The Socceroos will attempt to break a poor run of results against Jordan in the Middle East in recent times, when the two face off on Thursday night at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman.
The most recent match occurred in the Asian Cup in January, with Jordan defeating Graham Arnold’s men 1-0 in their group stage encounter in the UAE.
Prior to that, Jordan were victorious in October 2015 in a World Cup qualifier, with the match ending 2-0. Ange Postecoglou was the Socceroos manager at the time and the loss was the first for the qualification campaign. Despite the hiccup, Australia still successfully made it to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
In September 2012, Jordan defeated Australia 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier for the 2014 tournament in Brazil. With Holger Osieck at the helm, the result was not as disastrous as first thought, with qualification secured the following year.
With the exception of the Asian Cup match, these losses occurred in Amman, which makes a victory this time even more difficult to achieve.
Despite their woes in Jordan, the Socceroos hold a much stronger record against their opposition in Australia.
In March 2016, they defeated a Harry Redknapp led Jordan 5-1 at the Sydney Football Stadium and secured first spot in their World Cup qualification group.
In addition to this, Australia defeated Jordan 4-0 at Docklands Stadium in June 2013 and went one step closer towards their qualification for the 2014 World Cup.
Recent history shows that the Socceroos struggle when they play Jordan away from home and they need to work hard in order to prevent a repeat of poor results.
They have made a strong start to their qualification campaign for both the next World Cup and Asian Cup, with 15 goals scored and one conceded in three matches. The strikers must ensure that they convert their chances, and the defence needs to be solid, in order to break a bad run of results against their opposition away from home.
