Jordan v Algeria: World Cup 2026 - live

Key events

51 min A free kick for Algeria in a dangerous area and Riyad Mahrez whips in a tempting cross. Jordan keeper Abulaila comes off his line to clear with an emphatic fist.

Share

50 min An early corner for Algeria puts Rafik Belghali in sight of goal but the defender is unable to make anything from the half chance.

Share

48 min A couple of changes for Algeria as coach Vladimir Petkovic looks for a spark as they set out to chase the game. Nabil Bentaleb and Nadhir Benbouali join the action with Hicham Boudaoui and Ramiz Zerrouki making way.

Share

Updated at 00.12 EDT

46 min Algeria get the second half under way as they have it all to do with Jordan leading.

Share

Before I head off for my own hydration break, a quick dip into the mailbag …

“For all the praise ITV have [rightly] received here in the UK for their coverage of this WC, their commitment to making it impossible for the colour-blind to know which team is which is incredible,” Ben Goodge is kind enough to relay. “‘What, a tiny, imperceptible slightly coloured line bleeding into a large block of yellow doesn’t help you?’ I’d love to have something more interesting to say, but it’s 4.30 am, this is the 4th game I’ve seen today, and it’s disgustingly hot.

“In defence of the expanded format though, I questioned staying up for this one, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Love the commitment, Ben. Let’s hope the second half can deliver enough to hold your interest. From what we saw from Algeria in the first half, I’m quietly confident it will.

Share

Or if you need a breather from the relentless action on the pitch but are committed to the other unrivalled star of this year’s World Cup, do learn more about Merlin …

double quotation markMerlin, the pet duck in a mini Mexico shirt who has ⁠become a viral sensation and an unofficial mascot of the World Cup, met Mexico’s president on Monday.

The duck waddled on ⁠to the stage ⁠at the ​start of Claudia Sheinbaum’s regular morning press conference, took a seat where ministers and officials are usually seen, and unfazed ⁠by the occasion, let out a few quacks.

Share

Here is some half-time reading for you with other tales coming out of Group J.

double quotation markThere stood 38-year-old Lionel Messi by the penalty spot, poised for yet another flashbulb moment in a career already overflowing with them. Just a few days removed from his first World Cup hat-trick – one that had thrust him into co-ownership of the all-time tournament goalscoring record – Messi had been gifted an opportunity to notch his 17th goal and stand atop the mountain alone.

Calmly, coolly, he approached the ball. And then he missed the goal entirely.

Share

Algeria had the bulk of possession at 55% to Jordan’s 33% while the remainder was in contest. But Jordan made their time on the ball count for more with 6-4 shots, including 3-2 on target, and crucially the opener to Nizar Al-Rashdan in the 36th minute.

Share

Half-time: Jordan 1-0 Algeria

Jordan take a lead into the break after a goal from Nizar Al-Rashdan.

Share

Updated at 23.56 EDT

45+3 min Algeria seem content to hold out for half-time even while trailing by a goal. A sloppy long cross to the left attacking thirds ends in a throw-in for Jordan.

Share

Updated at 23.56 EDT

45 min Jordan finishing the first half the stronger as the momentum has swung since the opening goal. A minimum five minutes of added time to come.

Share

44 min Jordan launch another attack that forces Ramiz Zerrouki into a desperate lunge that earns the first yellow card of the game.

Share

42 min Jordan stream forward again for Ali Olwan to pick out one of two white shirts cutting through the defensive line of three. The shot goes straight to the keeper but it looked offside anyway.

Share

40 min Algeria hold on to the ball across their defensive line but with little interest in forcing their way forward.

Share

38 min Algeria set out to respond quickly after falling behind against the run of play.

Share

It was chaos in the penalty area as Algeria failed to clear the danger in several attempts and Jordan lacked the finishing touch to open the scoring until a miscue ended at the feet of Nizar al-Rashdan and Luca Zidane could not get enough behind the save. Hardly an all-time classic finish but Jordan take the lead.

Share

Updated at 23.42 EDT

GOAL! Jordan 1-0 Algeria (Nizar Al-Rashdan 36)

Jordan take the lead for the first time in a World Cup match as Nizar Al-Rashdan knocks the ball slightly to the left of Luca Zidane and the Algeria keeper is unable to keep it out of the net.

Share

Updated at 23.45 EDT

35 min Algeria shouts go up for a penalty for a challenge on the left side of the area but the referee waves it away.

Share

33 min Mahrez pounces on to another long ball over the defensive line as the Algeria captain times his run perfectly. A brilliant first touch brings the ball down and into his path but a toe poke is blocked just enough to knock the ball out for a corner.

Share

32 min Jordan deliver a long cross from the left side into the penalty area but Algeria are barely blink with a casual clearance.

Share

31 min Jordan continue to look most dangerous when making their way down their right side but are leaving too much space between their midfield and attack to set up anything of note.

Share

29 min An Algeria corner is just far away from Jordan keeper Abulaila to cause him to second guess how to respond. He eventually commits but gets an unconvincing fist to the ball to leave Algeria in attack. Gouiri fires in a shot from the edge of the penalty area but it is straight at Abulaila.

Share

27 min No changes on either side as the game quickly settles into a familiar position – Algeria in command with the ball but Jordan set up to prevent much more.

Share

Rayan Aït-Nouri is receiving further attention and it’s not clear whether he will be right to continue. That would be a huge blow for Algeria to lose the defender this early.

Share

24 min Jordan attack through Ali Olwan down the right as their first World Cup goalscorer (against Austria) takes an early shot. Algeria keeper Luca Zidane collects comfortably with a dive to his right to leave Musa Al-Taamari waving his arms around and calling for a cross rather than speculative attempts from long range. Time to break for fluids.

Share

Updated at 23.30 EDT

22 min Jordan play on despite a Algeria player being down as the referee insists there is no need to stop play for what appears to be a shoulder issue.

Share

Updated at 23.24 EDT

20 min Riyad Mahrez is through on goal after a sublime ball over the Jordan defensive line. An exquisite first touch opens up the opportunity but the Algeria captain can’t quite get the ball back out from under his feet and it dribbles away toward keeper Yazeed Abulaila.

Share

18 min Algeria remain patient in possession while Jordan allows them plenty of time on the ball. There is unlikely to be too many counterattacks with Algeria stuck on the edge of the final third.

Share

16 min Rayan Aït-Nouri goes to ground in a tussle with Amine Gouiri and the Algeria defender will need some attention. Nothing to suggest it is too serious though.

Share

15 min Algeria take control of possession but are unable to find a promising entry into the final third with Jordan blocking up the space with two banks of red shirts lined up in a 5-4-1 formation.

Share

Updated at 23.19 EDT

13 min Jordan win the ball back deep in their defence and quickly unleash a counterattack. A three-on-one in favour of Algeria leaves Musa Al-Taamari with too much to do and the Jordan striker blazes away from outside the penalty area. A first shot on target.

Share

11 min Algeria attacker Amine Gouiri closes down Nizar Al-Rashdan taking too long on the ball in the midfield as the pressure mounts on Jordan.

Share

10 min Algeria knock the ball around the back to calm things down for a moment before looking for Riyad Mahrez standing on the last line of the Jordan defence. The Algeria captain spins on the first touch but shows a bit too much of the ball to allow Husam Abu Dahab to clear.

Share

8 min Jordan captain Ehsan Haddad has been involved in everything whether defending on the last line or trying to pick the way through the midfield. He finds Ali Olwan charging down the right byline as Jordan earn a throw-in that soon goes to waste.

Share

6 min The first corner goes to Algeria and forces the referee to step forward to stop the push and shove. The sternest word is saved for Jordan defender Nizar Al-Rashdan before his side head clear.

Share

5 min Algeria attack at pace for a second time to force Jordan captain Ehsan Haddad to clear the danger down the right. A lively opening comes as no surprise.

Share

3 min Algeria have woken up just as quickly. Attacker Amine Gouiri collects the ball inside the penalty area and immediately spins to his left to create space and get a shot away. Jordan keeper Yazeed Abulaila watches the ball crash into the side netting at the near post.

Share

1 min An early free kick and an early chance for Jordan. Nizar Al-Rashdan breaks the line for a free header but the powerful strike is always heading wide of the near post.

Share

Updated at 23.06 EDT

Kick-off

Peeeeeep! Jordan decked out in full red get us under way against Algeria dressed in white with a splash of green in the World Cup Group J match at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.

Share

The players are standing arm-in-arm in between the oversized flags as the national anthems ring out in Santa Clara with kick-off now just a few minutes away.

In the meantime, here is a reminder of the starting XIs for each side.

Jordan: 1 Yazeed Abulaila (gk); 5 Yazan Al-Arab, 3 Abdallah Nasib, 4 Husam Abu Dahab; 23 Ehsan Haddad (c), 21 Nizar Al-Rashdan, 8 Noor Al-Rawabdeh, 20 Mohannad Abu Taha; 13 Mahmoud Al-Mardi, 10 Musa Al-Taamari, 9 Ali Olwan.

Algeria: 23 Luca Zidane (gk); 17 Rafik Belghali, 2 Aissa Mandi, 21 Ramy Bensebaini, 15 Rayan Aït-Nouri; 14 Hicham Boudaoui, 6 Ramiz Zerrouki, 22 Ibrahim Maza; 7 Riyad Mahrez (c), 10 Farès Chaïbi, 9 Amine Gouiri.

Referee: Slavko Vincic

Share

Updated at 23.48 EDT

“‘Everything is red, white and green in San Francisco’ must be painful reading for Italy fans in North Beach who are still mourning the absence of gli Azzurri from the tournament and the lack of little Italian flags decorating Columbus Avenue,” writes Peter Oh. A reminder to shoot me an email with your thoughts on the game or perhaps for those forced to watch on from afar.

Share

Conditions are cooling at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium but it is still a balmy 19C as the players make their way to the tunnel with kick-off about 10 minutes away.

Share

Lionel Messi banged in a double and claimed yet another slice of history as the reigning champions beat Austria to book their spot in the knockout phase. Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland have since matched the Argentinian with a pair of goals each to liven up the race for the golden boot between some of the biggest names in the game.

Share

Everything is red, white and green in San Francisco as the fans get loud ahead of the warmups.

Share

Algeria XI

23 Luca Zidane (gk); 17 Rafik Belghali, 2 Aissa Mandi, 21 Ramy Bensebaini, 15 Rayan Aït-Nouri; 14 Hicham Boudaoui, 6 Ramiz Zerrouki, 22 Ibrahim Maza; 7 Riyad Mahrez (c), 10 Farès Chaïbi, 9 Amine Gouiri.

Coach Vladimir Petkovic makes a pair of changes to the XI that started against Argentina. Riyad Mahrez returns to the starting lineup and will lead the side against Jordan with attacker Anis Hadj Moussa dropping to the bench. Nabil Bentaleb has also been named among the substitutes with Ramiz Zerrouki adding a balance to the midfield.

And here is the customary mention that, yes, goalkeeper Luca Zidane is the son of the French World Cup great. Now that’s out of the way …

Share

Updated at 23.48 EDT

The Group I match has wrapped up, Norway hanging on after a late goal from Senegal. Norway’s coach Ståle Solbakken rushed up into the stands behind the dugout the second the whistle blew, finding his partner to celebrate with as his team confirmed they spot in the last 32. And now the whole Norwegian team is sitting in front of the fans joining them for a row.

Jeff Reuter has all the reaction here:

Share

Updated at 22.08 EDT

Jordan XI

1 Yazeed Abulaila (gk); 5 Yazan Al-Arab, 3 Abdallah Nasib, 4 Husam Abu Dahab; 23 Ehsan Haddad (c), 21 Nizar Al-Rashdan, 8 Noor Al-Rawabdeh, 20 Mohannad Abu Taha; 13 Mahmoud Al-Mardi, 10 Musa Al-Taamari, 9 Ali Olwan.

Coach Jamal Sellami swings two changes from the defeat to Austria with centre-back Husam Abu Dahab brought into the starting XI to add an aerial presence in place of Mohammad Abualnadi, while emerging talent Odeh Al-Fakhouri also drops to the bench with versatile veteran Mahmoud Al-Mardi added to the attack.

Share

The stadium is slowly starting to fill in San Francisco and the teams have checked out the pitch.

Share

Senegal are creating storm of activity on the field at the New Jersey/New York Stadium but in Philadelphia there was a real live storm that delayed France and Iraq by two hours.

Paul MacInnes was there and reports that despite the interruption in Pennsylvania, France brushed past the physical challenge of Iraq with ease, furthering Kylian Mbappé’s personal duel with Lionel Messi in the process.

Share

Well I was about to write that Senegal are still pushing Norway in the eight minutes of added time left. And they’ve just gone and scored! It’s not over yet in New Jersey.

Share

Allow me to return to Messi briefly. Despite missing a penalty in the 9th minute, the Argentinian captain quickly turned things around to score his 17th World Cup goal later in the first half, passing Miroslav Klose’s goals record.

Pablo Iglesias Maurer writes that there was a moment where “one began to wonder – was this simply not Messi’s day?”

Share

The Algerian and Jordanian teams have arrived. An hour-and-a-quarter to go until kick-off in this one.

Share

Updated at 21.43 EDT

There’s a quarter of an hour left in Norway v Senegal in New Jersey. Erling Haaland making things very difficult for Senegal. You can follow the match live with Jeff Reuter:

Share

While acknowledging that the moment was “special”, Messi didn’t let himself get too excited.

double quotation markLike I’ve said other times, I enjoy playing, having a good time on the pitch.

Share

Earlier today, Messi’s Argentina met Austria in the other Group J match in Dallas.

Messi turned his march into a run and created history with his two goals placing him well clear as the top all-time World Cup goalscorer.

Nick Ames was at Dallas Stadium for the historic moment in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria.

double quotation markIt had to be Lionel Messi, it had to be on this day and perhaps it even needed to be in Dallas too. History was created in the way he knows best, a clinical left-footed flourish setting him out on his own as the World Cup’s highest goalscorer of all time. An occasion that already throbbed with an epic, cinematic quality had its moment for the ages and the genius who served it up will surely provide even more. A first golden boot would not be the worst present for an icon who turns 39 on Wednesday.

Share

Algeria were immediately on the back foot when opening their tournament campaign against reigning champions Argentina and with a certain Lionel Messi on the march toward the all-time World Cup goalscoring record. But Vladimir Petkovic’s side will get a better idea of their prospects of reaching the knockout phase in their clash with Jordan.

Jonathan Wilson has considered what Algeria – as well as the other nine African teams at this World Cup – need to do in North America to justify the doubling of the number of World Cup spots handed to Caf for this edition.

double quotation markNo region benefited as much from the expansion of the World Cup as Africa. In Qatar in 2022, five of the 32 slots (16% of the field) went to the Confederation of African Football (Caf). Of the 48 slots this time around, nine went automatically to Caf, and they secured a 10th when DR Congo beat Jamaica in an interconfederational playoff in March. Caf had lobbied for years for more representation, arguing it was unfair that it had only five slots for its 54 members, while Conmebol, the South American confederation, had four plus a playoff for 10 members (21% of the field). The response was that Conmebol sides had won the World Cup nine times, while Caf sides had only made the quarter-finals on three occasions. By the end of the last World Cup, Conmebol were up to 10 victories and Caf had its first semi-finalist.

Share

Preamble

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the World Cup match between Jordan and Algeria at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. Kick-off in this Group J game is 8pm local/11pm EDT/4am BST/1pm AEST – or 4am in Algeria and 6am in Jordan for those following from the lands of the competing teams.

This looms as a crunch clash for both Jordan and Algeria which could make or break their hopes of reaching the knockout phase. Jordan are still searching for a first win during their World Cup debut after pushing Austria in a rollicking, end-to-end affair before falling behind to a second-half own goal then giving up a late penalty in a 3-1 defeat. Lively attacker Ali Olwan scored the nation’s first World Cup goal while Musa Al-Taamari looked especially threatening on the counter. But the greater concerns for Jordan tend to be at the other end with the No 68-ranked side conceding multiple goals in each game across a five-match winless run.

Algeria were quickly pushed into a supporting role in their World Cup opener as Argentina great Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 triumph for the reigning champions. The defensive cracks are unlikely to be exposed in the same way against Jordan and it must be remembered that head coach Vladimir Petkovic had steered the side to 21 wins, four draws and only three defeats from 28 matches – including a friendly victory over the Netherlands – before facing Argentina. The No 29-ranked side have firepower up front with veteran Riyad Mahrez out to make his mark on the tournament and young midfielder Ibrahim Maza pulling the strings.

I’ll be back shortly with the line-ups and team news – and the latest from the World Cup. In the meantime, get in touch with any questions, thoughts and predictions. You can shoot me an email, or find me on Bluesky @martinpegan.bsky.social. Let’s get into it!

Share

Click here to read article