Preview, prediction, players to watch, fixtures and TV details

Group J preview

Anyone expecting a procession for Argentina in Group J might care to cast their minds to 2022, when the eventual champions lost their opener to Saudi Arabia in one of the greatest shocks ever – having been ahead at half-time – and did not score until after the break in their subsequent wins over Mexico and Poland.

Elsewhere in this section, debutants Jordan held South Korea in qualifying, Austria lost only once under former Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick and Algeria are returning for the first time since taking Germany to extra time in the last 16 in 2014, when future five-time Premier League winner Riyad Mahrez was part of their squad.

Mahrez is back as captain this time but almost all of the headlines will inevitably focus on the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner wearing the Argentina armband, with Messi surely taking part in his last World Cup as he prepares to turn 39 during the finals.

Can the newcomers summon a surprise on the scale of that Saudi Arabia upset and will Argentina see their superstar off in silverware-retaining style?

World Cup Group J fixtures and where to watch

Here’s the full list of fixtures. Matches with an asterisk start the previous day.

Here, we take a look at the teams in detail.

Algeria: 2026 World Cup preview, star player, prediction

Coach: Vladimir Petkovic
Qualification: CAF Group G (1st)
Best World Cup: Round of 16 (2014)

After missing two consecutive editions, Algeria are back and aiming to emulate that first appearance in the knockout stage 12 years ago, reaching these finals under the guidance of boss Vladimir Petkovic.

The Bosnian and Herzegovinian took Switzerland to the 2018/19 Nations League finals and the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, beating Turkiye and France before being knocked out on penalties by eventual champions Spain.

Mohamed Amoura’s 10 goals in qualifying represented seven more than any other player in Algeria’s group, including a hat-trick at home to Mozambique. The Wolfsburg forward is one of four Bundesliga players in the squad and started the season with eight goals in 19 league appearances, then finished it without finding the net in 11 appearances.

Former Roma and Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar, who was capped by France in 2020, and Marseille forward Amine Gouiri, who is back from injury and netted twice in a 7-0 friendly win over Guatemala in Genoa in March, are among the more experienced figures called up, as is ex-Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, now representing Lille.

Goalkeeper Luca Zidane has the experience of a World Cup and EURO-winning father, Zinedine, and is at his first world cup after recovering from breaking his jaw and chin for club side Granada in April, while winger Anis Hadj Moussa contributed 14 goals and seven assists for Feyenoord this season

Rayan Ait-Nouri was unused in Manchester City’s FA Cup and EFL Cup final wins. The wideman started City’s first three games of the season before becoming a peripheral figure in between an ankle injury and the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), although Pep Guardiola gave the 24-year-old a run of seven starts across February and March.

Algeria star player: Inspirational captain Riyad Mahrez

Now at Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli, Mahrez needs eight goals to become Algeria’s record marksman, with the 35-year-old scoring 38 times and supplying 43 assists in 113 international appearances as part of a career decorated with Algeria’s second-ever AFCON triumph in 2019.

Scorer of three goals in two games as his country completed a perfect group stage at the 2025 AFCON, Mahrez’s litany of achievements include a key role in Leicester City’s remarkable Premier League glory in 2016, the African Footballer of the Year award in the same year and the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup with Manchester City in 2023.

Prediction: Algeria to advance again at World Cup

Algeria’s group-stage finale against Austria is likely to decide who goes through automatically. With eight third-placed qualifiers advancing and both sides strong favourites to collect a win against Jordan, expect Les Fennecs to progress for the second time in their history in their fifth appearance at the tournament.

Argentina: 2026 World Cup preview, star player, prediction

Coach: Lionel Scaloni
Qualification: CONMEBOL qualifiers
Best World Cup: Winners (1978, 1986, 2022)

No nation has won back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Argentina arrive in North America intending to change that.

Lionel Scaloni has led La Albiceleste through the most sustained period of success in their modern history. The Copa America of 2021. The World Cup of 2022. The Copa America again in 2024. He is the only Argentina manager to win both the World Cup and Copa America, and he arrives at his second tournament as the man who finally ended a 36-year wait for a third star on the shirt.

The core of the Qatar 2022 squad remains largely intact. Emiliano Martinez holds the gloves after his extraordinary tournament four years ago.

Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez anchor the defence. Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernandez form one of the best midfield trios at the tournament.

Julian Alvarez, as versatile as any forward in world football, gives Scaloni an option capable of playing wide, through the middle or as a second striker. And Lautaro Martinez leads the line.

Angel Di Maria has retired from international football, removing one of the iconic figures of the 2022 triumph. Franco Mastantuono, the teenage Real Madrid midfielder who was among the most watched young players in Argentina during qualification, was the most surprising omission from the squad.

The only serious fitness concern heading into the tournament has been Messi himself, who picked up a hamstring issue while playing for Inter Miami in May.

Scaloni was careful in his assessment, describing the early reports as not that bad, and Messi is expected to be fit for the opening fixture against Algeria in Kansas City.

Argentina star player: Messi to provide more Magic

Messi’s presence in North America is is a cultural event.

The 38-year-old arrives for a record sixth World Cup, and no serious person expects there to be a seventh. He finished as top scorer in CONMEBOL qualifying with eight goals and he remains, at this stage of his career, the single most important player in this squad.

Prediction: Argentina to top Group J

This is a group Argentina should control. The real conversation about their tournament begins in the knockout rounds.

Austria: 2026 World Cup preview, star player, prediction

Coach: Ralf Rangnick
Qualification: UEFA qualifiers
Best World Cup: Third place (1954)

Austria return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence and arrive as an underdog of the tournament.

Ralf Rangnick is the reason for that. Since taking charge of the national team, he has restructured Austrian football from the ground up, implementing a style of play built on aggressive pressing.

Austria reached the round of 16 at Euro 2024, finishing ahead of France and the Netherlands in their group. World Cup qualification followed, and the squad heading to North America is arguably the strongest Austria have assembled since their run to third place in 1954.

The spine of the team is built on players who have spent their careers in the Bundesliga, a league that mirrors the intensity Rangnick demands. Fourteen of the 26 squad members play in Germany, including the RB Leipzig midfield trio of Christoph Baumgartner, Xaver Schlager and Nicolas Seiwald, all of whom were either developed within or shaped by the Red Bull football network that Rangnick helped build.

Marcel Sabitzer brings 95 caps of experience from Borussia Dortmund. Konrad Laimer starts at Bayern Munich and provides the engine in wide midfield areas.

David Alaba captains the side at 33. At the other end of the experience spectrum, Carney Chukwuemeka has committed to Austria over England, and Paul Wanner of PSV Eindhoven, also 20, is another who could make a name for himself at this level for the first time.

Marko Arnautovic, 36 years old and Austria’s all-time record scorer with 47 goals from 132 caps, is named vice-captain and travels knowing this could be his final major tournament.

Austria star player: In-form Baumgartner

Baumgartner arrives in the best form of his career.

The RB Leipzig midfielder produced 13 goals and 10 assists in the Bundesliga this season, a return that places him among the most productive central players in German football.

His movement between the lines, the timing of his runs and his ability to finish in tight spaces give Austria a goal threat from midfield that opponents in this group will need to be prepared for.

Prediction: Austria to push for top two

Rangnick’s organisation and the depth of quality in his squad make Austria the most likely team to join Argentina from this group. The opener against Jordan gives them the platform to build from.

Jordan: 2026 World Cup preview, star player, prediction

Coach: Jamal Sellami
Qualification: AFC qualifiers
Best World Cup: First appearance

Jordan arrive at a World Cup for the first time in the nation’s history, and they do so having earned every moment of it.

The Al-Nashama qualified by finishing second in their AFC third-round group, behind South Korea and ahead of Iraq, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait.

Coach Jamal Sellami is a Moroccan who managed successfully in his home country’s top division and guided the Moroccan local-national team to the 2018 African Nations Championship.

He has been open in his ambition to emulate what his compatriots achieved in Qatar four years ago, when Morocco reached the semi-finals as the first African and Arab nation ever to do so.

Thirteen of the 26 players ply their trade in Jordan, giving the group a coherence and familiarity that carries its own value at a tournament where many sides take weeks to find their rhythm. The one significant injury blow is to striker Yazan Al-Naimat, who suffered an ACL injury in December and could not make the squad.

Captain Ehsan Haddad leads the backline from Al-Hussein. Yazan Al-Arab, one of the few players based outside the Middle East, brings experience from FC Seoul in South Korea.

Jordan star player: All hopes lie with Al-Tamari