By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-06-15 16:50:07 | Updated at 2026-06-17 15:36:24
1 day ago
Austria are aiming to start their World Cup 2026 campaign in style on their first appearance at the global showpiece in 28 years. Look ahead to this Group J contest in San Francisco with our Austria vs Jordan prediction and preview.
Austria vs Jordan: The Key Insights
- Austria are considered the overwhelming favourites by the Opta supercomputer for this clash, with a win probability of 70.3% to Jordan’s 12.9%.
- Austria have won only one of their last nine World Cup matches.
- Jordan scored 32 goals in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, their highest tally in a single qualifying campaign.
Austria will make their first World Cup appearance in 28 years when they face off against tournament debutants Jordan at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
They’ve not featured in football’s global showpiece since France ’98, where they crashed out in the group stage after taking just two points from their three games.
But Austria’s near three-decade absence is at an end, with Ralf Rangnick steering them to an eighth World Cup appearance. They finished top of their qualifying group in the UEFA section ahead of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
They will have to go some to beat their best-ever showing at a World Cup, which came back in 1954, when they were thrashed 6-1 by neighbours West Germany in the semi-finals. They did, however, recover to beat Uruguay and place third.
Before that horror-show against West Germany, Austria were involved in the highest-scoring match in World Cup history: a 7-5 victory over host nation Switzerland.
In more recent appearances, Austria have not fared particularly well. They’ve won just one of their previous nine World Cup matches, a 2-1 victory against the United States in 1990, drawing three and losing five of the other eight.
History suggests that goals should be expected in this one, though. Austria have played 29 World Cup matches without ever recording a 0-0 result, the most games without a goalless draw in the tournament’s history.
Veteran forward Marko Arnautovic may now be 37, but he proved his enduring quality by scoring twice as many goals as any other Austrian player during qualification (8).
Arnautovic and Marcel Sabitzer are the only players to have featured for Austria in each of their last three major tournaments (Euro 2016, 2020, and 2024), while only Erling Haaland (28) had more shots on target than the latter (16) in UEFA qualifiers.
While Austria have been away from the World Cup for almost three decades, Jordan are complete novices as they gear up for a first-ever appearance.
The World Cup rookies are in a tricky-looking group that also includes 2022 winners Argentina, and Algeria. They are attempting to become the first AFC confederation to reach the knockout stage in their maiden campaign since Saudi Arabia in 1994.
Jamal Sellami’s side were one of three in the AFC section who qualified for World Cup 2026 with an unbeaten record away from home (W4, D4), alongside Australia and South Korea.
Jordan scored 32 goals, which marks their highest tally in a single qualifying campaign – surpassing the 30 they racked up in the 2014 qualifiers.
While they may be unfancied to even make it out of the group stage, Jordan showed their mettle at the 2023 Asian Cup, where they lost 3-1 in the final to hosts Qatar.
Ali Olwan and Mahmoud Al-Mardi will be two players to look out for – the former was Jordan’s top scorer in qualifying with nine, while the latter was his team’s top assist contributor (6).
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Austria vs Jordan Head-to-Head
In a pool also containing defending champions, and the top-ranked FIFA nation, Argentina, this is a crucial clash for both teams in their hopes of making the knockout stages.
With Algeria completing the quartet in Group J, a victory for either side would be huge for their respective chances of playing in the last 32.
This Group J clash will be the first time these nations have ever gone head-to-head. It’s also the first time that Austria will go up against a nation from the AFC at the World Cup.
Austria vs Jordan Prediction
Austria are currently ranked 25th in FIFA’s World Rankings, some 39 places above Jordan in 64th. That gulf in rankings is certainly reflected in how Opta’s supercomputer expects this one to play out in San Francisco.
Austria are given a whopping 70.3% probability of winning the game. Jordan’s chances are just 12.9%, and the draw is considered a 16.9% shot.
Argentina are favourites to win the group, but Austria have an 18% probability of beating them to top spot, much more favourable than Jordan’s 2.9%.
In terms of reaching the knockout stages, Austria are heavily fancied to get out of the group at 78.4% compared to Jordan’s 29.1%.
Austria vs Jordan Squads
Austria: Alexander Schlager, Florian Wiegele, Patrick Pentz, David Affengruber, Kevin Danso, Stefan Posch, David Alaba, Philipp Lienhart, Phillipp Mwene, Alexander Prass, Marco Friedl, Michael Svoboda, Xaver Schlager, Nicolas Seiwald, Marcel Sabitzer, Florian Grillitsch, Carney Chukwuemeka, Romano Schmid, Dejan Ljubicic, Konrad Laimer, Patrick Wimmer, Paul Wanner, Alessandro Schöpf, Marko Arnautovic, Michael Gregoritsch, Sasa Kalajdzic.
Jordan: Yazeed Abulaila, Nour Bani Ateyah, Abdallah Al Fakhori, Mohammad Abu Hasheesh, Abdallah Nasib, Husam Abu Dahab, Yazan Al Arab, Mohammad Abu Al Nadi, Saleem Obaid, Mohammad Abu Ghoush, Saed Al Rosan, Mohannad Abu Taha, Ehsan Haddad, Anas Badawi, Amer Jamous, Noor Al Rawabdeh, Raja’ei Ayed, Ibrahim Sadeh, Nizar Al Rashdan, Mohammad Al Daoud, Mohammad Abu Zraiq, Ali Olwan, Mousa Al Tamari, Odeh Fakhoury, Mahmoud Al Mardi, Ali Azaizeh.
Austria vs Jordan Predicted Lineups
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