Midfielder Ahmad Alzugheir struck a blistering 30-metre equaliser in the 86th minute as Jordan snatched a dramatic 1-1 draw against Australia at Hindmarsh Stadium on Wednesday night in their Olympic Games qualifying match.

The awesome strike denied the luckless Olyroos victory on home soil after registering a scoreless draw away to Iran a fortnight ago and hitting the crossbar three times on Wednesday night.

A-League grand final winner Kristian Sarkies looked like delivering a solid home win against the pesky Jordan side when the Melbourne Victory midfielder applied a cool finish to a Bruce Djite pass in the 58th minute.

But Alzugheir produced a thunderbolt drive to pierce the roof of Danny Vukovic's net and then Jordan somehow staved off a desperate late flurry at the other end to grab its first point in the round robin series.

Sarkies looked the likely gamebreaker throughout and just missed out in the 51st minute when he curled a 20-metre free kick onto the crossbar.

But he made amends with a low finish from close range after exchanging passes with Adelaide United striker Djite to beat the Jordan keeper cold.

Substitute Troy Hearfield and defender Adrain Leijer also hit the crossbar in the dying minutes as the Olyroos almost snatched a dramatic winner.

Olyroo captain Mark Milligan was a late withdrawal due to a lingering hamstring injury but Australia bounced into stride quickly.

Sarkies crossed precisely in the 11th minute but Djite volleyed over the crossbar from 12 metres.

A minute later, attacking midfielder Mark Bridge forced Jordan's keeper Mohamad Shatnawi to save his low drive with his legs after being released by midfielder Nick Ward.

But the Olyroos got a little careless as Vukovic almost gifted Jordan a goal in the 19th minute when he mistimed a clearance outside his penalty area.

The ball fell to Jordan's principal threat, striker Odai Alsaify, but he skewed his drive just wide from 20 metres with Vukovic stranded.

Jordan became more audacious and Mohammad Almaharmeh forced Vukovic into a diving save in the 31st minute from 15 metres after a corner fell to his feet.

The Olyroos smartened up after halftime and Leijer just headed wide from a Sarkies free kick in the 48th minute before Sarkies whipped another free kick against the crossbar from 20 metres out.

Australia will face Saudi Arabia in Adelaide in its next qualifying match on March 28 with the top two teams in the group moving onto the final qualifying stage to make the Beijing Olympic Games.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP