Austria return from long World Cup absence with nervy 3-1 win over Jordan

SANTA CLARA, United States: Austria celebrated their long-awaited return to the World Cup with a 3-1 win over determined debutants Jordan on Tuesday (Jun 16), with substitute Marko Arnautovic the difference in a gritty, end-to-end Group J match.

On a brisk night in the San Francisco Bay Area, Austria went ahead with a 21st-minute thunderbolt from Romano Schmid before Jordan fought back after the break through Ali Olwan's exquisite strike in off the post.

The introduction of Arnautovic at halftime was decisive for Austria.

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 said they knew coming into the match how tough their opponents would be.

"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 added.

"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 Mousa Al-Tamari a constant threat to Austria, who were playing at their first World Cup in 28 years.

The match got off to a frenetic start, 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 got into their stride, with Marcel Sabitzer the central figure in 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 found the leveller five minutes after halftime