Jordan Starts U20 Women's Asian Cup

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) AMMAN - Jordan faces reigning champs North Korea on Thursday at the 2026 AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup kicks off in Bangkok, Thailand, a tournament serving as a qualifying competition for the 2026 FIFA U20 Women's World Cup.

Jordan was drawn to play in the tough Group B against North Korea on April 2, South Korea April 5 and Uzbekistan April 8. It will be the Kingdom's second time at the competition after they reached the Asian Cup in 2006 exiting Round 1.

12 teams have qualified to the April 1-18 event, playing in 3 groups, with the top two teams from each group and two best second-placed sides advancing to the quarter-finals and the top four finishers will move to the U20 World Cup.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has listed Jordan's

Arwa Batayneh among the players to watch. The AFC website described the young player as“having a knack for finding the back of the net – a quality she showcased in the Qualifiers against Northern Mariana Islands and Bahrain. The Amman FC forward will be aiming to carry that form into Thailand 2026 as she looks to lead Jordan's attacking charge.”

This week, Jordan lost 2-0 to Bangladesh in their final friendly ahead of the event. They earlier lost to Russia 3-0 and Thailand 1-0 before leaving home.

Defending champions North Korea are two-time winners, while Japan have won a record 6 titles, South Korea twice and China once.

The women's U20 qualification made up for the senior team's exiting qualifiers for the 2026 Women's AFC Asian Cup which Jordan reached twice before: in 2014 as group winner, and in 2018, as host. In addition, the women's U17 team exited qualifiers for the AFC U17 Asian Cup 2026.

The senior men's team's success has raised the bar for all teams after Jordan secured a historic qualification to the 2026 World Cup where they will play in Group J alongside soccer greats Argentina, Algeria and Austria.

By finishing runner-up at the 2023 Asian Cup, followed by a historic first-time qualification to the World Cup in their 7th time in qualifiers since 1986, Jordan booked a spot in the next edition of the 2027 Asian Cup a well.

The Kingdom also finished runner-up to champions Morocco at the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar, despite missing many key players on the injury list or club duty.

Jordan's U23 squad exited the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup quarters after losing to eventual and reigning champs Japan. Jordan's best performance came in the inaugural 2013 edition, finishing 3rd. In 2025 year, Jordan lost to Oman in the final of the 6th U23 West Asia Championship in their fifth time at the competition which they won in 2021.

The U20 squad had the 4th WAFF U20 Championship postponed for now. The team still has the U20 Arab Cup as well as qualifiers for the 2027 U20 Asian Cup on their agenda.

The U17 men's squad has been inactive since they lost their qualifying chance to the 2026 U17 AFC Asian Cup from which the top eight finishers will represent Asia at the 2026 FIFA U17 World Cup.

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