Wihdat Vs Faisali As League Resumes National Team Camp Ends

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) AMMAN – Football switches to local competitions over the weekend after the national team completed their training camp in Turkey.

World 64thranked Jordan held 26th ranked Nigeria and No. 51 Costa Rica 2-2 in two of the last four friendlies ahead of the 2026 World Cup this summer.

Team stars Mousa Ta'mari, Yazan Al Arab and others joined the squadas coach Jamal Sellami enlisted many new faces in an attempt to finalise his lineup, faced with the absence of key players doubtful for the World Cup including Yazan Nue'imat and Adham Qurashi, both recuperating fromACL surgery, Ali Alwan, out with a heel injury, team captain Ehsan Haddad who has been out for the season, as well asTamer Bani Odeh and Husam Smeiri, who excelled in the Arab Cup.

Ta'mariled the lineup scoring and assisting teammates to score, while Baha'a Faisal made a return to the squad after over 4 years of absence and scored against Costa Rica. Jordan will next face Switzerland on May 31 and Columbia on June 7 just ahead of the World Cup Group J matches against soccer greats Argentina, Algeria and Austria.

The Kingdom lately finished runner-up to eventual champions Morocco at the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar, despite missing many key players on the injury list or club duty. By finishing runner-up at the 2023 Asian Cup, followed by a historic first-time qualification to the 2026 edition of the World Cup in their 7th time in the qualifiers since 1986,Jordanbooked their spot in the next edition of the 2027 Asian Cup a well.

Meanwhile, players head back to club duty as of Thursday with Hussein and Faisali atop the CFI Jordan Pro League standings. Wihdat play Faisali while Hussein play Salt this week. Hussein, who are in Asian Champions League Two quarterfinals, hope to maintain a solid lead with two postponed matches ahead. Ramtha,champions three seasons ago, are now fourth after 7 draws were followed by three defeats that could have otherwise given them a comfortable lead at the top following earlier impressive results including defeating Wihdat 1-0, holding Hussein 0-0, as well as 1-1 draws with Wihdat and Faisali.

Teams are scrambling for points at both ends of the table where Ahli seem to be the team most likely to join Sarhan in relegation. Ten clubs are playing the 73rd edition of the Pro League in the new format of three stages. Baqa'a and Sama Sarhan are the newcomers from the First Division after Ma'an, Sarih, Aqaba, and Mughayer Sarhan were relegated last season.

So far in the season, League champs Hussein won the 42nd Jordan Super Cup beating Wihdat on aggregate; Faisali won their 10th Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield title with Salt runner-up. The Jordan Cup has reached the quarterfinals with Ramtha defeating Ahli 1-0 and Faisali beating Shabab Urdun 5-4 on penalties to advance to the semis. Hussein vs Jazira and Wihdat vs Salt are yet to be played.

Last season, Hussein combined the Pro League as well as Jordan Super Cup titles, while Wihdat won the Jordan Cup for the 13th time, and Salt won their first ever major title - the Jordan Football Association Shield. Hussein were crowned League champions for the past two seasons joining the elite group of Pro League champs as the 9thclub to win the title since 1944. Together with neighbours Ramtha, they have changed the usual Faisali-Wihdat title dominance. Ramtha won the 2021/22 League crown for the third time in their history after 39 years, while Hussein won the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.

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