Austria kicked off their first World Cup since 1998 with a 3-1 win over Jordan in San Francisco, sparked by Romano Schmid’s spectacular first-half rocket.
Jordan hit back early in the second half when Ali Olwan etched his name into national folklore, cutting in from the left to curl home a brilliant equalizer—Jordan's first-ever World Cup goal.
However, Jordan’s strategy began to falter in the final moments of set pieces. After the referee disallowed Arnautovic’s goal due to a handball, as spotted by VAR, the Austrian team scored an own goal after their corner kick deflected off the back of Jordan’s Yazan Al Arab. Minutes before the end of play, Arnautovic secured the win with a penalty kick after Salim Obaid committed a handball.
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Austria sets second in group position
The victory for Austria has led them to the second place in the group after the Argentina-Algeria clash where the defending champions of the world pinned Algerian players to 3-0 defeat at the Kansas City earlier today's matchday of Group J.
Regarding their first match, Austria's midfielder Konrad Laimer spoke his mind on the challenges they encountered in their first game. Taking to ESPN, he told, "We knew it was going to be tough. The mentality is the most important thing for the team at the moment. We just needed to continue pushing till the end."
Jordan re-appears after a 28 years drought
Jordan defended for their lives and looked lethal on the counter, with the blistering pace of Olwan and Mousa Al-Tamari constantly rattling an Austrian side playing its first World Cup match in 28 years.
The game started at an absolute pace, and Jordan nearly shocked the Austrians just two minutes in when captain Ehsan Haddad blasted a low shot into the side netting after a lightning-fast break.
Ultimately, Austria found the breakthrough when Marcel Sabitzer’s corner deflected in off Al-Arab scoring an own goal, before Marko Arnautovic put the game completely out of reach with a penalty at 12 minutes into stoppage time.
Austria, after a positive start in their World Cup campaign will face the defending champions and the top ranked team of the world Argentina on June 22. The European team have to go through an immense tactical gameplay to face the South American giants, with the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi who is fully formatted after their first clean sheet victory of this year's tournament.
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FAQs
Q1: Who scored Jordan's first-ever World Cup goal during the match against Austria?
Ans: Ali Olwan made history for Jordan by cutting in from the left to score a brilliant second-half equalizer.
Q2: Which team will Austria face next in their Group J campaign on June 22?
Ans: Austria will play against the defending World Cup champions, Argentina.
