Jumu’ah mubarak! The Friday Fill-in is The Athletic Ummah’s weekly news roundup. If you have a story or athlete you’d like to pitch for it, email us at TheAthleticUmmah@gmail.com.
The Headlines
Jordan qualifies for their first ever Asian Cup final: For the first time in the AFC Asian Cup’s 68-year history, a team from the Levant will compete in the final. Jordan, which entered the tournament ranked 87th in the world and 13th in Asia, will play against reigning champion and 2023 host Qatar in Saturday’s final, after dismantling two-time champion South Korea 2-0 in the semi-final. “I have never in my life imagined it would feel this good to win a football match,” Jordanian football fan Lujain told The Athletic Ummah on X. “It’s a first for Jordan and I’m so glad I’m here to witness it.”
Muhammad Ali to star in WWE 2K24 video game: A trailer for the upcoming video game WWE 2K24 has revealed boxing legend and social activist Muhammad Ali as a playable character. A game model of the late Ali is seen shadow-boxing at the end of the game’s legacy trailer — though it’s not confirmed whether or not Ali will only be playable in WWE 2K24’s new special guest referee mode. Although Ali never formerly competed in WWE, he did appear as a special guest referee in the inaugural Wrestlemania event in 1985. The latest edition of the WWE 2K series will be released on March 8.
Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira to feature in over-35 World Cup: 2014 FIFA World Cup champions Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira are among several football legends who will participate in an over-35 World Cup this summer. The competition, organized by the Elite Players Group, will consist of eight teams: England, Argentina, Brazil, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Uruguay. According to the Daily Mail, the tournament will take place in England at the beginning of June, and will also feature icons like Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Francesco Totti.
UFL announces inaugural season schedule: The United Football League (UFL) has released its full 43-game schedule for its inaugural season. The American football league, which formed last year via a merger between the XFL and the USFL, will open with a March 30 game between the USFL champion Birmingham Stallions and the XFL champion Arlington Renegades. Conference and league championship games will be played in June.
What You Might’ve Missed
2023 was a huge year for football in Saudi Arabia, between the influx of superstar talents into its top men’s league and the awarding of 2034 FIFA World Cup hosting rights.
And the Kingdom hasn’t skipped a beat since moving in 2024 — only this time, they’re making strides in women’s football. On Sunday, Feb. 4, the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) announced that the eighth WAFF Women’s Championship will be held in Saudi Arabia from Feb. 19 to 29.
This tournament will be the first competitive women’s international tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia. It will also see the Middle Eastern country’s first ever participation in a WAFF regional competition.
Saudi Arabia will be joined by seven other teams, including WAFF members Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Jordan. Non-WAFF members Nepal and Guam will also participate in the competition, as they were offered a special invitation to play. This marks the first time since 2011 that eight teams will participate in the WAFF Women’s Championship.
Teams were split into two groups of four, with Saudi Arabia joined by Lebanon, Guam and five-time champions Jordan in Group A. The top two teams will advance to the semi-finals, with the winners of each one-off match playing in the final.
WAFF executive committee member Lamia bint Ibrahim bin Bahian said Saudi Arabia’s hosting of this tournament represents an important step towards developing women’s football in the country.
Saudi Arabia is a relatively new player on the women’s football scene, due in large part to systematic discrimination and active opposition from political leaders and sports administrators.
The first Saudi women’s football club was founded in 2006, and the first match between two female teams in the country occurred in Jan. 2008. That same year though, the creation of a FIFA-recognized women’s national team was banned by Saudi law — and it wouldn’t be until after Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s death in 2015 that that law and others like it would begin to be reformed.
In Feb. 2022 — 14 years after the prohibition of creating a FIFA-recognized women’s national team — Saudi Arabia made their debut in women’s football, beating Seychelles 2-0 in Maldives. Seven months later, they played their first game in Saudi Arabia: a 3-3 draw with Bhutan.
Fast forward to today and there’s now a long-term plan in place to get the team into a FIFA Women’s World Cup within the next decade — a dream that looked impossible not too long ago.
That goal’s easier said than done though, especially for a team currently ranked 175th in FIFA’s rankings. But the upcoming WAFF Women’s Championship is a good opportunity for the Green Falcons to gauge just how much work needs to be done to hit that height.
Jordan has won the Women’s Championship a record 5 times and is currently in the world’s top 75 teams, while Guam is in the top 100 in the FIFA rankings. Lebanon is also not a team to scoff at — they’re 41 places above Saudi Arabia and finished 2nd in the 2022 edition (albeit among four participating teams.)
Whatever happens in the Women’s Championship, it’s nevertheless a huge step forward for a country that had banned women from attending football games until 2017. The more doors we open for women to play in Muslim-majority countries, the better.
Muslim Athlete of the Week
It’s been nearly a month since the 2023 AFC Asian Cup kicked off in Qatar, and I think it’s fair to say this has been the most exciting and captivating edition of the competition I’ve ever seen.
This is in large part because of the superstars who’ve adorned the tournament with their incredible skills, technical quality and individual brilliance — like Iraq’s Ayman Hussain, who lost his father and brother to terrorism in the past. He currently leads the scoring charts after scoring six goals in four matches.
His Iraq was eliminated in the round of 16 by the Cinderella story that is Jordan, which has been inspired by the terrific trio of Mahmoud Al-Mardi, Yazan Al-Naimat and Musa Al-Taamari to make history for the country and the Levant.
Speaking of Levantine legends, Oday Dabbagh helped Palestine reach the knockout rounds for the first time in their history by scoring two of their five goals in the group stage, including the winner in a do-or-die game against Hong Kong. He finished the Asian Cup with three goals, the most scored by a Palestinian in Asian Cup history.
But if I had to pick the 2023 Asian Cup’s best player, my vote would go to Qatar’s 27-year-old Akram Afif — and this week against Iran, he showed why.
Going into Wednesday’s semi-final, Qatar probably wasn’t the favourite to beat Iran. Yes, they were the hosts, the reigning champions and had a flawless group stage. But their performances vs. Palestine and Uzbekistan in the knockout rounds left a lot to be desired. They needed an Afif penalty to beat Palestine in the round of 16, and a heroic three-save performance by goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham to squeeze by Uzbekistan on penalties.
Iran, meanwhile, was riding a high few Iranians from this generation had experienced. Although they needed penalties to beat Syria in the round of 16, a 2-1 win over a stacked Japanese team in the quarters made Iran the new pick to go the distance. For the second Asian Cup in a row, the final was one win away for Team Melli — and they had beaten the side that had ended their hopes in 2019 to get there.
The pre-game expectations for the semi-final were almost immediately justified when Iran’s Sardar Azmoun scored a brilliant bicycle kick in the 4th minute. For just the second game in this Asian Cup, Qatar had fallen behind.
But like the equalizer against Palestine in the round of 16, Afif brought his home nation back on level terms with a slick assist. In the 17th minute, the 27-year-old received a long ball into Iran’s box with his hip. He then took a touch to settle the ball and allow some of his teammates to draw defenders deeper into Iran’s box, before setting Jassem Gabr up for a first-time shot. Gabr’s strike deflected over goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and into Iran’s goal for the tying tally and Afif’s tournament-leading third assist.
15 minutes later, Afif startled Iran’s defence again. An errant back-pass by an Iranian sent Afif through on goal with just a defender to beat. The Qatari attacked with pace, using a stepover to give himself some space before striking a hard shot at Beiranvand. The Iranian goalkeeper spilled the ball back to Afif, but the winger couldn’t get his rebound on target. For the moment, Iran had escaped, but it was a sign of things to come for Afif.
In the 43rd minute, Afif gave Qatar the lead with a moment of brilliance. After midfielder Ahmed Fatehi won the ball in Iran’s half, Afif received a pass at the top-right corner of Iran’s 18-yard box. Afif dribbled the ball into the box, before cutting to his right and whipping an attempt at goal while surrounded by four Iranian defenders. But the strike was too sweet for Beiranvand to handle — he watched the shot fly by his outstretched hand and into his net. Qatar had the lead, and they once again had Afif to thank for it.
Afif continued to terrorize Iran’s defences in the second half. In the 82nd minute, with the game tied at 2-2, it was Afif’s initial cross that eventually led to Almoez Ali firing Qatar into the lead. Then in stoppage time, Afif’s blistering pace forced Iranian defender Shojae Khalilzadeh to bodycheck him as he attacked Beiranvand’s goal. The rough foul led to a red card for Khalilzadeh; and although Iran had their chances to equalize soon after, it was that foul drawn by Afif that effectively sealed the win for Qatar.
For his efforts, Afif was recognized as the Man of the Match. It was his fourth Man of the Match award of the 2023 Asian Cup and his second in three knockout-round games. His assist on Qatar’s first goal was also his tournament-leading third assist, while his goal brought him one back of Iraq’s Hussain for the Asian Cup lead.
“Congratulations to our fans and all those who stood by us,” he said after the game. “The victory was not easy. We’re very proud of ourselves but hopefully, the best is yet to come.”
When Afif and his Qatari teammates line up against Jordan on Saturday, Feb. 10’s final, they’ll look to become the first repeat winners of the Asian Cup since Japan in 2004. Afif was part of the 2019 Asian Cup’s Team of the Tournament, and he’ll likely make an appearance in this year’s edition too, while capturing best player honours.
But I’m certain none of those achievements will matter to Afif if he doesn’t lift the Asian Cup trophy on Saturday. As an Asian football fan, I’ll be tuning in to see if he can do it. But even if he doesn’t win it, Afif has already left his mark on the tournament, and for that reason, he’s our Muslim Athlete of the Week.
Headline image credit: Mohamed Farag/The Peninsula
[…] we’ve previously covered, Saudi Arabia is making strides in the women’s game by hosting and participating in the regional tournament for the first time; and Palestine’s team […]