Traditional rivals Wihdat and Faisali come head-to-head on Tuesday in the semifinals of the 34th Jordan Football Association Shield — the first of the 2021 season competitions.

 The other semifinal will see newcomers Jalil take on Jazira in the late match at Prince Mohammad Stadium in Zarqa.

Jalil and Baqa’a joined the 12 club  Pro League this season and the former was the surprise team of the Shield, which kicked off the football season.

While Jazira, Wihdat and Jalil won their matches, Faisali advanced to the semifinal on points leaving Ramtha behind as the top team from each group moved  to the March 9 semis. The group leaders came as follow 

Group A: Wihdat eliminated Ma’an and Sahab.

Group B: Faisali eliminated Ramtha and Baqa’a.

Group C: Jazira eliminated  Hussein and Shabab Urdun

Group D: Jalil eliminated Salt and Aqaba

The final will be played on March 13 with the winner taking JD 15,000  and the runner up JD10,000.

Looking back at the history of the Shield tournament, Wihdat are a record 10 time winners, Faisali 7, Ramtha 5 , Hussein three, Jazira and Amman and Shabab Urdun twice, Kufrsoum and Yarmouk once. Hussein were finalists 7 times. Amman, have since scrapped football while Qadissieh were relegated and have since merged with Shabab Urdun.

Last season, Wihdat took home their 17th Pro League title while Jazira finished runner-up, Ramtha third, and Salt fourth ahead of former champs Faisali who settled for fifth. Sarih, who were promoted last year, dropped alongside veterans Ahli after a disappointing season.

Wihdat defeated Ramtha to win the  club’s 1oth title and the 33rd edition of the JFA Shield  while Faisali overcame Jazira to win the club’s 17th title in the 37th edition of the Jordan Super Cup. The Jordan Cup was scrapped from the agenda for the first time since the competition kicked off in 1980