Morocco beats Jordan 3-2 after extra time and takes second FIFA Arab Cup title

Morocco beat Jordan 3-2 after extra time to capture the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup title on a rainy Thursday evening at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar.

Abderrazak Hamdallah bagged a brace with Oussama Tannane on target for the winning side, while Ali Olwan scored twice for the Jordanians.

Although not the first team, this group of Moroccan players led by coach Tarik Sektioui showed the country’s depth ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup, where Walid Regragui and Co. hoped to improve on their fourth place from the previous edition.

It was Tannane who broke the deadlock and stunned the 84,517-strong crowd at the stadium, a venue where exactly three years ago Lionel Messi and Argentina won the World Cup. The attacking midfielder collected the loose ball near the halfway line in the fourth minute and perhaps saw Jordan goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila come off his line. It wasn’t that the goalkeeper wandered outside his penalty area. He was outside his six-yard area, somewhere near the penalty spot. But Tannane’s turn-and-shoot attempt from inside his own half slowly slid into the back of the net, inches beyond Abulaila’s reach.

READ | Morocco passes the UAE to reach the final of the FIFA Arab Cup

In the process, the Jordanian custodian crashed into the upright and collapsed in pain, requiring emergency medical attention and halting play for a while.

A few minutes later, Morocco were on the hunt again, with Tannane releasing Karim El Berkaoui in a slick move. Berkaoui fired a ground shot from the right, but Abulaila had by then shaken off the jitters of his collision and made a saving dive to his right.

Tannane almost scored his second goal in the 41st minute after Abulaila had thwarted a cross. But full-back Issam Smeeri blocked the shot to ensure Jordan did not go into half-time trailing by two goals.

After the break, the trailing team equalized in the 48th minute through Olwan’s header. In a short corner, Mohannad Abu Taha received the ball near the byline, who then whipped in a left-footed cross to find an emerging Olwan to head home between two red shirts.

Just after the hour mark, Olwan completed his brace. Jordan captain Mahmoud Al-Mardi’s volley from the edge of the penalty area took a deflection off substitute Ashraf El Mahdioui, putting him behind for what looked like a regular corner. However, VAR intervened and ruled that Mahdioui had handled the ball in the penalty area. After the sentence was pronounced, the Al Nashama faithful chorused a joyful scream, as piercing as the biting cold in the air. Minutes after waiting patiently, Olwan smashed the ball into the roof of the net, giving Jordan the lead for the first time in the match.

It wasn’t until late in regular time that the match took a dramatic turn. In the 87th minute, substitute Hamdallah’s goal during a corner – he poked the ball home after it had tipped away from him and the post – was allowed by VAR after initially being flagged for offside. Despite nine minutes of stoppage time, neither team could find a winner.

VAR remained an important script writer even in extra time. Seconds after kicking off the first half, Taha unleashed a scorcher from outside the boot from the edge of the penalty area, which flew against the far post. But Jordan fans’ joy was short-lived after VAR found the player guilty of a handball violation during the build-up.

It was in the 100th minute that Hamdallah scored the winner after pushing Marwane Saadane’s bicycle kick attempt into the net from point-blank range. In the remaining ten minutes, Jordan worked forward in search of his third goal, but the Moroccans saw out the match for the second Arab Cup.

(The writer is in Qatar at the invitation of the Qatar Local Organizing Committee for FIFA events in 2025)

Published on December 19, 2025