Austria are again on the World Cup stage for the primary time since 1998 and can be anticipated to make a profitable begin once they face match debutants Jordan of their Group J opener on the San Francisco Bay Space Stadium on Wednesday.
Ralf Rangnick’s aspect arrive in sturdy type after profitable all three of their World Cup warm-up matches, whereas Jordan head into their first-ever World Cup look trying to finish a tough run that has seen them fail to win any of their final 5 video games.
Austria secured qualification by ending high of their UEFA qualifying group, edging out Bosnia & Herzegovina thanks partly to Michael Gregoritsch’s late equaliser in an important 1-1 draw of their closing fixture. Since then, they’ve maintained that momentum with wins over Ghana, South Korea and Tunisia.
With harder Group J fixtures in opposition to Argentina and Algeria nonetheless to come back, Austria will view this opening match as a key alternative to place three factors on the board. The Austrians are aiming to succeed in the knockout phases of a World Cup for the primary time since 1954.
Jordan, in the meantime, made historical past by qualifying for his or her first World Cup finals after ending second of their AFC qualifying group. Jamal Sellami’s aspect impressed by reaching the Arab Cup closing after qualification, however they’ve struggled since then, drawing two and dropping two of their final 4 friendlies.
World Cup 2026: Austria v Jordan staff information
Austria are with out Christoph Baumgartner, who was compelled to overlook the match by means of harm and has been changed within the squad by Dejan Ljubicic.
Patrick Wimmer, Florian Grillitsch and David Alaba have all been carrying health issues, though Alaba is anticipated to be obtainable from the beginning.
In Baumgartner’s absence, Romano Schmid, Marcel Sabitzer, Michael Gregoritsch and veteran striker Marko Arnautovic are anticipated to type Austria’s attacking unit.
Jordan have additionally suffered a major setback, with Yazan Al Naimat unavailable as a result of harm that has stored him sidelined since December. The ahead scored eight targets throughout World Cup qualifying and can be a significant miss.
Ibrahim Sabra withdrew from the squad earlier than the match and was changed by Mohammad Taha.
