A 10-1 win against Nepal in 2011 was an easy result to miss. After all, it was only Nepal. However, the team that thrashed Nepal was not European or South American—it was Jordan. That result in the second round of Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup understandably went under the radar.
But in the third round in September 2011, Jordan beat Iraq. Admittedly Iraq, the surprise champions of the 2007 Asian Cup, were not in great shape at the time.
However, four days after the Iraq result, Jordan also beat China, then ranked 23 places higher. That made the football world (read: a handful of people obsessed with the beautiful game) sit up and take notice.
Both Iraq and China beat Jordan 3-1 in the return fixtures. However, two convincing wins over Singapore (the punching bag of the group) were enough to secure Jordan a second place behind Iraq.
China, which had already initiated its mega-money football plan, was eliminated. A few more curious football fans looked up to see who had piped China and learnt about Jordan’s dream run.
That run seemed likely to end in the fourth round—grouped with Asian heavyweights Japan and Australia (Asian Football Confederation members), and Iraq and Oman.
It started okay with a 1-1 draw against Iraq, but in the next match, Jordan came across a gulf in class it could not cross, losing 6-0 to Japan.
A minus six goal tally so early meant that Jordan stood virtually no chance of scraping through. Yet, they got wins against Australia, who finished second, and then, incredibly, against eventual group winners Japan to finish third and get to the fifth round.
The 2013 play-off in 2013 against Uzbekistan—ranked 12 places higher then—ended 2-2 after two legs, but Jordan prevailed on penalties (9-8).
Jordan, by now ranked in the early 70s, around 20 places higher than when the campaign started in 2011, was just one match away from featuring at Brazil 2014.
Unfortunately, that match was against sixth-ranked Uruguay. By the time Edinson Cavani scored Uruguay’s fifth goal at the Amman International Stadium, it had been abundantly clear for a while that the home team stood no chance. ‘The Chivalrous Ones’, as team Jordan are known, still went to Montevideo and put on a gritty display, coming away with a 0-0 draw.
The run till the last lap of the World Cup qualification should have been a launchpad for football in Jordan.
However, it was not, and instead, there was a decade of stagnation in terms of results, despite a growing domestic football ecosystem.
All that changed in 2023 with the appointment of Moroccan Hussein Ammouta as coach. In early 2024, he led the team to its first Asian Cup final, knocking out powerhouse South Korea en route. It lost to hosts Qatar, but it was still a remarkable achievement for a nation of around one crore people (close to Uttarakhand’s population), without the oil wealth of the likes of Qatar. Ammouta was soon enticed by Abu Dhabi club Al Jazira.
He was replaced by another Moroccan, Jamal Sellami. Sellami had exposure to a higher level of football than Ammouta, having played for Besiktas in Turkey and Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca. He also played 38 games for the national team, including against Scotland at the 1998 World Cup.
After taking charge of Jordan in mid-2024, he made good use of his technical knowledge to steer the team through a tense AFC qualifying campaign. Jordan qualified for the 2026 World Cup, finishing second in Group B of the AFC third-round qualifiers behind South Korea. Throughout the campaign they showed true grit, especially during a 1-1 draw against the 22nd-ranked Koreans.
This will come in handy at the World Cup, where Jordan (currently ranked 66th) is sure to be one of the underdogs. If Jordan gets hammered by stronger teams at the World Cup, that will give credence to the European argument that the event’s expansion to 48 teams dilutes the overall quality by letting relatively weaker teams in while teams from Europe battle each other for the 16 European berths. But, there is hope Jordan can give a good account of themselves in their debut on the biggest stage.
The team’s tactics have evolved under Sellami. It is balanced in all phases of play and relies on defensive discipline, quick transitions, and wing play.
This is the exact combination to give the team a chance to hold on against stronger footballing sides. It also gets the best out of the team’s star player, Musa Al Taamari. The skilful winger is the first Jordanian to play in a top five European league—the 28-year-old is currently signed with Rennes in the French first division.
Preparations for the World Cup have also been smart so far with a 0-0 against Russia (which can only play non-western countries), a confidence-building 3-0 win against Caribbean minnows the Dominican Republic, losses to Bolivia, Albania and Tunisia, and a draw against Mali on November 18.
Jordan are playing in the 2025 Arab Cup at the start of December, grouped with the UAE, Kuwait/Mauritania, and Egypt. Notably, the Pharaohs are highly likely to be without their biggest names, given that they play in the AFCON from December 22 onwards. Jordan’s performance in the Arab Cup will be interesting to watch as they could end up playing against 11th-ranked Morocco at some stage.
More importantly, Al Taamari is expected to miss the tournament as his club pushes for qualification to Europe’s continental competitions.
In fact, Rennes plays European champions PSG in the league on Dec 7, a day after Jordan’s second match at the Arab Cup. So, the national team will have to do without Al Taamari. But, rather than being a challenge, this would be a great opportunity for the squad to step up and show what they are capable of. It would also be a test of Sellami’s initiatives to increase depth in the squad.
There is still half a year to go till the Jordanians can experience the magic of United 2026, but the build-up to the magic moment is no less exciting.
In some ways, it may end up being more memorable than the World Cup campaign itself. If the World Cup experience is harrowing, critics may say that Jordan did not belong on the biggest stage.
However, Jordanians can still say with pride that the team’s qualification was a result of decades of effort. It was bootstrapped by resilience and courage when it counted, not fuelled by free-flowing oil money. How can they then not belong on the World Cup stage?
