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AMMAN —  Jordan plays Iraq Thursday evening in Round 3/Group B qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup.

The national team left Amman on Wednesday to face Iraq at 7:15 pm in Basra as  pros playing abroad converged on Amman to play Iraq followed by Kuwait on November 19. 

Jordan beat Iraq earlier this year on their way to the Asian Cup final. Overcoming the Iraqi team now in an away match will boost the team’s chances ahead of playing Kuwait next week. Jordan has had to tackle injuries, change to coaching staff with inconsistent overall performance leaving qualification still undetermined, although very doable.

“The Iraq match will be decisive in determining qualification from the group, but it’s not the only determining point. We expect a tough match with Iraq playing at home but hope to finish with a positive result,” Jordan’s coach Jamal Sellami told the press ahead of Wednesday’s early morning flight that also included fans heading to Basra.

Sellami hopes Montepellier striker Mousa Ta’mari will make a solid return after missing the last two matches due to an ankle injury. Similarly, officials and fans hope Yazan Nu’eimat will be in top form after recent rib and wrist injuries. 

Jordan started off qualifiers holding  Kuwait 1-1, beating Palestine 3-1, losing 2-0 to South Korea before beating Oman 4-0 to take second spot behind South Korea on goal difference for now. 

In other matches so far, Palestine held South Korea 0-0 and Kuwait 2-2, Iraq beat Oman and Palestine 1-0, South Korea beat Oman 3-1 and Iraq 3-2, while Oman upset Kuwait

4-0.

MÁLAGA, Spain — Poland heads into their first-round clash with hosts Spain at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals buoyed by the presence of Iga Swiatek and dreaming of a first-ever title in the team event.

The Poles have finished bottom of their group in each of the past two years without five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, but she will be making her debut in the revamped knockout tournament.

Swiatek has struggled for her best form since winning her fourth French Open title earlier this year, failing to reach a final.

Her WTA Finals title defence ended in the group stage last week despite winning two of her three round-robin matches and she arrives in Malaga relatively fresh after missing several competitions in recent months.

"I'm happy that I can be part of the team again, because I always wanted that every year, but with the scheduling, it was pretty tricky and kind of impossible to make it work," world number two Swiatek told a press conference.

"I'm just happy to be here, and hopefully I can play some solid matches here and stay as long as possible together with the team."

Poland, who also have Magdalena Frech and Magda Linette in their squad, have comfortably the highest average ranking for their top three players of any team in the tournament.

The only other top-10 player scheduled to feature is Italy's world number four Jasmine Paolini.

Poland faces a tricky opening tie, though, against Spain, with Swiatek set to face former World No.2 Paula Badosa.

Spain beat an understrength Poland in a dead rubber in last year's group stage, after both teams lost to eventual champions Canada.

"I believe we're going to get revenge, because last year was a tough one, but this year it's going to be a different match, different teams," said Polish captain Dawid Celt. "That's what I said, I believe we're gonna win the last point."

The winners of Wednesday's tie will face 11-time champions the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.

Canada eyeing unlikely double

Reigning champions Canada have a first-round bye and will face either Germany or Britain in the last eight.

However, World No.31 Leylah Fernandez is their only player ranked in the top 100.

Record 18-time champions the United States is without the top three players, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro, with Danielle Collins set to lead the side in their first-round tie against Slovakia on Thursday.

The winners will face Australia.

Japan will make their debut in the Finals after winning six straight ties last year and then defeating Kazakhstan in a play-off in April.

Naomi Osaka played in that clash in Tokyo but is absent in Spain, with Moyuka Uchijima their highest-ranked singles player, although they do boast three top-50 doubles players.

"Two years ago we start from the Asia Oceania regional event and we won five matches there, and also playoff," said captain Ai Sugiyama of her team's long journey.

"Naomi got injured, she really wanted to be here, but unfortunately she couldn't be ready for this BJK Finals.

"But we have a great team spirit."

Japan takes on Romania on Thursday for the right to face Italy in the quarters.

AMMAN — Jordan’s basketball squad returns home after a training camp in Egypt in preparation for window 2 of Group D qualifiers for the 31st FIBA Asia Cup 2025.

The squad regrouped recently with naturalised player Dar Tucker joining the lineup replacing Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Jordan will next host a four-nation tournament - 12th King’s Cup - which starts on November 16 grouping Syria, Qatar, Palestine and Jordan.

As qualifiers resume, the Kingdom will play Iraq and Palestine on November 22 and 25, hoping to build on earlier wins to take them tothe top of the group. Jordan beat Palestine 73-46 and Saudi Arabia 79-64. In other results, Iraq beat Palestine 75-72 as  Saudi Arabia beat Iraq 64-58.

In window 1, Jordan beat Saudi Arabia with difficulty. Freddie Ibrahim carried the team scoring 24 points including 3 consecutive three pointers in addition to free throws to overturn the Saudi lead. Naturalised pro Hollis-Jefferson had 19 points and Ahmad Duweiri 17.

Most observers concur it was  the individual efforts of key players rather than cohesive  teamwork that allowed them to score expected wins in both matches. That point as well as minimal bench support is Jordan’s biggest weakness. In  window 3 in February, Jordan will face Saudi on February 21, before playing Iraq on February 24, 2025.

A total of 24 teams are playing Round 1 qualification matches for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in three windows. As they also battle for qualifying spots for the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup alongside hosts Qatar which automatically qualified. The top two teams of each qualifying group move to the FIBA Asia Cup and the six third-placed teams will play another qualifying round for the final four places. The 31st FIBA Asia Cup will be hosted in Saudi  from August 5-17, 2025.

AMMAN — Jordan’s national team regrouped on the weekend as they start the countdown to the upcoming two Round 3/Group B qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup.

The team started training in Amman ahead of the weekend and will leave to Basra a day ahead on a specially assigned Royal Jordanian flight with most pros playing abroad converging on Amman this week ahead of the next two away qualifiers against Iraq on November 14 and Kuwait on November 19.

Upcoming results will be decisive in securing early qualification from the group after Jordan lost 2-0 to South Korea, beat Oman 4-0, Palestine 3-1 and held Kuwait 1-1 to take second spot behind South Korea on goal difference for now. 

Jordan’s coach Jamal Sellami made minor changes to the lineup hoping star striker Mousa Ta’mari will make a solid return after missing the last two matches due to an ankle injury.

Similarly, officials and fans hope Yazan Nu’eimat will be in top form after recent rib and wrist injuries. The lineup will miss Noor Rawabdeh  who is out with an injury he sustained during his club’s Malaysian league match as well as Aref Haj who has an ankle injury similar to Ta’mari which he sustained during his Hussein’s match against Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi during this week’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League Two match.

Currently, 18 Asian nations are playing in three groups in home and away format until 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

AMMAN — Wihdat and Hussein came out victorious andimpressive following their wins in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League Two Round 4matches this week.

Wihdat maintained their unbeaten run and topped Group C after they beat Tajikistan’s Istiklol 1-o in Amman repeating their earlier 1-0 away win. Wihdat earlier held UAE’s Sharjah 2-2 andbeat  Iran’s Sepahan Isfahan 2-1. In other group matches, Sepahan upset Sharjah 3-1 after they had lost 3-1 in the first match. Sharjah beat Istiklol 1-0 while Sepahan beat Istiklol 4-0.

On the other hand, Jordan’s league champs Hussein also jumped to first spot in Group D after they scored an important 2-1 win over Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi in an away matchrepeating their earlier 2-1 win. Hussein earlier beat Kuwait Club2-1 and lost 3-1 to UAE’s Ahli Dubai. In other group matches, Ahli were held 3-3 with Kuwait after they earlier beat them 4-1, Nasaf upset Ahli 2-1 and Kuwait held Nasaf 0-0.  

Asian clubs are playing in 8 groups in the 21st edition of the competition, with the top two in each group moving to the quarters of the second tier Asian event that has replaced the AFC Cup. The top tier Asian clubs competition is now branded Asian Champions League Elite.

AMMAN — Jordan Football Association Shield matches resume as of Friday with remaining semifinalists to be decided after this round.

Hussein have booked a semifinal spot leaving Wihdat to faceShabab Urdun for the second spot from Group 1, while Saltmeet Ramtha and Faisali play Sarih for the two slots from Group 2 with the semis set for November 15. 

Meanwhile, the CFI Professional Football League headed intobreak as the national team prepares to play Iraq and Kuwait in Round 3/ Group B qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup. 

League titleholders Hussein and veterans Wihdat consolidated their grip and continued their unbeaten run after week 9 of league matches. Hussein beat Wihdat 3-1 , Ramtha held Faisali 0-0 to stay second, Jazira beat Ahli 2-1 to move a spot up, Sarih held Salt 0-0, Mughayer Sarhan moved to 8th after they beat Ma’an 3-1, and Aqaba finally gained a point after they heldShabab Urdun 1-1.

Hussein won their first Pro League crown in the 2023/2024 season, becoming the 9th champions since the League kicked off in 1944. Neighbors Ramtha, won the 2022 title for the third time in their history after 39 years. In other competitions, Wihdat won the Jordan Cup for the 12th time as well as the Super Cup for their 15th time, while Faisali won their 9th Jordan Football Association Shield.

AMMAN — Jordan was drawn in Group B for the U-20 Asian Cup set for February 2025 in China– a qualifying tournament to the U-20 World Cup. 

45 Asian teams played the AFC qualifiers in 10 groups, with the group winners and five best second-placed teams advancing to the finals.  Jordan qualified as one of five best second placed teams after they beat Singapore 2-0 and Hong Kong 7-0 and lost 3-2 to Qatar.

They will join Iraq, Saudi Arabia and North Korea in the group. Group A includes hosts China, Australia, Kyrgyzstan and Qatar; Group C includes titleholders Uzbekistan, Iran, Indonesia and Yemen while Group D includes, Japan, South Korea, Syria and Thailand.

Jordan qualified to the Asian Cup finals for the 9th time. Their best finish was fourth in 2006 when they qualified to the U-20 World Cup in 2007. In previous Asian Cup editions, the team exited the group stages in 1977, 1978, 2008, 2010, 2018; exited the quarterfinals in 2012  and 2023. In the past decade, they did not qualify in 2014 and 2016.

The Asian Cup,  previously known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams of Asia.  South Korea is the record winning team with 12 titles. Among Arab teams Iraq won five times, Saudi three times, while Qatar, Syria and the UAE once each.

AMMAN — Wihdat continued their impressive campaign in the AFC Champions League two, securing a crucial 1-0 victory over FC Istiklol on Tuesday in Round 4 of Group C at Amman International Stadium. Wihdat stay at the top of the group with 10 points, maintaining the unbeaten record in the competition. 

The only goal of the match came in the 77th minute, as Wihdat’s attacking pressure finally paid off. A well-timed assist from Ibrahim Sabra found the right winger Cesar Gueye, who calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner, securing the three points for the home side. The goal was a reward for Wihdat’s dominance, as they controlled much of the game but had struggled to break down FC Istiklol’s defense until then.

With the win, Wihdat now hold a commanding three-point lead over second-placed Sharjah, who sit on seven points. Iranian Sepahan, who won 3-1 over Sharjah earlier in the day, is on the  third place with six points while istiklol is on the bottom with no points. The win placed Wihdat in a strong position to advance to the knockout stage, with two matches remaining in the group.

The upcoming fixtures will be crucial for Wihdat as they aim to secure top spot in the group. The team will next face Sepahan in Iran, followed by a showdown with Sharjah in Amman. With a solid record and just two more matches to go, Wihdat’s qualification to the next round is firmly in their hands.