after reaching the Asian Cup quarter-final when they lost to Japan. In 2011, Jordan again reached the quarter-finals.

The squad also had the most memorable World Cup qualifiers in 2013 when they played Uruguay in their intercontinental qualifying tie for a place in the 2014 World Cup. Jordan lost the home game 5-0 and held the former World Cup champs 0-0 in the away match, losing the chance to move to the World Cup for the first time. 

The Kingdom had never reached this far in World Cup qualifications since taking part in the World Cup qualifiers as of 1985. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times in the qualifiers since 1986.