Austria beats Jordan 3-1 for its first World Cup win in 36 years

Match narrative

Austria returned to the World Cup after a 28-year absence and secured a tense 3-1 victory over debutants Jordan in their Group J opener at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Romano Schmid opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a curling strike from outside the box, the 10th goal from distance at this tournament. Jordan equalised five minutes after the break through Ali Olwan, who drove into the area and fired a shot inside the far post for the country's first World Cup goal.

The introduction of 37-year-old striker Marko Arnautovic at halftime proved decisive. He had a 69th-minute goal disallowed after a VAR review ruled a handball by teammate Stefan Posch, but seven minutes later his pressure contributed to Yazan Al Arab deflecting a Marcel Sabitzer corner into his own net. Arnautovic then converted a penalty deep into stoppage time, 12 minutes beyond the 90, after a handball by Saleem Obeid (also reported as Salim Obaid and Mohammad Abu Zraiq across sources).

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's debut

Jordan, coached by Moroccan Jamal Sellami, arrived as a rising force in Arabian football after reaching the finals of the 2023 Asian Cup and 2025 Arab Cup. Their fans turned out in force: a convoy traveled 500 miles from San Diego to San Jose, and the 68,527 attendance fell just 300 short of capacity. Supporters draped in red-and-white shemaghs chanted and displayed tributes to King Abdullah II outside the stadium.

I'll be honest with you, my heart was broken when we lost to Uruguay in the 2014 qualification playoff. It's so special. Everyone here is representing their nation in the best way they can.

The team showed resilience, with captain Ehsan Haddad firing into the side netting two minutes in and Olwan heading against the bar from a corner shortly after Austria's opener. Jordan's pace on the break, through Olwan and Mousa Al-Tamari, troubled Austria throughout.

Key moments and VAR

The match turned on two VAR interventions. Arnautovic's first disallowed goal came after a review showed Posch handled the ball in the buildup. The decisive own goal arrived from a corner kick shortly after the second-half hydration break. A second VAR check in stoppage time awarded Austria the penalty that sealed the result.

We didn't deserve to lose in our first-ever World Cup appearance — a historic participation for us. We still have two matches ahead, and based on what I saw from our team today, we are capable of qualifying.

Group J context

Austria's win was its first at the World Cup since beating the United States in a group-stage match in 1990. The team had missed the previous six tournaments. Earlier on Tuesday, Argentina began its title defense with a 3-0 win over Algeria in Kansas City, with Lionel Messi scoring a hat-trick to equal Miroslav Klose's record of 16 World Cup goals. Austria will face Argentina in the Dallas area on Monday, while Jordan returns to Santa Clara to play Algeria the same day.

Fan turnout

The 69,000-capacity Levi's Stadium was nearly full despite the fixture lacking obvious marquee appeal. Fans traveled from New York, Hawaii, and Ohio, and Mexico and Senegal shirts were visible in the crowd. The U.S. Jordanian community, numbering about 120,000 in the 2020 census, was well-represented. Hussien Eid and his 13-year-old son Moody traveled from Chicago, calling the occasion a "dream come true" for the nation of 11 million.