Aqaba hosts U-23 Jordan-Iraq football friendly

AMMAN — Jordan’s U-23 football team plays its Iraqi counterpart in a friendly at Prince Hamzah Stadium in Aqaba on Thursday.

It will be the second match this week, after a 1-1 draw in the first match played in Zarqa as both teams prepare for regional events.

Jordan’s squad played That Ras club to a 0-0 draw in Karak last week as they start preparations for qualifiers for the third edition of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Championship which will be held in 2018.

The national teams is set to play Lebanon on September 21 as they begin a series of training camps and friendlies ahead of the qualifiers will be held next summer and will group 42 nations divided into 10 groups with 16 making it to the finals.

Earlier this year, Jordan was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the last U-23 Championship in Qatar. The Kingdom failed to make it to the top four and a possible Olympic slot with the continents top three advancing to the Olympic Games football tournament in Rio de Janeiro which was won by Brazil. 

In the inaugural AFC U-22 Championship in 2014 (now renamed the AFC U-23 Championship), Jordan took third place when they beat South Korea while Iraq won the title after defeating Saudi Arabia.

In 2015, Jordan’s U-23 squad was eliminated from the 1st West Asian Championship and in 2014 the line-up represented Jordan at the Asian Games where they made to the quarter-finals.