Jordan has played in fiveAFC Asian Cup tournaments, appearing in the final of a major tournament for the first time in the2023 edition, finishing as runners-up. They also reached the semi-finals of theFIFA Arab Cup in1988 and2002, and have won theArab Games twice, in1997 and1999. The team reached theWAFF Championship final on three occasions but never won it. The country qualified for their firstFIFA World Cup in2026.
The Jordanian national football team's first international match was played in 1953 inEgypt where the team were defeated by Syria 3–1. The firstFIFA World Cup qualifiers Jordan took part in was for the1986 tournament.
Under the leadership of EgyptianMahmoud El-Gohary, the Jordan national team was able to qualify for their firstAFC Asian Cup tournament, in2004, and reach the quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual winnersJapan in a penalty shoot-out. Despite this, Jordan reached their highest-everFIFA world ranking, at 37th place; they would eventually fail to qualify for the2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
In the 2004 and 2007 WAFF Championships, Jordan finished in third place in the former and made another semi-final in the latter. Five matches into2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification, El-Gohary retired as a football coach, and theJordan Football Association hired the PortugueseNelo Vingada to take over as the head coach of Jordan; they still missed thefinals.
Under Vingada, Jordan were runners-up in the2008 West Asian Football Federation Championship, but failed to qualify for the2010 World Cup in South Africa. He was replaced by Iraq'sAdnan Hamad, a coach in Asia known for his successes with his national team in Iraq as head coach as well as Iraq U-23 and other Iraq youth teams and clubs.[citation needed] Jordan qualified for their second Asian Cup tournament in2011, where they made the quarter-finals before losing toUzbekistan 2–1. Jordan also finished runner-up at the2011 Arab Games in Qatar. In 2013, Jordan ended up third in their qualifying group for theWorld Cup the following year.
Another Egyptian,Hossam Hassan, led Jordan to the play-off against Uzbekistan to determine the AFC participant in theinter-confederation play-offs. With the two teams still evenly matched at full-time in the second leg, Jordan eventually progressed to the intercontinental playoff after winning 9–8 on penalties. The Jordanians missed their first FIFA World Cup debut after losing 5–0 on aggregate toUruguay.
Jordan qualified to the2015 AFC Asian Cup. On 3 September 2014,Ray Wilkins was appointed as the new head coach. Wilkins led Jordan to a group stage exit at the Asian Cup after losses to Iraq andJapan and a win overPalestine.
Jordan failed to make the final round of2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, losing 0–1 toKyrgyzstan and 1–5 toAustralia. They would qualify for the2019 Asian Cup where Jordan defeated Australia 1–0 andSyria 2–0, along with a draw against Palestine in the group stage. They were knocked out byVietnam, losing in a penalty shootout 2–4.
Jordan celebrates their win againstAustralia at the 2019 Asian Cup.
In June 2023,Hussein Ammouta was appointed as the Jordan national team coach.[8] In early 2024, he led his squad to their first everAsian Cup final, after defeating Iraq 3–2 after scoring two goals during stoppage time, and beatingTajikistan 1–0 and South Korea 2–0 during the knockout stages. In the final, Jordan lost 3–1 to the host nationQatar.[9]
Following the national team's historic run to the Asian Cup final, Jordan'sFIFA ranking rose to 70th, the nation's highest since September 2014.[10][11] On 5 June 2025, Jordan secured a berth at the2026 FIFA World Cup, their first ever, with a 3–0 away victory overOman.[12][13][14]
The Amman International Stadium was built in 1964 in Amman and opened in 1968. It is the largest stadium in Jordan, owned by the Jordanian government and operated by the higher council of youth. The stadium is also home toAl-Faisaly. It has a capacity of 17,619.
The King Abdullah II Stadium is located 12 km (7.5 mi), also in Amman. It opened in 1998, and has a capacity of 13,000.Al-Wehdat also plays here.