Ali Olwan Scores Jordan's First World Cup Goal Against Austria

Ali Olwan scored Jordan's first ever World Cup goal, curling in an equaliser from distance against Austria in Group J at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in the United States. The goal put Jordan in the record book even as the match kept swinging back and forth.

Ali Olwan Changes Jordan

Romano Schmid had struck first for Austria, firing into the top corner to open the scoring. Olwan answered with the finish that mattered most for Jordan's place in its own World Cup history, and the equaliser came from outside the box rather than a scrappy rebound or a set piece.

The match then turned again when an own goal put Austria back ahead. That sequence left Jordan chasing the game after reaching a milestone that had never before been achieved by the team on this stage.

Austria Presses Jordan

Austria's attacking threat stayed visible through Marko Arnautovic and Marcel Sabitzer, while the tempo around the 60-minute mark suggested Jordan was beginning to lose some of the energy it had earlier in the match. Andy Reid said, "Jordan look a little bit leggy at the moment, they haven't got the energy they had for the first 60 minutes."

Reid also described one Austria move by saying, "It's a brilliant ball in to the box and a great run with a brilliant header. A fantastically well-worked goal." On another passage, he added, "Handball or not, the keeper for Jordan is having a stinker. Someone must have put Lurpak on his gloves."

Group J In The United States

The result mattered beyond one goal because it came in Group J at the World Cup, on a live afternoon in the United States, and it gave Jordan a first entry in the tournament's scoring column. For a side that had gone through previous World Cup action without a goal, Olwan's strike became the reference point for everything that followed in the match.