JORDAN’S historic journey to their first-ever World Cup can be traced back to one of the most powerful people in football – a Prince who spent years building the foundations for a dream many thought would never come true.
While nations such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have poured vast resources into football, fellow Middle Eastern country Jordan have taken a very different route.
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Prince Ali bin Al Hussein is the driving force behind Jordan’s World Cup qualification Credit: AFP
Prince Ali alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino Credit: Getty
Prince Ali will be one of Jordan’s biggest fans at the World Cup after helping them reach their destination Credit: AFP
Jordan’s Prince with national team captain Ehsan Haddad Credit: AFP
Their qualification for the 2026 World Cup is the culmination of a long-term project driven by Prince Ali bin Al Hussein – the president of the Jordan Football Association and one of FIFA‘s most influential figures.
The third son of Jordan’s late King Hussein, Prince Ali is currently a FIFA vice-president and famously challenged Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency in 2015, receiving 35 per cent of the vote in a contest that elevated his profile on the global stage.
But while many know him as a football politician, in Jordan he is regarded as the driving force behind the country’s greatest sporting achievement.
For more than a decade, Prince Ali has invested heavily in youth development, grassroots football and opportunities for young players across the country.
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In 2012, he launched the Asian Football Development Programme, later expanded into AFDP Global, which aimed to use football to transform communities across the Middle East.
The initiative has built pitches in refugee camps, delivered coaching programmes, distributed equipment and helped thousands of young people gain access to football.
The impact is now being felt at the highest level.
Jordan reached the Asian Cup final in 2024 before embarking on a remarkable World Cup qualification campaign.
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They stunned Saudi Arabia away from home to finish top of their second round group and avoided the toughest possible draw.
That set up a path through Group B in the third round, where they finished runners-up behind South Korea and sealed qualification for the first time in their history.
The achievement was all the more remarkable given Jordan’s limited resources compared to many of their regional rivals.
For example, their domestic league still operates without VAR and lacks the financial muscle of neighbouring football powers.
Former Tottenham, Portsmouth and West Ham boss Harry Redknapp experienced Prince Ali’s ambition first-hand when he was persuaded to take charge of Jordan for two World Cup qualifiers in March 2016.
Redknapp said: “Prince Ali rang me up, who I’d met, and said, ‘would you come and do two games?’ Which I did.
“I only went for two games. I agreed to just go to take the Jordan national team.
“It was Jordan trying to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. It was different because not one of them spoke English and it was a problem, which might have been a help to them. I don’t know. They couldn’t understand me anyway.”
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein shares a joke with Harry Redknapp Credit: AFP
Jordan’s Ehsan Haddad celebrates leading his nation to the World Cup Credit: Reuters
Jordan are ready to show the world what they are all about Credit: EPA
Mohammad Abuzraiq is among those looking to make a name for themselves for Jordan on the world stage Credit: Getty
Prince Ali was equally enthusiastic about landing the former Premier League boss, describing Redknapp as “world-class” and believing he was the right man to help push Jordan forward.
That World Cup dream would eventually take another eight years to arrive.
Now, 40 years after their first qualifying campaign for Mexico 1986 ended in heartbreak, Jordan will finally take their place among football’s elite in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
When they walk out on to the World Cup stage for the first time against Austria, it will be the culmination of a project years in the making – one built by a Prince who never stopped believing Jordan belonged there.
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