Jordan hosts Kuwait as Round 3 World Cup qualifiers kick off

AMMAN - Jordan plays Kuwait on Thursday evening in the first Group B/Round 3 match of 2026 World Cup qualifiers kicking off at Amman International Stadium.

It will be the first official match under incoming Moroccan coach Jamal Sellamy who replaced compatriot Hussein Ammouta earlier this summer.

Sellamy underlined that the squad was ready and had its eyes set on the goal of qualifying to the World Cup. “All the positive indications are there. Players are ready, confident, and we have a sold out match. Fan support is a major motivator on home ground,” Sellamy added.

“We are on the right track but not in an ideal situation,” the coach said  at Wednesday's press conference. “Taking all our challenges into account we didn’t have an ideal time to prepare as we would have liked,” Sellamy said, underlining that the training camp in Turkey had helped decide player readiness. “There are slight changes in tactics and  things are moving in the right direction.”

Team star striker Mousa Ta’mari who plays for France’s Montpellier together with Yazan Al Arab, who just joined the Korean league were the last to join the squad. Team captain Ehsan Haddad, was on the injured list has returned. Striker Yazan Nue’imat who just joined Qatar’s Arabi, as well as Nour Rawabdeh and Ali Alwan, playing in the Malaysian league joined the team earlier this week.

The team regrouped last weekend as coach Sellamy named the lineup that was finalised after playing North Korea in two friendlies  drawing 0-0 before winning 2-1 in the second encounter.

Currently 68th in FIFA rankings, Jordan has played 110 ranked Korea  in 6 previous official and friendly matches winning two, losing 3 and drawing once.

Round 3 includes 18 teams playing in three groups in home and away format from September 5, 2024 to June 10, 2025 with the top two from each group advancing directly to the World Cup while the rest will play Round 4 in two groups with group leaders advancing and a possible ninth team advancing through intercontinental play-offs.

Jordan will head to Malaysia on Friday to play Palestine on September 10. Their group also includes Oman, Iraq and South Korea. Group A includes Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, UAE, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea, while Group C includes Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and Indonesia.

Sellamy told the media monitoring the league matches over the past three weeks has helped to zoom in on the players most ready to represent the national team. “This is the start of the critical stage of qualifying and the players chosen are the best at this stage. Any player who proves they are better for the squad will be recalled at any stage.” Sellamy added.