Austria marked their long-awaited return to World Cup soccer with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over first-time qualifier Jordan on Tuesday evening in Santa Clara, California, with substitute Marko Arnautovic playing a pivotal role in the Group J showdown.
The match, played on a cool night in the San Francisco Bay Area, saw Austria draw first blood in the 21st minute when Romano Schmid launched a powerful shot into the top corner from outside the penalty area. Jordan answered back early in the second half with a stunning strike from Ali Olwan, who drove down the left flank and curled a beautiful shot off the far post to level the score.
Austria’s decision to bring on the 37-year-old Arnautovic at halftime turned the tide. He had a goal wiped out in the 69th minute following a VAR review that determined teammate Stefan Posch had handled the ball. But Arnautovic kept the pressure on, and seven minutes later that persistence paid off when Jordanian defender Yazan Al Arab was forced into an own goal off a Stefan Sabitzer corner kick. Arnautovic then added a penalty 12 minutes into stoppage time to seal the result.
Austria midfielder Konrad Laimer reflected on the challenge Jordan presented throughout 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,” Laimer 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.”
For Austria, the win was especially meaningful — it was their first World Cup appearance in 28 years. Jordan, making their debut on the world’s biggest soccer stage, gave a determined performance with the speed of forwards Olwan and Mousa Al-Tamari keeping Austria’s defense busy throughout the game. Jordan captain Ehsan Haddad nearly opened the scoring just two minutes in when his low shot grazed the side netting.
Despite the defeat, Jordan’s Olwan remained optimistic about what lies ahead for his squad.
“We didn’t deserve to lose in our first-ever World Cup appearance — a historic participation for us,” Olwan said. “We still have two matches ahead, and based on what I saw from our team today, we are capable of qualifying.”
