14 November 2024
The Iraqi and Jordanian national teams face off in an anticipated match in the third round of Group Two of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The match will be held at Basra Stadium, in Iraq, which can accommodate about 65,000 spectators, and is expected to be completely full, according to what Asharq Al-Awsat sources reported, with all tickets sold out.
This match is characterized by great tension with a sense of vindication, and the competition is not limited to the three points in the qualification race, but extends to events related to the famous Jordanian celebration, which sparked a wave of controversy on social media, after the Jordan-Iraq match in the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar.
In that match, the Jordanian players celebrated by symbolically eating "Mansaf" when they scored, which angered the Iraqi fans, then Iraq managed to turn the tables in the second half by scoring two goals, one of which was Ayman Hussein's goal, and then the player imitated the same celebration, which led to his expulsion after receiving a second yellow card in a controversial situation.
The situation was exacerbated by the Jordanian team's preference to face Iraq in the round of 16 instead of Japan, which prompted it to be lenient in its previous match against Bahrain.
This atmosphere of tension prompted the two teams to completely close the door to media statements, in order to maintain focus before the upcoming match.
Returning to the history of the two teams' matches in the qualifiers, it extends to 10 matches, and the advantage tends to favor Iraq, which achieved 7 victories, compared to one victory for Jordan and two draws.
The first confrontation between them in the World Cup qualifiers was in 1986, when Iraq won the first leg in Amman with a score of 3-2, before achieving another victory in the second leg with a score of 2-0, then the encounters were renewed in the 1990 and 1994 World Cup qualifiers, and Iraq achieved successive victories thanks to the distinguished performance of its stars, such as Ahmed Radhi and Ghanem Oraibi.
In the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Jordan managed to achieve its first victory over Iraq with a score of 2-0 under coach Adnan Hamad, before losing in the second leg with a score of 3-1.
Historically, Iraq has scored 20 goals against Jordan, while the latter has scored only 7 goals.
