Jordan - Algeria (1 - 2): Phew!

World Cup 2026 - J2 Tuesday, June 23 2026, 4:00 (Algiers) San Francisco (United States of America) - San Francisco Bay Area Stadium

Goals: Al Rashdan (36'), Benbouali (68'), Gouiri (82')

JORDAN: 1 - Abulaila, 3 - Naseeb, 5 - Al Arab, 4 - Abudahab, 23 - Haddad, 21 - Al Rashdan, 8 - Rawabdeh, 20 - Abu Taha (2 - Hasheesh, 85'), 9 - Olwan (7 - Zaria, 90+1'), 10 - Al Tamari (24 - Al Azaizeh, 83'), 13 - Al Mardi (11 - Al Fakhouri, 75')/ Coach: J. Sellami

ALGERIA: 23 - Zidane, 17 - Belghali, 4 - Mandi, 21 - Bensebaïni, 15 - Aït-Nouri (13 - Hadjam, 85'), 6 - Zerrouki (19 - Bentaleb, 46'), 14 - Boudaoui (12 - Benbouali, 46'), 22 - Maza, 7 - Mahrez (c) (11 - Hadj-Moussa, 75'), 10 - Chaïbi, 9 - Gouiri (5 - Belaïd, 85')/ Coach: V. Petković

The coach of the Greens chooses to present a team that is ultimately very predictable on the field. Disappointing against Argentina, Nabil Bentaleb and Anis Hadj-Moussa give way to Ramiz Zerrouki and Riyad Mahrez for a pure positional change, while Amine Gouiri takes advantage of Mohamed Amoura's withdrawal to continue. While the formation remains the same, the intentions were supposed to change!

The start of the match for the Greens is generally successful. There is desire, pressing, good movements with and without the ball, and more than one player rises to the occasion, with Rayan Aït-Nouri leading all actions. Riyad Mahrez, twice, makes a good run in behind and finds himself face to face with the goalkeeper, but the first is simply missed by the captain (control too close to him, impossible for him to follow up) and the second is deflected by the opposing keeper.

Unfortunately, right after the famous hydration break, everything falls apart for Algeria. Ramiz Zerrouki commits a catastrophic wing change that ultimately leads to an opposing goal. After this Jordanian opening goal, there is nothing but fear and panic on the National Team's side, which becomes increasingly frustrating as they lose confidence in themselves. The return to the locker room was therefore particularly anticipated, and the reaction had to be very strong.