Jordan crashes out of World Cup qualifiers

AMMAN — Jordan’s national football team has been eliminated from the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and now has to go through another stage of qualifying to get to the 2023 Asian Cup.

The national team could not manage a win over 41st ranked Australia after its earlier 0-0 tie with 148th ranked host Kuwait on Friday virtually ended chances of seeking to qualify to the next round as one of the best second place finishers from Group B. 

Jordan’s head coach Belgian Vital Borkelmans said he held the responsibility of the early exit from the qualifiers as Jordan’s focus will now switch to their bid to secure a place at 2023 AFC Asian Cup China.

The Jordan Football Association has accepted the resignation of coach Vital Borkelmans amid growing concerns over the team’s latest results, even in friendlies. Observers underlined the need to revamp the team with younger more competitive players leading the squad. 

Jordan had earlier beat Nepal 3-0 as it resumed qualifiers which were halted last year amid the amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In other matches, Kuwait moved into second spot in the group behind Australia after a 2-1 win over Taiwan as Australia beat Taiwan 5-1. Last year, the qualifiers were halted after teams played five matches: Jordan beat Taiwan 5-0 and 2-1; lost 1-0 to Australia; held Kuwait 0-0 and beat Nepal 3-0. 

After Qatar qualified from Group E and as a host of the upcoming World Cup, rules stipulate the top team from each of the eight competing groups and five best second place finishers advance to the 2023 Asian Cup finals and Round 3 of World Cup qualifiers. The four teams in the third round will join tournament hosts Qatar at the World Cup, with a further spot possibly secured by an Asian team via the intercontinental play-off.

In latest FIFA Rankings, Jordan stayed 95th overall and 15th in Asia lagging behind relatively uncompetitive Asian teams compared to their best ranking of 37th in August of 2004.

Looking back at the Jordan’s peak performance, the team was on the verge of qualifying to the 2014 World Cup for the first time and advanced to play then World’s 6th ranked Uruguay in an intercontinental qualifying tie. The Kingdom had never reached that far in World Cup qualifying since first taking part in qualifiers. Round 3 had been the furthest Jordan reached in the past seven times since 1986 qualifiers. 

On the regional level, Jordan reached the Round of 16 in the last edition of the Asian Cup. Since first taking part in qualifiers in 1972, Jordan played at the Asian Cup four times. The highlight was at the 13th Asian Cup in 2004, when Jordan lost to Japan in the quarter-finals. They also reached the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015 and 2019.