Football team regroups, lineups lightly modified

AMMAN — The national football team regrouped Sunday evening as they prepare to restart Round 3/Group B qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, with fans hoping Jordan will make it to the finals for the first time.

Moroccan coach Jamal Sellami announced the lineup on the weekend, as Jordan is set to play North Korea on March 14 before restarting the qualifiers against Palestine on March 20 and South Korea on March 25 before facing Oman and Iraq in the last group qualifiers in June. 

Most notable recalls were Hussein Irbid’s Adham Qureishi, and Wisam Riyalat, Salt’s Mohammad Amwasi as well as Mohammad Assaf and Mohammad Nasser who joined the team’slast training camp in Qatar in January. Absentees in the latest lineup are Noor Banu Atiya, Saad Rousan, Rajai Ayed, Rizeq Bani Hani and U23 team star goalie Antwan Awad who joined the squad in latest friendlies which included holding Russia’s Zenith Club 1-1 and losing 1-0, before tying Uzbekistan 0-0.

While many questioned the need for the Qatar camp when most pros could not join the lineup, Sellami told Bein sports the training camp“was an ideal opportunity to test the readiness of players recalled,” adding“the Asian Cup demonstrated that a younger lineup was needed and there are manycompetent players who can boost the national team’s lineup”.

While some observers noted the injuries during the camp took their toll adversely affecting the clubs, others had a wider overview underling the squad should be ready in its entirety for any competition.

In the last qualifiers in November, Jordan held Iraq 0-0 and Kuwait 1-1 to drop to third in the group, after Palestine drew 1-1 with South Korea and Iraq beat Oman 1-0. Earlier, Jordan held Kuwait 1-1, beat Palestine 3-1, lost 2-0 to South Korea and beat Oman 4-0.

The coach’s  defensive tactics and choice of replacements were under scrutiny, comingunder fire from analysts after the last two qualifiers. Observers critiqued the team’s performance, noting that individual efforts guided the squad while pointing out that reserve players should be given more playing time as they could not convert to goals when replaced too late in the matches.

Recalling players to test out readiness and expand the base of the national team was seen as crucial after the injury list lately included star strikers Mousa Ta’mari, Yazan Nu’eimat, Ali Alwan, Noor Rawabdeh and  Yazeed Abu Laila.