Austria claimed their first FIFA World Cup victory since 1990 after beating debutants Jordan 3-1 in an entertaining Group J clash in San Francisco.
The win was a historic one for Ralf Rangnick’s side, who are appearing at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998. It also marked Austria’s first World Cup win since their 2-1 victory over the United States on 19 June 1990.
Austria made the brighter start and took the lead in the 21st minute through Romano Schmid. The midfielder produced a superb strike from outside the box to give his side a deserved advantage.
Jordan, ranked 67th in the world, refused to back down and found an equaliser five minutes into the second half. Ali Olwan curled a fine effort past the Austrian goalkeeper to bring the scores level and continue his impressive tournament debut.
Former Stoke City and West Ham United forward Marko Arnautovic thought he had restored Austria’s lead shortly afterwards when he finished from close range after goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila failed to deal with a corner.
However, after a VAR review, the goal was ruled out because replays showed that Stefan Posch had handled the ball in the build-up.
Austria eventually found their second goal in the 76th minute. Under pressure from another corner, Jordan defender Yazan Al Arab accidentally flicked the ball into his own net to hand the Europeans the lead once again.
Arnautovic finally got on the scoresheet deep into stoppage time when he calmly converted a penalty after Saleem Obaid was penalised for handball.
The victory puts Austria in a strong position ahead of their next match against defending champions Argentina, who defeated Algeria 3-0 thanks to a hat-trick from Lionel Messi.
For Jordan, there were still positives despite the defeat. Their performance showed they can compete at this level, and they will now look for a positive result against Algeria before finishing their group campaign against Argentina.
Ali Olwan was named Player of the Match after an outstanding display and received an average rating of 8.0 for his efforts, despite ending up on the losing side.
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