Group J chaos: Algeria and Austria draw 3-3, both advance
Riyad Mahrez scored twice, Kalajdzic struck in the 96th minute to rescue Austria, and in the end both Algeria and Austria reached the World Cup knockout round.
- Algeria and Austria drew 3-3 in the final round of Group J.
- Riyad Mahrez scored twice, in the 60th and the 90+3 minute.
- Sasa Kalajdzic equalized for Austria in the 90+6, after goals from Arnautovic and Sabitzer.
- Both teams reached the knockout round, which completed the full list of qualifiers for the next stage.
The stands in Kansas City were already on their feet when the ball found the Algerian net for the third time that night. Sasa Kalajdzic peeled off his marker, met the cross with his head and steered it exactly where the goalkeeper could not reach. The scoreboard read 90+6. A moment earlier Austria were flying home, and now they were celebrating as if they had won a final. On the other side, the Algerians dropped onto the grass, but not in despair. They knew that even this result carried them through.
This was one of those matches that turns the World Cup group stage into a thriller. Six goals, two completely different emotions on the benches, and in the end a shared ride into the knockout round. Austria went ahead through Marko Arnautovic in the 28th minute, the experienced striker showing once again that he knows when to turn up at a major tournament. Algeria hit back right before half time, when Belghali leveled it in the 45th minute and sent both sides into the break feeling the job was far from finished.
How did Mahrez take the game into his own hands?
The second half belonged to the captain. After Sabitzer put Austria back in front in the 55th minute, Riyad Mahrez decided to win the game on his own. In the 60th he slipped between two defenders and calmly equalized, and then, three minutes into stoppage time, he produced the moment everyone thought was the winner. Left foot, far corner, a stadium in a trance. Had the referee blown for full time then, we would be talking about a great Algerian comeback and about a man who, late in his career, settled a match at the world finals.
But football rarely follows the script. Kalajdzic had his five minutes and used them right down to the last second. The Austrian with a Serbian surname earned his national team a point worth as much as a win, because it lifted Austria above their rivals and squeezed them into the last 32. Mahrez ended up with two goals and no three points, but with what matters most to him right now, a place in the next round.
What this result means for the bracket
What makes this 3-3 special is that it closed out the entire list of knockout qualifiers. The final piece fell into place, every tie is now known, and from the next round there are no more calculations about who needs to help whom. It is straight knockout football now, where one bad minute, the kind Algeria suffered in stoppage time, means the end of the road.
For Austria this is proof that a generation led by Arnautovic and Sabitzer has the character to dig out a result when things go wrong. For Algeria, with Mahrez as the driving force, it is evidence they can clear a hurdle even without an ideal setup. Both sides now face a much harder task, because in the knockout round there are no points to share.
Mahrez looked like a man who had given everything after the match. Two goals at a World Cup at nearly thirty-five is no small feat, and the only question is how far his legs and his form can carry him in this tournament. Do you believe Algeria with a Mahrez like this can pull off a surprise in the knockout round, or was the draw with Austria the peak of their journey?
