From a scrum of fans, a neat, bearded man in his early thirties emerges. He is casually dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans. As he walks to his black SUV, the crowd begins to chant his name. This is Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, half-brother to the king of Jordan, the president of the Jordanian Football Association and a Fifa vice-president. So high are emotions running that many of the fans are crying.

On the other side of the stadium, hundreds of fans have gathered, seemingly just to be near the national team as it undergoes its final training session before Wednesday's World Cup play-off first leg against Uruguay. Music thumps from speakers as vendors turn heads of corn on their griddles. There is excited chatter about Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani: there is a desire for Jordan to win, of course, but there is also simply a thrill that players of that stature are in Amman. Again and again children ask if it might be possible to arrange a photograph with them.

Suárez and Cavani had a central part in Jordanian football's previous biggest moment, playing against them at the Under-20 World Cup in Canada, Cavani scoring the only goal. "In Jordan's football history this is the biggest match we have had," said Prince Ali. "That is a reality. We are on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup. There's been a lot of hard work from players and officials and coaches to get here. Remember, Jordan is a country that has very limited resources but at the same time with the spirit and hard work we managed to get here."

The spirit, perhaps, is the most remarkable aspect. Jordanian football has traditionally been divided between Wihdat and Faisaly, who, broadly speaking, represent the ethnic Palestinian and Jordanian communities in Amman. Their rivalry is fierce and derbies have often ended in violence – so bad on one occasion that, Wikileaks revealed, the US ambassador had cabled the state department to warn of the tension – but for now all that has been put to one side: a number of fans outside the ground refused even to say which of the two they supported.

For Prince Ali, the issue is particularly significant; his mother, Alia, King Hussein's third wife, was Palestinian. "I think they are rivals on the pitch but to be honest that rivalry has helped us because there's so much emotion behind it," he said. "Because we don't have the financial means it is the emotion that has got us to that level. When our players are on national team duty, they are all united, they are all one. I'd like to emphasise one point: our players all come from very different backgrounds across the country. The reason they are playing is that they love the sport."

Prince Ali is reluctant to hail the national side as an emblem of a spirit of unity but acknowledges that its success has eased tensions.

"I don't think there's anything political," he said. "Our clubs right now all realise and support each other we are one family and that's a reality so I am not concerned at all."

It's a view echoed by Jordan's coach, the great former Egypt striker Hossam Hassan. "About Faisaly and Wihdat, there is no problem there," he said. "It's like in Spain with Barcelona and Real Madrid, there's a rivalry, but now we are all in the national team. We are all Arabs together under Allah."

There is a sense that this is not just about Jordan but about the region as a whole, with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid of Dubai providing a private plane to take the Jordan side to Montevideo for the second leg. "It is big especially for Jordanian and Arab football," Hassan said. "We are very ambitious and we know that Uruguay are a real team and very difficult to overcome. But we will make the Jordanian dreams come true and take our chance and give our all by fighting on the pitch."

There is a wider question than getting to Brazil, which is whether this qualifying campaign signals a broader upturn in Jordanian football. Prince Ali acknowledges that in part this is a lucky generation, but also points out the work that has been done in improving coaching at youth level. "Many of the players on this team played in the 2007 World Cup in Canada," he said. "They were products of youth centres across the world. This includes the boys and girls.

The focus is on the boys today, but the girls have become the first team anywhere from West Asia to qualify for the Asia finals. Five teams will qualify for the World Cup so I hope the girls can follow the boys."

After Jordan's training session, the prince addressed his players, who gathered round him squatting on the running track, overlooked by three huge portraits: one of the late King Hussein, one of the present king, Abdullah, and one of his son, the crown prince, the latter two both wearing football shirts, bearing the number 99 that was special to Hussein. There is something hugely symbolic about the scene, three generations of the royal family staring down as another royal encouraged the team that carries the hopes of the nation.

The JFA headquarters was besieged by fans begging for tickets, many left in tears when it was announced the 25,000-capacity stadium had sold out. On the black market tickets were selling for 50 Jordanian dinars, which equates to £50, although for the majority of Jordanians that would represent almost a week's wages. There will be 500 there supporting Uruguay, almost all of whom have travelled from Europe.

Uruguay manager Óscar Washington Tabárez has spent most of the time since his side beat Argentina last month warning fans that Jordan are not to be taken lightly. "If Jordan gives everything they have as the home team, they will make it hard for us, and I'm not being pessimistic or cautious," he said.

"They don't have any elite football players, but to make a match tough, that's not necessary. They're very strong physically, they're back and forth, they have a very direct style of play, but when they throw the ball forward, don't look at how they play, but how all the team goes forward and get within 10 metres of the play. They have the speed to recover and get as many as eight players into the box."

Tabárez seems to expect Jordan, rather than surging forwards on a wave of enthusiasm and trying to overwhelm Uruguay in what is certain to be a raucous atmosphere, to sit deep and look to frustrate their opponents. Tabárez has spoken of the need to play fluently and to move the ball quickly; for all he spoke about "putting up the umbrella" he appears to expect the game to be played largely in his opponents half. To that end, Nicolás Lodeiro rather than Walter Gargano has been used in training alongside Egidio Arévalo Ríos at the back of midfield, with Christian Stuani and Cristian Rodríguez wide and Suárez and Cavani up front, creating more of a 4-1-3-2 shape than the 4-4-2 used in the 3-2 victory over Argentina last month.

There is one obvious absentee, Diego Forlán, at 34, now seemingly confined to the role of impact substitute. Southampton's Gastón Ramírez was also used repeatedly in a central role, indicating perhaps that he is an option from the bench should Uruguay need additional creativity.

Suárez pulled up during training on Monday and finished the session with a strapping on his thigh but, while there seems to be no major issue, the incident can only have heightened Tabárez's frustration that he played for Liverpool and Cavani for Paris Saint-Germain in league games on Saturday. "The players had to report five days before the game, so we cannot say much, but we thought things might be different," he said. "The players are part of this situation and are influenced by the team that pays their salary. In this, it's not a perfect situation but you cannot say they have violated the rules. There was no negotiation: nine turned up and we had to put up with it."

Jordan have personnel issues of their own. They will be without the goalkeeper Amer Shafi, the hero against Uzbekistan, who is suspended after being booked for time-wasting in that play-off victory, while the experienced midfielder Amer Deeb was omitted from the squad having collected a booking that will rule him out of the first leg. There are also injury concerns over the defenders Mohammad Al-Dmeiri and Anas Bani Yaseen.

"I have no doubt the match against Jordan will be difficult," said Tabárez. "We've studied our opponents and whoever thinks Jordan is Tahiti, that's their problem." Uruguay beat Tahiti 8-0 at the Confederations Cup in June and, while Jordan are clearly rather better than the Oceanian champions, they did lose 6-0 to Japan and 4-0 to Australia in qualifying.

Uruguay have the stars and they have the pedigree, but Jordan have hope and spirit and a sense of destiny.

"The crowd has been a huge part of Jordan's success," said Hassan. "We are going to win the match tomorrow [Wednesday] in front of the Jordanian crowd."