Jordan led the Algeria national football team 1-0 in World Cup 2026 after Nizar al-Rashdan scored in the 38th minute. Algeria had controlled much of the ball, but the first goal still fell to Jordan and changed the match state immediately.
The strike came after Algeria failed to clear the danger in several attempts. The move ended with a miscued moment in the area, and Rashdan knocked the ball slightly to the left of Luca Zidane before the keeper could get enough behind the save attempt.
Rayan Aït-Nouri and the early warning
Earlier, Rayan Aït-Nouri went to ground in a tussle with Amine Gouiri in the 16th minute and needed attention. That came before Algeria had a penalty appeal waved away in the 35th minute on the left side of the area, another sequence that kept them close without giving them a breakthrough.
Jordan did not sit back entirely. Ali Olwan took an early shot in the 24th minute that Luca Zidane collected comfortably, and the visitors kept looking for their moments when they could break out of pressure.
Mahrez and Algeria’s pressure
Riyad Mahrez came closest for Algeria in the 20th minute after a long ball over the Jordan defensive line, but the chance dribbled away toward Yazeed Abulaila. He had another opening in the 33rd minute from the same kind of delivery, only for his toe poke to be blocked for a corner.
Algeria were still in command with the ball during much of the first half. Jordan, though, looked most dangerous when attacking down their right side, and that balance held until the 38th minute goal tipped the contest.
Jordan’s first World Cup lead
That goal mattered because it put Jordan ahead for the first time in a World Cup match. Algeria then held on to the ball across their defensive line in the 40th minute with little interest in forcing forward, while Jordan sent Ali Olwan through again in the 42nd minute and saw the shot go straight to the keeper.
For Algeria, the next stretch had to be about turning possession into something sharper before the gap widened. For Jordan, the scoreline gave them the one thing they had not had before Rashdan’s finish: the lead and the chance to make Algeria chase the game.
