{"id":369718,"date":"2026-06-22T02:37:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T02:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/369718\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T02:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T02:37:13","slug":"jordans-world-cup-debut-sparks-national-pride-in-the-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/369718\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan’s World Cup debut sparks national pride in the Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sunday, the often sterile halls of the San Jose Convention Center were transformed into the site of a festival as a military band in olive uniforms and red and white headscarves marched across the carpeted floors. Horns blared and drummers played a rapid tattoo as the bandleaders swung their limbs with metric precision. Behind them, a small crowd waved Jordanian flags and clapped their hands to the beat in an informal procession where onlookers cheered and filmed on their cellphones.<\/p>\n

With their country\u2019s first-ever appearance in the World Cup<\/a>, Jordanians and Jordanian Americans gathered in the Bay Area to celebrate their culture and their country\u2019s historic achievement in what they are calling a milestone moment of national pride.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh man, we\u2019re proud,\u201d said Rafat Alamawi, head of the Jordanian Fan association, on Jordan\u2019s entrance into the tournament. \u201cThis is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. \u2026 It takes a small country and puts it on a big map.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan is a largely Arab country of over 11.5 million people, about the size of Maine, bordered by Israel to the east, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Iraq and Syria to the north. The country is one of four making their World Cup debut this year, alongside Cape Verde, Cura\u00e7ao and Uzbekistan, as the tournament includes 48 teams<\/a>, the most in its history. The team plays against Algeria this Monday<\/a> at Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara<\/a>, after a 3-1 loss against Austria at Levi\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"MembersMembers of the Jordanian Armed Forces Band play at the start of \u201cJordan House San Jose; Official Fan and Cultural Experience Celebrating Jordan’s First-Ever FIFA World Cup Appearance\u201d at the San Jose Convention Center in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

To celebrate the debut and the culture of the country, a group of organizations led by the Jordanian Tourism Board is holding \u201cJordan House\u201d at the San Jose Convention Center<\/a> this Sunday and Monday. The event is free and open to the public, running until 10:45 p.m. on Sunday and from 3:15 to 10:55 p.m. on Monday. The event will feature Jordanian musicians, comedians, dance and food as well as a watch party for Monday\u2019s match.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the event saw hundreds milling about the convention center with red-on-white patterned scarves \u2014 the Shemagh, Jordan\u2019s national headscarf \u2014 \u00a0wrapped around their heads or draped by the hosts across the shoulders of guests as a gift to perfect strangers. The scent of pistachio and spices invited visitors toward vendors who offered samples of sweets stuffed with dates or nuts and shots of strong black coffee spiced heavily with cardamom. Elsewhere, a station offered kebab sandwiches and intensely minty bottles of lemonade dyed light green by the herb, as \u201chabibi\u201d \u2013 \u201cmy dear\u201d \u2013 floated from the lips of shopkeepers. Music in Arabic blasted throughout the space as visitors clapped and danced to the rhythm, and children crowded a tiny indoor soccer field built to commemorate the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never experienced anything like this,\u201d said Jordan Makableh, who sold kebab sandwiches and mint tea at the event and owns the restaurant Mazra in Redwood City and San Bruno. He noted that although there is a strong community in the Bay Area, it was rare to see so many Jordanians coming together.<\/p>\n

\"JordanJordan fan Shadi Haddad, from Chicago, juggles a ball before the start of \u201cJordan House San Jose; Official Fan and Cultural Experience Celebrating Jordan’s First-Ever FIFA World Cup Appearance\u201d at the San Jose Convention Center in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking out and seeing a sea of red, it\u2019s a beautiful thing,\u201d he said in reference to the scarves that covered the crowd.\u00a0 \u201cI feel like there\u2019s people from all over the world coming together and showing love\u201d for Jordan, he added.<\/p>\n

Even before the event, the matches have been a nexus for proud Jordanians to gather together. Alawami of the fan association organized two convoys, one from San Francisco and the other routed through San Diego and Los Angeles, with more than a hundred cars and a thousand fans that met together and marched a half mile to Levi\u2019s Stadium for the first game. He said that even those who have never seen a soccer game \u2014 or didn\u2019t even know the rules of the sport \u2014 have come out to support the team, given the gravity of the occasion. \u201cThey\u2019re not necessarily soccer fans. They\u2019re Jordan fans,\u201d Alawami said.<\/p>\n

And for some fans, the experience has been unforgettable.<\/p>\n

Murad Alkaddumi came from Los Angeles to watch the matches and said he would be going to Dallas to watch Jordan again. \u201cIt\u2019s been the best experience, and this makes it even more fun,\u201d he said, gesturing at the scores of Jordanians and Jordanian fans who milled about the conference center.<\/p>\n

\"JordanJordan fans dance before the start of \u201cJordan House San Jose; Official Fan and Cultural Experience Celebrating Jordan’s First-Ever FIFA World Cup Appearance\u201d at the San Jose Convention Center in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Himself a fan of both Jordan and Jordanian soccer, he described Jordan reaching the World Cup as a massive achievement. \u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming. \u2026 I saw all the struggles that they have to reach here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Like many, Alkaddumi noted that the global stage \u2014 especially in the United States, a center of cultural and media power \u2014 offered an opportunity for the world to see what Jordan had to offer from its food to its hospitality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives you a sense of who we are as Jordanians. We\u2019re welcoming \u2026 there\u2019s a spirit of kindness,\u201d said Justin Abu Anza, assistant director of marketing for the Jordan Tourism Board. \u201cWe have a saying in Jordan: \u2018You can\u2019t clap with one hand\u2019 \u2014 you need to collaborate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many added that despite the fact that the region was often surrounded by conflict, they pushed back against the perception and asserted the safety of their nation. Recently, the country has found itself in the crossfire of conflict in the countries that surround it. Iran has attacked U.S. air bases in Jordan and launched hundreds of missiles and drones toward the country, according to the Jordanian army.<\/p>\n

Given the news cycles that have focused on conflict, Olga Jilani, of San Jose, a Palestinian American married to a Jordanian, said Jordan\u2019s World Cup presence was a moment of joy. \u201cIt does that: sports bring us together, unite us and give us cheer. \u2026 I\u2019m very proud and very excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JordanJordan fans gather before the start of \u201cJordan House San Jose; Official Fan and Cultural Experience Celebrating Jordan’s First-Ever FIFA World Cup Appearance\u201d at the San Jose Convention Center in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Sunday, the often sterile halls of the San Jose Convention Center were transformed into the site of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[4665,88,90,89,1083,47118],"class_list":["post-369718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-jordan","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-soccer","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}