Jordan reaches first World Cup after decades of patient effort
Jordan sealed its first World Cup berth with Ali Olwan’s hat trick against Oman, then watched South Korea close the door on Iraq. The reward was 40 years and 11 qualifying attempts in the making.
Jordan’s first World Cup place was secured with a 3-0 win over Oman, then locked in moments later when South Korea beat Iraq 2-0, sending the kingdom into celebrations that spilled through Amman with honking cars, waving flags and drone light shows.
All three goals against Oman were scored by Ali Olwan. FIFA said Jordan finished with 16 points from a possible 27 in Group B, a return that delivered the country’s first-ever World Cup berth 40 years after its first qualifying campaign and on its 11th attempt.
The breakthrough carried the weight of old disappointments, including Iraq ending Jordan’s bid to reach Mexico 1986. It also reflected a program built over years rather than months. Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, president of the Jordan Football Association and a former FIFA presidential candidate, said the qualification was the fruit of more than two decades of work centered on youth development, and pointed to a youth program launched more than 20 years ago that helped prepare many of the current players.
Jamal Sellami, who took charge in August 2024, inherited a side already showing it could compete deeper into major tournaments. Jordan reached the 2023 AFC Asian Cup final and the 2025 Arab Cup final, two runs that signaled a team no longer content to be a regional outsider. Prince Ali also highlighted winger Musa Al-Taamari as an example of the system, tracing his path from Jordanian academies to clubs in Cyprus, Belgium and France.
The state moved quickly to frame the qualification as more than a sporting milestone. In July 2025, Prime Minister Jafar Hassan said the government would double the Jordan Football Association’s budget starting in 2026 and expand youth football training centers across the kingdom’s governorates, backing a new stadium project as well.
For Jordan, the World Cup debut is not just a rare result on a scoreboard. It is the public outcome of a long national project, one that joined the palace, the federation, the government and a large diaspora around a shared arrival on football’s biggest stage.
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