Forwards: Lautaro Martínez and Lionel Messi
Algeria (4-3-3):
Goalkeeper: Luca Zidane
The national team will debut tonight in Group J of the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City against the Algerians
Forwards: Lautaro Martínez and Lionel Messi
Algeria (4-3-3):
Goalkeeper: Luca Zidane
Defenders: Aïssa Mandi, Ramy Bensebaini, Rafik Belghali, and Rayan Aït-Nouri
Midfielders: Nabil Bentaleb, Hicham Boudaoui, and Farès Chaïbi
Forwards: Ibrahim Maza, Amine Gouiri, and Anis Hadj Moussa
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Assistant 1: Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland)
Assistant 2: Adam Kupsik (Poland)
Fourth Official: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh (New Zealand)
Reserve: Isaac Trevis (New Zealand)
After several days of waiting, it is finally the turn of the Argentine National Team. At the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the Albiceleste will face their debut in the 2026 World Cup against Algeria, corresponding to the first match of Group J, with the mission of starting the journey to defend the title won in Qatar 2022.
The team led by Lionel Scaloni arrives at this match as the No. 1 in the FIFA Ranking and with a perfect record in the matches played so far this year. Of their four friendlies played in international windows, the national team won all, although against much lower-level opponents (2-1 against Mauritania, 5-0 against Zambia, 2-0 against Honduras, and 3-0 against Iceland).
On the other side, the team led by the Bosnian Vladimir Petković comes off a decent performance in the Africa Cup of Nations, where they reached the quarter-finals (eliminated by Nigeria), and with a good streak of results in their FIFA date appearances. In 2026, “The Desert Foxes” achieved 3 victories, two of them by large margins (7-0 against Guatemala and 4-0 against Bolivia) and one against a European powerhouse (1-0 against the Netherlands away), and 1 draw (0-0 against Uruguay).
Regarding the history, Argentines and Algerians have faced each other on one occasion, during a friendly in 2007 that ended with a victory for the Albiceleste by 4-3, which included a brace from Lionel Messi, the only player still active from that team.
With this match, the National Team will play its 27th match against African countries. In the previous 26, they achieved a total of 20 victories, 2 draws, and 4 defeats. Additionally, within that list, there are 6 World Cup matches: 5 against Nigeria (all wins in 1994, 2002, 2010, 2014, and 2018) and 1 against Cameroon (loss in the debut of Italy 1990).
On their part, Algeria has faced CONMEBOL teams on 12 occasions, with a record of 5 victories, 2 draws, and 5 defeats. In World Cups, they had two matches, one in Spain 1982 (win against Chile) and another in Mexico 1986 (loss to Brazil).
The National Team's debut in Group J against the Africans will be this Tuesday, June 16 at 22:00 (Argentina time) at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The match will be broadcast on television through the channels of Telefe, TyC Sports, TV Pública, and Dsports, and on Disney+ Premium, DGO, and Paramount+ for streaming.
Argentina (4-4-2):
Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martínez
Defenders: Facundo Medina, Nicolás Otamendi, Cristian Romero, and Gonzalo Montiel
Midfielders: Thiago Almada, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac-Allister, and Rodrigo de Paul