Austria battled to a 3-1 win over World Cup debutants Jordan in their opening Group J match, with Yazan Al Arab's own goal and Marko Arnautovic's stoppage-time penalty pulling them clear.

After Lionel Messi's historic hat-trick guided Argentina to a 3-0 win over Algeria, Ralf Rangnick's team joined the reigning champions on three points at the top of their section – though they did not have things all their own way at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.

Romano Schmid's rocket put Austria ahead in the 21st minute, but Ali Olwan scored a glorious goal of his own to get Jordan level five minutes into the second period.

Jordan faded after that moment, though, and a fortunate glancing touch off Al Arab in the 76th minute put Austria back in front, before Arnautovic's spot-kick made the result safe in the 12th minute of stoppage time.

Despite Jordan starting positively, it was Ralf Rangnick's team that went ahead with a bolt from the blue, as Schmid fired into the top-right corner after receiving Xaver Schlager's routine lay-off.

Olwan almost equalised immediately as his glancing header bounced off the crossbar, but he did not have to wait long to score his nation's first World Cup goal after half-time.

The Al-Sailiya striker was inside his own half when Noor Al Rawabdeh played a pass into the wide-open space in front of him, and he advanced into the Austria penalty area before curling a wonderful finish off the far post and in.

Austria thought they had restored their lead in the 67th minute, with substitute Arnautovic finishing after Yazeed Abulaila miscued his punch, but a VAR review frustrated them as Stefan Posch was ruled to have handled as he bundled the ball towards his team-mate.

But Austria's next corner did result in a goal, with Marcel Sabitzer's delivery missing Arnautovic but flicking off the back of Al Arab before nestling in the far corner. 

Arnautovic added some late gloss to the scoreline from 12 yards after seeing his cross handled by Saleem Obaid, though Austria will know an improvement is required ahead of facing Argentina next.

37J 59T – Marko Arnautovic wurde durch sein Tor gegen Jordanien mit 37 Jahren und 59 Tagen der älteste österreichische Torschütze bei einer FIFA-Weltmeisterschaft. Er löste Toni Polster ab, der 34 Jahre und 93 Tage alt war, als er 1998 gegen Kamerun zum 1-1 traf. Ablöse. #AUTJOR pic.twitter.com/FbUqL8eM9K

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) June 17, 2026

Austria unconvincing, but up and running

This World Cup features four first-time participants, with Jordan the third to take to the field after Curacao and Cape Verde both had their moments – the former briefly drawing level with Germany and the latter holding Spain to a stunning 0-0 draw. 

Uzbekistan will make their bow against Colombia on Wednesday, but Jordan continued the theme of debutants impressing, taking their fearless approach from AFC qualifying – in which they scored a team-record 32 goals – to the biggest stage.

The first half of this contest saw Austria (18) and Jordan (15) combine for 33 touches inside the penalty area, with Germany versus Curacao (41) the only game to feature more before the interval at this tournament.

Jordan found themselves behind to a Goal-of-the-Tournament contender from Schmid, who became the first Austria player to score from outside the area at a World Cup since Ivica Vastic did so against Chile in 1998 – exactly 26 years ago to the day.

They responded brilliantly through Olwan, only for a moment of misfortune to put them on the back foot again. Al Arab's own goal was the fifth at this World Cup already – only the 2018 (12) and 1998 (six) tournaments have ever produced more.

Arnautovic's late penalty significantly boosted Austria's expected goals (xG) figure to 1.66, compared to Jordan's 0.53, with both teams having 11 shots and four on target apiece.