4 Takeaways From Algeria's Comeback Win Over Jordan At World Cup

In a tense game between two teams that lost their respective Group J openers, Algeria prevailed 2-1 over Jordan after conceding the opening goal but scoring twice from set pieces to find a victory that kept its hopes alive of advancing at the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. 

With the result, Jordan cannot advance to the knockouts but will face Argentina in its finale. While Algeria and Austria will meet in a game that will decide second place in the group and guarantee advancement. 

This was an interesting tactical battle from the start. It was clear that Algeria was going to control possession in a 3-4-3 formation but still look to play at a fast pace. 

Jordan was going to sit out of possession in a conservative 4-2-3-1 formation and look to get aggressively into the attack, force turnovers, and catch Algeria out of possession. Jordan was the heavy underdog in this game and had never won a World Cup game in its history. 

Algeria had a few very important performances. Playmaker Ibrahim Maza of Bayer Leverkusen was instrumental in applying pressure over the full 90 minutes. But immediately, Algeria was looking to attack from out wide through left winger Farès Chaïbi and captain Riyad Mahrez on the right side, but neither was effective until the second half. 

In its opening game, Jordan lost to Austria 3-1 but was even in the game until the 76th minute. It was an inspired performance as Jordan put Austria on its heels at many moments. 

In this game, Jordan kept up the same tactics and was initially effective, but ultimately, Jordan could not keep up with Algeria’s adjustments. Midway through the first half, Algeria had more success in its attempt to play balls over the Jordanian backline and find Marseille forward Amine Gouiri.