Ralf Rangnick praises World Cup debutants Jordan after Austria's fortuitous victory

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/austria/naHiWdnt/"]Austria[/a] were at times exposed by a bold [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/jordan/vNcmJoU2/"]Jordan[/a] side ‌playing their first World Cup game and, despite ‌going into the contest as favourites, only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/austria-naHiWdnt/jordan-vNcmJoU2/?mid=OO27CLhe"]wrapped up ‌victory[/a] with substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arnautovic-marko/WvR2ASLR/"]Marko Arnautovic[/a]'s penalty in the ‌12th minute of second-half stoppage time.[/p][p]Expectations for Austria had been raised by an impressive performance at Euro 2024 but they ‌may be tempered by Tuesday's display, ⁠especially ahead of a ‌game against Group J leaders [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/argentina/f9OppQjp/"]Argentina[/a], who beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/algeria/nc87N1BR/"]Algeria[/a] 3-0.[/p][p]Rangnick, ​however, credited Jordan for keeping his side in check.[/p][p][b]"I think it's due to the opponent," [/b]​the coach said when asked why Austria struggled.[/p][p]"Jordan did a fantastic job throughout the match. We expected ⁠a difficult opponent, ​we knew that they were going to be anything but easy, but today they displayed a very brave kind of football. They exceeded my expectations.[/p][p][b]"I know that ‌some of you thought that we would be the favourite in this match, but we were definitely not."[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="c3532fce-43c6-4c98-8ff0-774973188c0f" credit-line="StatsPerform via Opta" guid="74c97756-ed62-47c3-ac42-5308a11468ff" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Rangnick said he welcomed the fact that the World Cup's expansion to 48 teams gave more countries a chance to participate, calling it "an enriching experience".[/p][p]But he also said the so-called smaller nations were not just making up the numbers, referring to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a]'s shock ‌draw with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cape-verde/MocyWdm7/"]Cape Verde[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/xSrf6qMM/"]Australia[/a]'s surprise win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/turkey/QeijuHo5/"]Turkey[/a] ​and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/haiti/nk4v10Z1/"]Haiti[/a]'s gritty performance against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/scotland/fZRU25WH/"]Scotland[/a].[/p][p][b]"It's not that ‌easy to win during this tournament – we have 48 teams and there is not going to be one easy opponent,"[/b] he said.[/p][p]"The teams now have really caught up in the last 15 ⁠years or so, so ⁠there are really no ‌easy teams."[/p]