Amman, Aug. 8 (Petra) -- The draw for the 74th Jordan Pro League football season, for 2026-2027, held on Saturday, set the fixtures for the new season, with Al-Faisaly facing Al-Wehdat in the opening round and defending champions Al Hussein SC (Al Hussein Irbid) beginning their title defense against Al-Jazira.
Ten teams will compete in the league for the second consecutive season: Al Hussein Irbid, Al-Faisaly, Al-Wehdat, Ramtha, Salt, Al-Jazira, Shabab Al-Urdon, Al-Baqaa, Al-Arabi and Douqara.
The new season will also see the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system introduced into domestic competitions for the first time.
The draw ceremony was attended by representatives of the participating clubs and members of the Jordan Football Association (JFA) board. The draw was conducted entirely electronically for the second time in the history of domestic competitions, with former national team and Al Hussein Irbid player Muneeb Ghraibeh taking part.
The opening round will feature Al Hussein Irbid against al-Jazira, Al-Faisaly against Al-Wehdat, Shabab Al-Urdon against Ramtha, Al-Arabi against Salt, and Al-Baqaa against Douqara.
The final round of the first phase and the final round of the second phase will feature Al-Hussein Irbid against Ramtha, Salt against Shabab Al-Urdon, Al-Faisaly against Al-Arabi, Douqara against Al-Wehdat, and Al-Jazira against Al-Baqaa.
For the third phase, the JFA Competitions Department adopted a different draw mechanism under which matches will be played at the home ground of the team listed first, with gate receipts and the number of spectators shared between the two teams.
The opening round of the third phase will feature Ramtha against Al-Baqaa, Al-Wehdat against Al Hussein Irbid, Douqara against Salt, Shabab Al-Urdon against Al-Jazira, and Al-Faisaly against Al-Arabi.
The championship will conclude with Al Hussein Irbid against Ramtha, Al-Wehdat against Salt, Douqara against Al-Jazira, Shabab Al-Urdon against Al-Arabi, and Al-Faisaly against Al-Baqaa.
The league will be played over three phases, with each team playing 27 matches. The team accumulating the most points will be crowned champions.
Al-Faisaly and Al-Wehdat will meet three times during the season in the opening round of the first phase, the 12th round of the second phase, and the 20th round of the third phase.
Al-Faisaly holds the record for the most league titles with 35, followed by Al-Wehdat with 17; Al-Ahli with eight; Ramtha, Al-Jazira, and Al Hussein Irbid with three each; Shabab Al-Urdon with two; and Amman and Jordan with one title each.
The JFA has designated three stadiums to host first-phase matches: Amman International Stadium, King Abdullah II Stadium in Al-Qweismeh and Petra Stadium, with additional venues potentially added depending on their readiness.
In the Jordan Super Cup, the draw placed Al-Faisaly and Al-Wehdat in the first semifinal on Aug. 21, while Al Hussein Irbid will face Ramtha on Aug. 22. The final will be played on Aug. 28 at Amman International Stadium.
The 43rd edition of the Super Cup will feature four teams under the competition's new format: the league, Jordan Cup, and Shield champions, as well as the league runners-up.
Al-Faisaly leads the Super Cup honors with 17 titles, followed by Al-Wehdat with 15, Al Hussein Irbid and Ramtha with three each, Shabab Al-Urdon with two, and Al-Jazira and Al-Ahli with one each.
The preliminary-round draw for the Jordan Cup was held earlier, with teams from different divisions taking part. The competition is scheduled to begin in early September.
The draw ceremony opened with the national anthem, followed by an appearance by child Mustafa Ibrahim, a cancer survivor, who expressed his happiness at taking part in the draw. He recalled a previous visit with national team players Mousa Al-Taamari and Ihsan Haddad and supporting the national team, the "Nashama," during their participation in the World Cup before taking part in the Super Cup draw.
//Petra// AF
