Austria tops Jordan in second World Cup match at Levi’s Stadium

SANTA CLARA – A near-capacity crowd of 68,527 lingered past 11 p.m. at Levi’s Stadium and stood at attention as another World Cup game came down to the wire.

Austria eventually emerged with a 3-1 win Tuesday night over first-time World Cup participant Jordan, but not after a series of dramatic moments, including a go-ahead goal disallowed by a video review, an own-goal by Jordan, then Marko Arnautovic’s successful penalty kick 12 minutes into extra time.

All that late action was welcomed in a venue where concerts used to draw ire for breaking 10 p.m. curfews, and four months after the Seattle Seahawks celebrated a Super Bowl LX win.

For Austria, this was its first World Cup win since 1990, when a group-stage victory over the United States ended each country’s trip to Italy.

Jordan nearly made the most of its first World Cup appearance, and tempers flared throughout the second half in what was an up-tempo match from the outset.

Once it was over, Jordan’s players walked toward the stadium’s south end, applauding as their fan base waved flags in approval of a feisty debut. Meanwhile, Austrian fans danced and sang in their north-end seats as “Sweet Caroline” blared.

The deciding goal started innocently enough on a Marcel Sabitzer corner kick. Once the ball glanced off Abdallah Nasib’s head, it careened off the back of teammate Yazan Alarab’s neck and into the net. Wedged between the Jordanian duo was Arnautovic’s attempted header.

That marked the fifth own goal of this World Cup, after six days.

It was Arnautovic who had a 67th-minute goal wiped out when VAR (video assistant referee) ruled a handball by Stefan Posch, whose right arm appeared to make unintentional contact with the ball following goalkeeper Yazeed Abulaila’s attempted clearance of a corner kick. Only a few minutes earlier, Abulaila endured an inadvertent slap to his throat by Arnautovic on a pass into the box.

Jordan’s first-ever World Cup goal pulled them even in the 50th minute via Ali Olwan’s impressive work.

Olwan crossed midfield all alone, caught up to Noor Alrawabdeh’s long pass, dribbled down the left wing, breached the penalty box, cut past defender Philipp Leinhart, then, from some 15 yards, curled a shot that kissed off the inside of the right post. Austrian goalkeeper Alexander Schlager was caught flat-footed and looked back at Olwan in disbelief.

That touched off Jordan’s inaugural World Cup celebration: Olwan and five teammates dropped to their knees in prayer.

Austria went ahead 1-0 in the 20th minute on Romano Schmid’s 22-yard blast into the upper-right corner. Schmid collected the last in a string of precise passes, centered himself atop the penalty box, then used his right boot to drill the ball into the corner.

Schmid, a 5-foot-6 midfielder who plays for Werder Bremen in Germany’s Bundesliga, benefited from precision passing and ultimately Xavier Schlager’s assist for the 1-0 lead at the 20-minute mark.

Jordan nearly equalized two minutes later when Olwan’s header ricocheted off the crossbar following a corner kick.

The crowd looked almost full at the 9 p.m. PT kickoff, though a handful of third-level suites on the east side remained vacant.

Temperatures dipped into the low 60s, a far cry from last Saturday’s sun-baked 1-1 draw between Qatar and Switzerland, which featured a late Qatari stunner to salvage a point.

Some 10 minutes before halftime, fans rolled out “the wave,” invented 45 years ago here in the Bay Area, of course, by San Jose State product “Krazy George” Henderson.

This was the second of five group-stage games to be held here, a collective prelude to the July 1 main event (Round of 32). That game could feature the United States if it wins Group D, which could happen as soon as Friday by beating Australia in Seattle; or the group could go to the Aussies if they win that game.

Next at Levi’s Stadium is Friday’s Turkey-Paraguay match, followed by Jordan’s encore Monday against Algeria and then a June 25 game between Australia and Paraguay.