Jordan was defeated by 3 penalty kicks, smashing N records and narrowly staging a miracle
After losing to Qatar, Jordan missed out on winning the Asian Cup. Despite finishing runners-up, Jordan is still the strongest dark horse in the history of the Asian Cup.
Jordan's performance at the Asian Cup was jaw-dropping, with a beating over South Korea to become the 11th team to reach the final since the Asian Cup was introduced in 1972 in a knockout format.
Of the previous 10 teams, five teams that qualified for the first time – Iran (1972), Saudi Arabia (1984), Japan (1992), Iraq (2007) and Qatar (2019) – won the tournament.
After Afif scored from the penalty spot to give Qatar the lead, Jordan gradually gained the upper hand. In the second minute of stoppage time in the first half, Tamari's sweeping shot from the middle of the penalty area was blocked by a defender and missed a good chance to score. Just four minutes later, Tamari fired another shot that flew over the crossbar and missed another great chance to open the scoring.
After the break, Jordan gradually took the lead, creating a number of good chances, with Alab's barb, Haddad and Orwan's backheel all within easy reach.
In the 67th minute, Yazan stopped the ball in the middle of the penalty area and swept the goal to equalize for Jordan. At this time, Jordan had a whopping 56% possession and 5 of their 10 shots on target, double the number of shots Qatar had on goal.
In the 69th minute, Maldi tackled Ali in the penalty area, Manin reviewed the slow motion and awarded a penalty, and Afif scored again from the penalty. In stoppage time, the Jordanian goalkeeper knocked down Afif again, Manin looked back at the slow motion and awarded three penalties, and Afif completed a hat-trick of penalties.
As a team ranked 87th in the world, Jordan has created a real miracle by finishing second in the Asian Cup, the best result in team history. At the same time, Jordan has also set many new team records.
After finishing third in the group to advance to the knockout round, Jordan first defeated Iraq to achieve its first knockout victory in the Asian Cup. Subsequently, they defeated and kept a clean sheet against Tajikistan and South Korea, and advanced to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals for the first time in team history. Not only that, Jordan scored 13 goals in this Asian Cup, setting a record for goals in a single Asian Cup in team history.
In fact, to be able to win the runner-up of the Asian Cup, Jordan has become the strongest dark horse in the history of the Asian Cup, and also one of the strongest dark horses in the history of world football.