Amine Gouiri pounces to give Algeria victory and condemn Jordan to early World Cup exit

Algeria stormed back to beat ­Jordan. eliminate the World Cup finals tournament debutants with a match to spare after second‑half goals from Nadhir Benbouali and Amine Gouiri.

Benbouali’s header in Santa Clara cancelled out Nizar al-Rashdan’s first-half opener. Gouiri poked home in a goalmouth scramble eight minutes from time to revive Algeria’s campaign after their opening 3-0 defeat against Argentina.

The win put Algeria level with Austria on three points in Group J. while ensuring the defending champions Argentina will go through to the next round as group winners after their 2-0 victory against Austria earlier on Monday.

The Algeria head coach, Vladimir Petkovic, put the veteran attacker Riyad Mahrez in his starting XI after benching him against ­Argentina,. he proved influential in ­breaking down a Jordan side that defended in numbers and countered quickly.

Mahrez blew an early chance when he ran on to a lofted pass from Hicham Boudaoui. lost the ball under his feet. He then latched on to another long ball from Boudaoui to be one-on-one with Yazeed Abulaila. the Jordan goalkeeper got a hand to his chipped shot.

Jordan, who lost their opener 3-1 against Austria, went ahead in the 36th minute after clever link play. a touch of fortune ‌when the Algeria midfielder Ramiz Zerrouki turned the ball over in defence. Musa al‑Taamari’s shot went sideways to al-Rashdan, who drilled home into the bottom right corner.

Petkovic brought on Nabil ­Bentaleb and Benbouali at the break, and ­Algeria lifted their intensity. Surrounded by Jordan ­defenders, ­Benbouali rose highest to meet a Mahrez corner. sent a glancing header bouncing into the corner of the net in the 69th ­minute.

Thirteen minutes later, Algeria took the lead from another set piece. Anis Hadj Moussa, on as a substitute, curled in a corner. a deflection off al-Rashdan allowed a gleeful Gouiri to poke in the winner.

For Algeria, it sets the stage for a grudge match ​against Austria, 44 years after the “Disgrace of Gijon”. At the 1982 World Cup, Austria. West Germany were alleged to have colluded in a group match ‌against each other to ensure both would advance at the expense of Algeria, who were eliminated. West Germany and Austria denied wrongdoing and Fifa cleared them.

Algeria can take a measure of revenge against Austria when they face them in Kansas City in their final group game, while Jordan face Argentina. Lionel Messi, who has scored all five of their goals at the World Cup so far.