Austria marked their long-awaited return to the World Cup with a 3-1 victory over determined debutants Jordan, with substitute Marko Arnautovic proving the difference in a gritty, end-to-end Group J encounter.
On a brisk night in the San Francisco Bay Area, Austria took the lead in the 21st minute through a thunderbolt from Romano Schmid. Jordan fought back after the break with an exquisite strike from Ali Olwan that went in off the post.
The introduction of Arnautovic at half-time was decisive. The 37-year-old striker had a goal disallowed in the 69th minute, then pressured defender Yazan Al-Arab into an own goal seven minutes later before converting a penalty deep into stoppage time.
Austria midfielder Konrad Laimer acknowledged the toughness of the opposition. "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," he 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."
Jordan defended resolutely and were fierce on the break, with the pace of forwards Olwan and Musa al-Taamari a constant threat to Austria, who were playing at their first World Cup in 28 years.
The match started frenetically, with Jordan causing a scare two minutes in with a counter-attack that led to captain Ehsan Haddad blasting low into the side netting. Austria soon found their rhythm, with Marcel Sabitzer central to a succession of attacks, and they broke the deadlock on 21 minutes when Schmid found the top corner from outside the box.
Jordan pressed hard and equalised five minutes after half-time when Olwan powered down the left before firing a sumptuous shot in off the far post. Austria thought they were back in front when Arnautovic prodded home a loose ball from close range, but the goal was ruled out due to a handball by Stefan Posch following a VAR review.
The decisive goal came when Sabitzer's corner went in off Al-Arab, and Arnautovic sealed the win with a penalty 12 minutes into stoppage time.
"We didn't deserve to lose in our first-ever World Cup appearance – a historic participation for us," Jordan's Olwan said. "We still have two matches ahead, and based on what I saw from our team today, we are capable of qualifying."
