California, June 23 (SANA) Algeria came from behind to defeat Jordan 2-1 on Monday and keep its hopes of reaching the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup alive.
Playing at Levi’s Stadium in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, Algeria overturned a first-half deficit to claim a crucial victory in Group J.
Jordan opened the scoring in the 36th minute through Nizar al-Rashdan and held the lead until midway through the second half.
Nadhir Benbouali leveled the score in the 69th minute before Amine Gouiri completed the comeback with the winning goal in the 82nd minute.
The result moved Algeria to three points from two matches, level with Austria in the race for qualification to the Round of 32.
Argentina became the first team from Group J to secure a knockout-stage berth after winning its opening two matches and collecting six points.
The battle for the remaining qualification spots will be decided in the final round of group-stage fixtures, with Algeria and Austria tied on three points and Jordan still in contention.
R.H/Abd
