Austria vs Jordan Preview – Group J | OneFootball

FIFA World Cup debutants Jordan face off against tournament returnees Austria in Group J at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on Tuesday.

Austria Overview

Austria return to the World Cup finals after a 28-year absence as they play for football’s biggest prize for the first time since 1998, with this edition being their eighth appearance in the competition’s history.

Securing a best finish of third and the bronze medal in 1954, Austria topped Group H in their UEFA qualifying group last November to secure a place in the finals and will now be looking to make up for lost time in North America.

Ranked 24th in the FIFA World Rankings, Burschen are led by former RB Leipzig and Manchester United head coach Ralf Rangnick, who has been at the helm in April 2022. After powering them to EURO 2024 qualification, he repeated the feat to end the Austrian’s World Cup exile.

The squad is a blend of experience and youth, headlined by the likes of Real Madrid’s David Alaba, Marko Arnautovic, Michael Gregoritsch and Marcel Sabitzer leading the way for youngsters Carney Chukwuemeka and Paul Wanner; the duo switching allegiances from England and Germany respectively ahead of the tournament.

Rangnick’s men will be looking to emulate the ‘Wonder Team’ side of 1934 who finished in fourth place on their tournament debut as they look to welcome through a new golden age of Austrian football.

Jordan Overview

Their first opponents of this year’s finals come in the form of Jordan, who are making their World Cup debut. Runners-up in the 2023 Asian Cup and 2025 Arab Cup, Jordan overcame the pain of 2013, when they missed out on a spot in the 2014 edition of the World Cup in Brazil after they were defeated by Uruguay in the inter-confederation play-off, to take their place at the top table of global football.

Manager Jamal Sellami took over in June 2024, and in just over a year had led his side to their first ever World Cup finals.

They secured an automatic qualification spot after beating Oman 3-0, coupled with South Korea defeating Iraq. The Moroccan was gifted Jordanian citizenship by King Abdullah II in December 2025 for his part in the team’s qualification.

Tactics and Troubles

The Nashama are known for counter-attacking style, having scored 32 times during qualification, and are headlined by star forward Mousa Al Tamari, who contributed to 18 goals in 36 games for Ligue 1 side Rennes this season, as well as finding the net seven times for his country in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup.

The 29-year-old has occasionally been dubbed ‘the Jordanian Messi,’ with a clash with the footballing icon set to take place at the end of June when World Champions Argentina face the AFC side later in the group stage.

However, the 63rd placed team in the FIFA World Rankings will be without two key strikers in the form of Yazan Al Naimat and exciting youngster Ibrahim Sabra, with the latter being ruled out through injury after making the initial 26-man squad. Jordan’s attacking football does have its issues though, with Sellami’s side susceptible to counter attacks themselves, which was exploited by Switzerland on the eve of the tournament, with the Swiss reigning 4-1 victors in their final warm-up fixture.

Regardless of what will happen during their tenure in North America, Jordan will return home as national heroes.

Match Details

Tuesday, June 16San Francisco Bay Area Stadium,Kickoff: midnight ET / 9:00pm PT