Austria make World Cup return with win over debutants Jordan

FootballSports
17 Jun 2026 • 3:51 PM MYT
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Image from: Austria make World Cup return with win over debutants Jordan
Jordan's Odeh Fakhoury and Austria's Romano Schmid and Austria's Xaver Schlager battle for the ball during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group J soccer match between Austria and Jordan at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. Georg Hochmuth/APA/dpa

Veteran Marko Arnautović scored on his World Cup debut as Austria made their return to the big stage with a 3-1 victory over Jordan in their tournament opener on Tuesday.

The Austrians are making their first men's World Cup appearance since 1998, while Jordan have qualified for the competition for the first time in their history.

Romano Schmid fired in a stunning strike from distance to break the deadlock for Austria in the 21st minute.

Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager was forced into a big save to deny Ali Olwan in the 34th and saw his defence block Mousa Al Tamari's attempt on the rebound.

But Jordan were level in the 50th as Olwan, their top scorer in qualifying, scored the nation's first-ever World Cup goal.

Arnautović, who is playing his first World Cup at 37, thought he had scored in the 67th, but his goal was ruled out due to a handball.

Austria, however, retook the lead thanks to Yazan al-Arab, who found the net after a corner in the 76th.

And Arnautović eventually got his goal - thanks to a handball. Saleem Obaid's touch inside the box awarded Austria a late penalty, which was converted by the nation's record goalscorer. He is also now their oldest player and scorer at a men's World Cup.

"That doesn’t sound so good," Arnautović joked to broadcaster ORF about his age.

"But I really don’t care which records I break. I want to give it my all in my last tournament with this team."

A first men's World Cup win since 1990 means Austria are second in Group J, tied on three points with title holders Argentina, who earlier defeated Algeria 3-0 with a hat-trick from Lionel Messi.

Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said: "It was an extremely difficult game, they made life very hard for us. It was important that we got the win over the line."

Next up, Austria face Argentina on June 22, while Jordan take on Algeria.

Image from: Austria make World Cup return with win over debutants Jordan
Austria's Philipp Lienhart and Jordan's Mousa Altamari battle for ball during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group J soccer match between Austria and Jordan at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. Georg Hochmuth/APA/dpa
Image from: Austria make World Cup return with win over debutants Jordan
Austria's Stefan Posch and Jordan's Ali Olwan battle for ball during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group J soccer match between Austria and Jordan at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. Georg Hochmuth/APA/dpa
Image from: Austria make World Cup return with win over debutants Jordan
Austria's David Alaba, Jordan's Mousa Altamari and Austria's Xaver Schlager battle for the ball during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group J soccer match between Austria and Jordan at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. Georg Hochmuth/APA/dpa