Ammon News - by Aline Bannayan / Jordan Times

AMMAN — Jordan landed in Group A along with Oman, Syria and Singapore at the draw for the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup which was held in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday.

Twenty teams were divided into five groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group and the best third-placed team will qualify to the tournament.

Defending champion Japan, hosts and runners-up Australia, third-placed South Korea, AFC Challenge Cup 2012 winners North Korea and the champions of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup will get direct berths in the final competition.

“The AFC Asian Cup is the jewel in the crown of Asian football and sport-loving Australia has been entrusted to host the next edition,” Confederation’s Acting President Zhang Jilong was quoted as saying on the AFC website.

Other qualifiers for the event are: Group B: Iran, Kuwait, Thailand and Lebanon. Group C: Iraq, China, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. Group D: Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen and Malaysia. Group E: Uzbekistan, the UAE, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

Qualifying begins next February and runs until March 2014.

Jordan first took part in the qualifiers in 1972 and reached the finals twice. The pinnacle was at the 13th Asian Cup, when they lost to Japan in the quarter-finals and jumped to the best ever FIFA rank of 37th in August 2004.

The team’s journey to the 2011 finals was shaky. The squad kicked of their Asian Cup qualifying campaign in January 2009, tying Thailand 0-0, and losing 2-1 to Singapore and to Iran 1-0 in the away game. They rebounded to beat Iran 1-0 and held Thailand 0-0 before they snatched second place in Group E following a 2-1 win over Singapore.

In the finals, Jordan qualified to the quarter-finals where they lost to Uzbekistan 2-1. In the first round, they held eventual champs Japan 1-1, beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 and Syria 2-1.

In the previous 15 Asian Cup finals Japan are record four-time winners, while Iran and Saudi Arabia have won three times each.

Jordan is now readying to play Oman in Round 4, Group B 2012 World Cup qualifiers. They scored a historic 2-1 win over Australia and boosted their chances going up from last to second in the group with four points after losing 6-0 to Japan and drawing 1-1 with Iraq in the first two matches. On Monday they held Qatar 1-1 before heading to Muscat for their match against Oman on October 16.

Winners

1956 South Korea

1960 South Korea

1964 Israel

1968 Iran

1972 Iran

1976 Iran

1980 Kuwait

1984 Saudi Arabia

1988 Saudi Arabia

1992 Japan

1996 Saudi Arabia

2000 Japan

2004 Japan

2007 Iraq

2011 Japan