Indian men’s national team are all set to battle Jordan in an international friendly ahead of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in June. The game will be played at the Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Saturday. Igor Stimac’s men have been training in Bellary and Kolkata over the last month.

Ranked higher than India, the Middle-East nation will start as the favourites in the match and history is also against the Blue Tigers who don't have the best of records against middle-eastern opponents.

Ahead of the meeting between the two teams, here’s a detailed look at Jordan

History 

The Jordan men’s national team played their first international match in 1953 in Egypt where the team were defeated by Syria 3–1.  

They have been participating in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers since 1986. They qualified for the final round of qualification in the 2014 campaign. Jordan were grouped with Nepal, Kuwait and Australia for the second round of qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2022 and gave a good account of themselves having finished third with 14 points on the board. They were only behind Kuwait in second place on head-to-head record.

Currently they are ranked 91st in the FIFA rankings and have reached the quarter finals of the AFC Asian Cup on two occasions – in 2004 and 2011.

Form Guide: WLDWD

Jordan have won two out of their last five matches and lost only one match that was against Australia. Their last win came against New Zealand in an international friendly.

Head-to-Head

This will be the second time when India will be facing Jordan. Their previous meeting ended in favor of Jordan with a scoreline of 2-1. It was also a international friendly match that took place in October 2018.

Key Players:

Hamza Al-Daradreh: The 31-year-old forward has been Jordan’s main man upfront for quite some-time now and he will be eager to continue his exploits against India. With 26 goals in 59 games, Hamza is Jordan’s all-time record goalscorer. His positioning and ability to find spaces in the opposition defensive third is remarkable. 

Yazab Abu-Arab: Despite being only 22, Yazan Abu-Arab has proved his mettle on a regular basis for Jordan. Modern football requires the defenders to be astute not only in blocking and lodging in tackles but also in giving the strikers and midfielders a helping hand when required. Yazan is that sort of player who can find spaces and feed intelligent through balls to the strikers. The defender is also known for his pinpoint accuracy of long balls and he will be a key player against India.

Mousa Al-Ta’mari: The 24-year-old winger is known for his pace and likes to drift in and score from various angles - making him one of the top players in Jordan. He’s also known for cutting in between the left back and the left centre-back and finding the back of the net. Whosoever starts for India in those positions will have their task cut out.