Two sides that are battling it out for a place in round three of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup come together on Thursday evening at the Amman International Stadium as Jordan host Tajikistan.
The home side are currently in the driving seat as they sit second in the group with a two-point lead, but a victory for the visitors would see the tides turn in their favour ahead of the final fixture.
Match preview
© Reuters
Jordan are coming into this game having enjoyed one of their most successful spells as a team, coming excruciatingly close to winning their first major honour in the 2023 Asian Cup as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to hosts Qatar in the final.
They picked up fantastic victories against Malaysia, Iraq, Tajikistan and South Korea on their route to the final, and that run has seemingly given Houcine Ammouta's side a massive boost in confidence.
In the opening two games in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers, Jordan drew with Thursday's opponents and lost to Saudi Arabia, but since their success in the Asian Cup they have gone on to win 3-0 and 7-0 against Pakistan.
A third consecutive victory in this game would confirm Jordan's place in round three of the World Cup qualifiers, bringing them one step closer to a first-ever qualification into the world's most prestigious tournament.
Jordan have won against Tajikistan in four of the last six meetings, including a 1-0 win in the Asian Cup, but they did lose at home in a friendly match in February 2021.
As for the visitors, they are also on the hunt for their first-ever qualification into a FIFA World Cup and are also coming into this one on the back of creating history in the Asian Cup as they made it to the quarter-finals for the first time.
The defeat to Jordan in that game has seemingly thrown Tajikistan off course though, going on to lose and draw in the two games with Saudi Arabia and dropping down into third in Group G in the process.
While a victory for Ammouta's men would guarantee their place in the third round, a Tajikistan victory would still require them to at least match Jordan's result on the final day to secure second place.
Team News
The hosts will be looking to talisman Musa Al-Taamari to make the difference against Tajikistan with the Montpellier forward currently the joint-third top scorer across the entirety of qualifying with five goals in the four games.
Captain Ehsan Haddad has been an ever-present figure in Jordan's teams of late, and we expect him to lead the side out as they look to secure second place in Group G.
Amadoni Kamolov has been a key player in Tajikistan's recent success and leads the way for his side's goal contributions in the qualifiers with three in total.
Rustam Yatimov was called into action on multiple occasions in the two matches against the group leaders in March and was able to limit the goals to just two from 24 shots. The goalkeeper will be hoping to produce a top performance again in this one and record his side's first clean sheet of the qualifiers.
Jordan possible starting lineup:
Abulaila; Haddad, Marei, Al Rosan, Alarab; Sadeh, Al-Rawabdeh, Al-Mardi; Al-Naimat, Olwan, Al-Taamari
Tajikistan possible starting lineup:
Yatimov; Safarov, Khanonov, Dzhuraboev, Nazarov; Kamalov, Umarbaev, Pandzhshanbe, Ayni; Samiev, Dzhalilov
We say: Jordan 2-1 Tajikistan
Jordan are coming into this game in better form than their opponents and have already shown their superiority with a 1-0 win over them in the Asian Cup, and we expect them to get the better in this one once again with a victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
