Austria marked their long-awaited return to the World Cup with a 3-1 victory over determined debutants Jordan, with substitute Marko Arnautovic proving decisive in a gritty, end-to-end Group J encounter.
Match Summary
On a brisk night in the San Francisco Bay Area, Austria took the lead in the 21st minute through a thunderbolt from Romano Schmid. Jordan fought back after the break with an exquisite strike from Ali Olwan that went in off the post.
The introduction of Arnautovic at half-time was pivotal for Austria. The 37-year-old striker had a goal disallowed in the 69th minute, then pressured defender Yazan Al-Arab into an own goal seven minutes later before converting a penalty deep into stoppage time.
Player Reactions
Austria midfielder Konrad Laimer acknowledged the difficulty of the match. "We knew that this was going to be a difficult match ... there were situations where we did a good job, there were phases where we underperformed," he said. "What's important is the mentality of the entire team – we never gave up, we kept going until the end and finally we came out on top."
Jordan defended resolutely and were dangerous on the counter-attack, with the pace of forwards Olwan and Musa al-Taamari constantly threatening Austria, who were playing at their first World Cup in 28 years.
Match Highlights
The match started frantically, with Jordan causing a scare two minutes in when captain Ehsan Haddad blasted low into the side netting from a counter-attack. Austria soon settled, with Marcel Sabitzer central to several attacks, and broke the deadlock when Schmid found the top corner from outside the box.
Jordan pressed hard and equalized five minutes after half-time when Olwan powered down the left before firing a sumptuous shot in off the far post. Austria thought they had regained the lead when Arnautovic prodded home a loose ball, but the goal was ruled out for handball by Stefan Posch after a VAR review.
The decisive goal came when Sabitzer's corner went in off Al Arab, and Arnautovic sealed the win with a penalty 12 minutes into stoppage time.
"We didn't deserve to lose in our first-ever World Cup appearance – a historic participation for us," Jordan's Olwan said. "We still have two matches ahead, and based on what I saw from our team today, we are capable of qualifying."
