The USA, Canada and Mexico World Cup beckons for the kingdom of Jordan, after the Chivalrous Ones qualified for the International showcase for the first time in the nation’s 73 year football history.
Along with the likes of Curacao, our SBOTOP pick of the qualifiers last week, Jordan will join the elite of world football in the greatest show on earth in fewer than five months. And they will take part in a group which contains Austria, who they will meet on June 16th, Algeria and…World Champions Argentina.
The World Cup 2026 betting odds don’t give them much hope of navigating that group but the nation of Jordan and the team’s fans won’t care much abut that, they are in dreamland.
Sitting 64th in the FIFA World Rankings, Jordan are by no means the lowest ranked nation at the finals and they are ahead of the likes of experienced campaigners Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Jamaica. Head coach Jamal Sellami took hold of the reigns in 2024 after the departure of Hussein Ammouta, and he led Jordan to the Promised Land on June 5th 2025, with a 3-0 win over Oman, quickly backed up by Iraq’s defeat to South Korea.
Sellami was an international midfield player with Morocco and he starred for Besiktas in his playing career before embarking on a coaching career with FUS Rabat. After losing the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup final to his native Morocco, Sellami was granted Jordanian citizenship by King Abdullah II and he is ready to lead his new compatriots with pride.
Route to the USA
With four wins, four draws and two defeats Jordan finished second to the heavyweights of South Korea in the Asian Qualifying Group 3B, edging out Iraq by a single point, and that was enough to give them an automatic route to North America. Under Sellami they proved to be canny operators and eked out enough key results to come second in a competitive group. As they advanced towards the business end of qualification, vying with Iraq with three games to play, Jordan held their nerve superbly, beating Palestine 3-1 and then pulling off the result of their campaign with a 1-1 draw away to South Korea, earning a point which proved crucial in their qualification.
The Chivalrous Ones fell behind to an early Lee Jae-Sing goal but fought back and got their equaliser when the Korean keeper parried a shot from winger Mousa Al-Tamari but he couldn’t keep out a deflected follow up from Mahmoud Al-Mardi. And despite a furious onslaught from the Korean attack Jordan hung on for the draw.
The following match at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex turned into a celebration for Jordan as a hat-tick from Ali Olwan swept Oman away with a 3-0 victory as Sellami’s men dominated the game with skill, an impressive work ethic and clinical finishing; strengths they will need is spades when they head to North America.
Players to watch
Top scorer in the current group of Jordan strikers is the 25 year old Al Sailiya forward Ali Olwan, and he showed just how lethal he can be with his hat-trick against Oman, making it 29 goals in 64 internationals, just four short of the nation’s all time top scorer Hamza Al Dardour; and he scored five goals in 11 games for Al Karma last year before his transfer to Al Sailiya.
Alongside Olwan I’d exect to see Al Arabi striker Yazan Al Haimat who has an impressive 26 goals in 70 internationals and the 26 year old has a one in three ratio in domestic football too.
Defensive midfielder Nizar Al Rashdan is another player in the prime of his career, currently representing Qatar and he has four goals in 43 internationals since his debut in 2021. And the busiest boy in the Jordan line-up could well be 33 year old goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila, who has picked up 72 caps over the past ten years, and he’ll relish facing the likes of Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez and Julain Alvarez when Jordan meet Argentina on June 27th in Arlington Virginia. That will be the proudest day in Jordan’s football history and eyes of the nation will be on the match.
It remains to be seen whether Jordan can pick up some World Cup 2026 results from that impressive group of teams; but for now the Chivalrous Ones are determined to enjoy the ride.
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