June 16, Kathmandu – The Asian football team Jordan will compete for the first time in the FIFA World Cup 2026, facing Austria in their opening match. The World Cup will be held across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, featuring four new teams including Curaçao and Cape Verde, who have already made their debuts. Jordan, drawn in Group J, will take their first step onto the world’s biggest football stage with a match against European nation Austria at 9:45 AM on Wednesday.
According to FIFA rankings, Austria currently stands 24th while Jordan is ranked 63rd. Despite the ranking gap, Jordan aims to deliver a positive result against Austria, who lie 39 places ahead in the standings.
Austria is a team with a strong World Cup history, having reached the semifinals twice. Their first semifinal appearance was in 1934, and they secured third place in 1954, twenty years later. Since then, Austria has only advanced beyond the group stage once, in 1982. Notably, the 1954 World Cup match between Austria and Switzerland holds the record for the highest-scoring World Cup game, with 12 goals. Austria overturned a three-goal deficit to win 7-5 in that thrilling encounter.
This upcoming match will mark Austria’s first World Cup game against an Asian team. Jordan secured their maiden World Cup qualification by defeating Oman 3-0 in the Asian qualifiers on June 5, 2025. Jordan’s head coach Jamal Salami was a member of the Morocco squad that competed in the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
