The opening match of Group J sees reigning world champions Argentina begin their World Cup 2026 defence against Algeria in Kansas City on Tuesday.
Lionel Scaloni’s side arrive in North America among the favourites to lift the trophy once again, after an impressive qualifying campaign and a long unbeaten streak in the run-up to the championship.
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Argentina topped the CONMEBOL table, with a memorable 4-1 win over Brazil as a highlight, and have since won seven straight games while conceding just one goal.
The South Americans are chasing a place in the history books, aiming to become only the third nation after Brazil and Italy to manage to defend a World Cup gold.
Algeria, on the other hand, are in their first World Cup finals since 2014, after an impressive qualifying campaign. Vladimir Petkovic’s side topped their CAF qualifying group and have shown promising form in recent months, with wins over the Netherlands and Bolivia, while conceding just two goals in their last six games.
The Desert Jackals possess a lot of attacking quality through Riyad Mahrez, Mohammed Amoura and Amine Gouiri, and they see this match as an opportunity to prove that they can compete with one of the tournament’s favourites.
World Cup 2026: Argentina vs Algeria – team updates
Argentina captain Lionel Messi is expected to start after recovering from a hamstring injury, and the Inter Miami star is about to become the first player ever to participate in six different World Cup finals.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez is fit to play after overcoming a finger injury, while Leandro Paredes and Nico González are also expected to be available after recent muscle problems.
The biggest absence for Scaloni’s side is left-back Nicolás Tagliafico, who is out with a calf injury. Facundo Medina is expected to fill in on the left side of the defence.
For Algeria, Ramy Bensebaini is still unavailable due to an ankle injury, meaning Samir Chergui could form a centre-back pairing with Aïssa Mandi.
Amine Gouiri is fit to play after previous shoulder problems, while captain Riyad Mahrez and CAF qualifier top scorer Mohammed Amoura are both expected to start in attack.
Argentina vs Algeria: World Cup 2026 – Predicted line-ups
Argentina’s starting eleven: Martínez; Molina, Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez, Medina; De Paul, Fernández, Mac Allister, Almada; Messi, Lautaro Martínez
Algeria’s starting eleven: Zidane; Belghali, Mandi, Chergui, Aït-Nouri; Bentaleb, Boudaoui; Mahrez, Maza, Amoura; Gouiri
Where to watch Argentina vs Algeria – TV channel and live streams
Kick-off on Wednesday is at 02:00 BST (21:00 ET Tuesday / 18:00 PT Tuesday). In the UK, the fight will be broadcast live on ITV1.
The fans can stream the action on a wide variety of devices through the ITVX app.
World Cup 2026: Argentina vs Algeria – stats
- Only Brazil (5) and Germany and Italy (4 each) have won the World Cup more often than Argentina (3), and no nation has lifted the trophy as many times as La Albiceleste since their first triumph in 1978
- Argentina could become the third team to win two straight titles, after Italy (1934-1938) and Brazil (1958-1962)
- They have qualified for their 19th World Cup, with this being their 14th participation in a row, which is the third longest ongoing streak, behind Brazil (23) and Germany (19)
- The only time Argentina failed to advance from the group stage during their last 14 World Cup appearances was in 2002 under Marcelo Bielsa
- Lionel Messi holds the absolute record for most World Cup appearances, with 26 games played (13 goals, 8 assists). In 2022, he scored or assisted on 10 of Argentina’s 15 goals (7 goals, 3 assists)
- Lionel Scaloni is the only Argentina coach to have won both the World Cup (2022) and the Copa America (2021, 2024), and he is also the first to lead Argentina in two straight World Cup finals since Carlos Bilardo, who won the championship in 1986 and finished second in 1990
- This is Algeria’s fifth playoff and their first since 2014, with the World Cup in Brazil being the only time they have progressed from the group stage
- Algeria won two of their first three World Cup matches in 1982, but have won only one of their 10 consecutive matches since then – a 4-2 win over South Korea in the group stage in 2014
- They have kept a clean sheet in one of their 13 World Cup games, with a 0-0 draw against England in 2010
- With eight wins in qualifying, Algeria achieved their highest winning tally in a single campaign, beating their seven wins in 2010
- Mohammed Amoura was the top scorer in African qualification with 10 goals in 10 games, and was involved in 58 percent of Algeria’s goals – scoring 10 and assisting four of their 24 goals
- Vladimir Petkovic previously led Switzerland to the last eight in 2018, and is the second Bosnian coach to lead Algeria in a World Cup, after Vahid Halilhodžić in 2014
World Cup 2026: Argentina vs. Algeria – betting
Algeria have enough quality to make life difficult for the reigning champions and should be one of Argentina’s toughest opponents in the group stage.
However, Scaloni’s side have been exceptionally strong defensively in recent months and possess the experience to navigate a potentially tricky opening game.
Betting: Argentina 1-0 Algeria
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