World Cup 2026 | Austria 3 - 1 Jordan

A rare World Cup win for Austria

They secured their first World Cup finals victory since 1990 with a hard-fought win over debutants Jordan in San Francisco.

Author | Peter Grainger

Stadium | San Francisco Bay Area Stadium

The Europeans went ahead through a superb strike from Romano Schmid in the 21st minute, but Jordan responded five minutes after the break when Ali Olwan curled an excellent effort beyond the goalkeeper.

Former Stoke City and West Ham United forward Marko Arnautovic believed he had restored Austria's lead after pouncing on a loose ball when Jordan goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila failed to deal with a corner.

However, following a review by the video assistant referee, the goal was ruled out after replays showed the ball had struck the arm of Stefan Posch.

READ MORE | Iran 2 - 2 New Zealand

READ MORE | Argentina 3 - 0 Algeria

Austria were not to be denied and regained the advantage in the 76th minute when Yazan Al Arab inadvertently turned the ball into his own net from a corner.

Arnautovic then wrapped up the victory from the penalty spot in the 12th minute of stoppage time after Saleem Obaid was penalised for handball.

The impact of this match

Austria next face Argentina on Monday. They will be outsiders going into this game but will know they are now in a great position thanks to this win. They are appearing at the finals for the first time since 1998, and this was their first World Cup win since a 2-1 success over the United States on 19 June 1990.

Jordan, ranked 67th in the world, can take encouragement from their display but are likely to require a positive result against Algeria before concluding their group-stage campaign against Argentina

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