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WHO: Argentina vs Algeria
What: FIFA World Cup 2026 Group J matches
That: Kansas City Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri, United States
When: Tuesday, 8pm (01:00 GMT Wednesday)
How to follow: Continue with all changes Al Jazeera Sport
We may be six days into the 2026 World Cup, but many experts feel that the tournament is not over until the defending champions, Argentinaand their superstar Lionel Messi, taking the stage.
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After winning Qatar World Cup in 2022 In one of the most exciting matches in history, Argentina will begin their quest for a fourth title when they face Algeria in their Group J opener in Kansas City on Tuesday night.
Can aging Argentina win back-to-back World Cup titles?
Lionel Scaloni’s team wants to become the third country to defend the World Cup after Italy (won in 1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962).
It’s been a great season for Argentine football with the Copa America winning both sides of their Qatar 2022 campaign, but no one is sure what we’ll get from La Albiceleste this time around. Are key players declining? Is there still hunger after the reign?
Argentina are famous for their slow start, losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in their third World Cup triumph four years ago. However, a group consisting of Algeria, Austria and Jordan should give them a comfortable chance in the tournament.
While Messi is set to make history on Tuesday as the first man to feature in six World Cups, the star player – who turns 39 on June 24 – has been plagued by injuries. Elsewhere in the squad, defender Cristian Romero is expected to be rusty after missing the Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur with a knee injury.
There is a continuation of the team with 17 players from the winning team of Qatar 2022 to defend their crown. The 29-year-old Argentine midfielder is one of the top players in the tournament, and it remains to be seen whether the 2026 edition represents another chance to add to the South American nation’s World Cup history or if the team is already behind.
Algeria wants to turn heads at the World Cup
Gone are the days when North African teams could be listed as the usual three points of international power.
The Fennecs are not qualifying for the 2026 World Cup and are trying to finish third as they did in their last World Cup appearance in 2014 when they took eventual winners Germany to extra time. This time, Algeria – the winners of the AFCON 2019 – qualified for the tournament with a record eight wins and are looking to enter the knock-out competition.
Inspirational captain Riyad Mahrez will lead his side in the 2026 campaign and remains a key player for the North African nation. Algerian fans are excited about the attacking potential of Leverkusen’s 20-year-old Ibrahim Maza, who is looking to make a big name for himself and is known as “Mazadona” in his country.
Wolfsburg striker Mohamed Amoura led the scoring in African play with 10 goals and four assists while Man City’s Rayan Ait-Nouri is a key left-back, and Algeria were well-liked by Bosnian coach Vladimir Petkovic, who had success with Switzerland.
How does the group stage work?
Argentina, Algeria, Austria and Jordan are in Group J.
They will play each other once in the first round of the tournament. The top two teams from all 12 groups – along with the eight third-placed teams – will advance to the next stage, the round of 32, which has been introduced for the first time at the World Cup.
The winners of Group J will face the runners-up in Group H. After Spain’s opening match against Cape Verde, this means that Argentina and Spain winning the round of 32 is not out of the equation.
While facing the defending champions in their opening game is a high-profile start, Algerian fans are looking forward to their final group game against Austria in Kansas City on June 27.
It makes 44 years since Austria lost 1-0 to West Germany in the final group stage match in Spain in 1982, a result which saw both sides go through to the detriment of Algeria, who played yesterday.
The match became known as “The Disgrace of Gijon” and led to the final matches of the teams being played simultaneously.
Head to head
This will be only the second meeting between these sides. The previous one happened 19 years ago when Messi scored his first international goal in a 4-3 win over Argentina at Barcelona’s Camp Nou.
Control form:
(Last five games, most recent first)
Argentina: WWWW
Algeria: WWDWL
Argentina went through qualifying, finishing nine points ahead of second-placed Ecuador, to top the table for the first time since 2014, but their preparations did not provide a tough test with wins against Mauritania, Zambia, Honduras and Iceland.
After a warm-up, Algeria come into the competition with confidence, beating the Netherlands and Bolivia in their last qualifying matches after defeating Guatemala and playing to one goal against Uruguay in March. They have scored just twice in their last six games.
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Messi has overcome a hamstring problem and has captained the team for 200 years and finished 27th at the World Cup. He becomes the first man to play in six World Cups although Cristiano Ronaldo could match the mark less than 24 hours later.
Emi Martinez, the final champion of 2022, has recovered from a broken finger and will be in jersey # 1 (although he usually wears # 23), but left back Nicolas Tagliafico will miss the game (calf injury), and Scaloni will have the idea to start again to be suitable for Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otameez at the Capital.
Algeria will be without defender Ramy Bensebaini (ankle), but goalkeeper Luca Zidane – the son of famous French player Zinedine – has recovered from a broken jaw in the first half.
Argentina predicted XI: E Martinez (goalkeeper); Molina, Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Medina; De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister, Almada; Messi, Lautaro Martinez
Algeria predicted XI: Zidane (goalkeeper); Belghali, Mandi, Chergui, Ait-Nouri; Bentaleb, Boudaoui; Mahrez, Maza, Amoura; Gouiri
Who is his favorite to win the match?
History favors South Americans. Argentina have won their last six World Cup matches against African rivals, a feat that also came in the wake of a shock 1-0 defeat by Cameroon in 1990, which coincided with the last time they entered the tournament as reigning champions.
So far, Algeria have enjoyed success against South American sides in the competition, defeating Chile in 1982 before losing to Brazil four years later.
Opta’s chief analyst predicted that Argentina would start winning in Group J. After 25,000 predictions, Scaloni’s side won 68.2 percent of the time. Algeria was given a 13.2% chance of causing chaos while 18.6% of the incidents occurred.
You can follow Al Jazeera’s dedicated content FIFA World Cup 2026 a page with the latest news, match updates and commentary and find out the standings of the team, real-time game results and schedules.
