Austria Beats Jordan 3-1 for First World Cup Win Since 1990

Austria beat World Cup debutants Jordan 3-1, scoring twice in the last 15 minutes to win their opening Group J game and pick up their first World Cup victory since 1990.

It was also Austria's first appearance at a World Cup since 1998, and came under new coach Ralf Rangnick. The match was played at the stadium used by the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.

Jordan were the brighter side early on. Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager had to make a good save to stop Odeh al-Fakhouri, but it was Austria who broke through in the 21st minute.

Romano Schmid scored the opener, picking the ball up near the edge of the box, cutting inside, and sending a shot into the top corner that the keeper had no chance of reaching.

Jordan almost leveled things straight away. Ali Olwan headed against the bar from a corner, and Schlager then had to save another effort from him soon after. Olwan finally got his goal five minutes into the second half, driving into the box from the left and beating Schlager for what was Jordan's first ever World Cup goal. Olwan had also been Jordan's top scorer during qualifying.

Austria thought they had retaken the lead in the 67th minute when Jordan keeper Yazeed Abulaila made a mess of a corner and Marko Arnautovic poked the ball in, but the goal was chalked off after a long VAR review for a handball by Stefan Posch.

The breakthrough finally came in the 76th minute, when Jordan's Yazan Al-Arab headed another corner into his own net. Then, deep into injury time, a second VAR check ruled that Mohammad Abu Zrayq had handled the ball in the box, and Arnautovic stepped up to score the resulting penalty into the bottom corner.

Austria had the better of the game throughout, finishing with 62 percent of possession to Jordan's 38 percent. Austria had eight shots off target and two on target, while Jordan had seven off target and four on target. Austria also edged the corner count, four to three, and gave away more fouls, nine to six.