Iraq and Jordan will meet at the Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan in Qatar for the round of 16 of the Asia Cup.
Iraq was one of the big surprises of the group stage by taking first place in Group D, which it shared with Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, and where it achieved three wins to obtain a perfect score. The Iraqis were tournament champions in 2007 and are looking for their second continental star.
Jordan started from highest to lowest and finished in third place in Group E in a very close area where they won against Malaysia by 4 to 0, tied against South Korea when they won until the 90th minute, and lost to Bahrain in the last date. The Jordanians had their best participations in the 2004 and 2011 editions where they reached the quarterfinals.
Iraq will be among the best eight
Iraq is one of the great revelations of the Asia Cup, not only for winning its three games, but for its direct and effective play. Those led by the Spanish Jesús Casas are a team that adapts perfectly to the opponent at hand, dominating the game against a weaker opponent, or giving up the ball against a power like Japan, but always with the front goal as the objective.
Iraqis and Jordanians faced each other only once in this tournament when they shared a group in the 2015 edition with Iraq winning 1 to 0. In a total of 37 matches in all competitions, Iraq won 22 of them and only lost five.
Jordan could not beat Iraq in the last five direct duels, the last victory being a friendly played in 2015, while the only seven times they played on a neutral field Jordan could not triumph with five victories for Iraq and two draws.
In Iraq’s last ten games, they have only lost one and have just won the Gulf Nations Cup in 2023 undefeated. For its part, Jordan has won only two of its last twelve games, of which it has lost seven of them.
Few goals in a hard-fought match
The matches between Iraq and Jordan are usually very close with few emotions. In the last three confrontations between the two on a neutral field, only two goals were scored in total, while in six of the last eight duels in any scenario, one of the two teams did not score.
Although in the group stage Iraq showed a round-trip game, it is expected that in a playoff match they will take some precautions and protect their goal by trying to hit at the right moments. In turn, in two of Jordan’s three group games, one of the two teams did not score.