Jordan and Algeria meet on 23 June at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, both arriving at this Group J fixture with their World Cup campaigns already under pressure after opening defeats. Jordan lost 1-3 to Austria while Algeria were hammered 0-3 by Argentina, with Messi helping himself to a hat trick. Neither side can afford another result like that and a win, or at minimum a draw, is about as close to mandatory as it gets this early in a tournament.
Jordan come in as World Cup debutants, which still feels like a remarkable thing to type given where they were just a few years ago. Their run to the 2023 Asian Cup final and an Arab Cup final appearance in 2025 showed they belong at this level, even if the Austria defeat was a reality check. Algeria are back at a World Cup for the first time since 2014 and need to show considerably more than they did against Argentina if Petković's squad is going to survive the group.
Jamal Sellami took charge of Jordan in 2024 and built a pragmatic counter attacking side that conceded rarely in Asian qualifying. Vladimir Petković took the Algeria job the same year and recently extended his contract through 2028, suggesting the federation is playing a longer game despite the rough start. The two coaches have never faced each other at senior international level, which means both will be reading the other largely from tape rather than memory.
Jordan's recent results make for uncomfortable reading: the Austria defeat followed a 0-2 loss to Colombia in a pre tournament friendly, though their 2023 Asian Cup final run had already shown the Austria result was an outlier rather than the ceiling. For Algeria, a 4-0 friendly win over Bolivia and a 1-0 result against the Netherlands looked promising enough but the Argentina game exposed how fragile their defence can be against elite pressure and that fragility does not disappear just because the opponent changes.
Neither side is dealing with major injury concerns, though Jordan remain without Yazan Al-Naimat, sidelined long term with a serious knee injury, while Algeria have a full squad to choose from. Jordan are likely to line up in a 4-3-3 or 3-4-2-1 with Yazeed Abulaila in goal behind a back line of Yazan Al-Arab, Ihsan Haddad, Abdallah Nasib and Mohammad Abualnadi, with Noor Al-Rawabdeh and Ibrahim Sadeh anchoring midfield and Musa Al-Taamari, Ali Olwan and Mohammad Abu Zrayq ahead of them. Algeria are expected to set up in a 4-3-3 with Luca Zidane in goal, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Aissa Mandi, Ramy Bensebaini and Rafik Belghali across the back, Ramiz Zerrouki and Fares Chaibi in central midfield and Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Amoura and Amine Gouiri up front.
Jordan's approach is clearly defined: sit compact, squeeze space in their mid block and hurt teams on the counter or from set pieces. It has brought them real success in regional football and can cause real problems for higher ranked sides who are not patient enough to break it down, though it falls apart against teams who can sustain pressure and bypass their shape for long stretches, which is exactly what Austria managed.
Algeria prefer to build through possession, with Zerrouki recycling and Chaibi looking to advance into the channels, though how consistently they execute that against a side defending as deep as Jordan is another matter. The individual talent is clearly there: Mahrez is 35 now and his best work tends to come in bursts rather than over 90 minutes but Amoura and Gouiri give them genuine pace and movement in behind. After watching them buckle under Argentina's press, the sharper question is whether the defensive shape collapsing on transitions and the midfield being bypassed repeatedly pointed to a structural problem rather than a one off bad night.
The central battle is likely to be Mahrez testing Jordan's right flank while Al-Taamari looks to exploit the spaces Algeria's high line can leave on the break and Jordan's right side will want to double up quickly on Ait-Nouri when he pushes forward, because his runs in behind would leave Jordan's left sided defenders seriously exposed.
Jordan and Algeria have barely met at senior level, with no meaningful competitive history before this game, so both coaches are working largely without a head to head reference point. Jordan's clearest route to a goal is from dead balls, where their organisation from set pieces has been a consistent weapon. The age profile of some Algerian players, Mahrez being the obvious example, also means Petković will need to manage intensity carefully if this goes into a tense final half-hour.
Algeria should win this 2-1, though not comfortably. They have better individual players and more squad depth and the most likely route through Jordan's defence runs through Mahrez drifting inside, Amoura's movement in behind and Gouiri arriving late from midfield. A set piece looks likely to give Jordan at least one chance from a dead ball. This is not the performance that saves Algeria's tournament - that conversation comes later, if at all - but it should be enough for three points while Jordan's debut World Cup campaign ends at the group stage.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
