After their recent friendly against Iceland, the Argentine National Team will play their second match against a European team since their triumph in Qatar 2022 against France. This Monday at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, the Albiceleste will face Austria for the second matchday of Group J of the 2026 World Cup in search of securing their qualification to the Round of 32 in first place.
The team led by Lionel Scaloni arrives at this match after a 3-0 victory against Algeria in their debut, with Lionel Messi as the standout player. Despite an initial scare from an offside goal by Algeria, the national team did not face major scares after the initial goal by the Flea and, although they were not the absolute dominators, they almost did not allow their rival to approach Dibu Martínez to score.
On the other side, the team led by Ralf Rangnick comes off a 3-1 win against Jordan, although this result is somewhat misleading, as the majority of the match was quite balanced. Until the 76th minute, the score was 1-1 with an Asian team that had its chances and even cornered its rival, but an own goal and a subsequent penalty at the end gave the victory to the Austrians.
Regarding the history, Argentines and Austrians have faced each other on two occasions, both in friendlies, with a record of one victory for the Albiceleste (5-1 in 1980) and one draw (1-1 in 1990, a month before the World Cup in Italy).
With this upcoming match, the National Team will play their 60th match against a country from the Old Continent in World Cups. In the previous 59, they achieved a total of 24 wins, 16 draws, and 19 losses. Meanwhile, in this tournament Austrian has faced CONMEBOL teams 6 times, with a record of 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses.
Time and TV for Argentina vs. Austria
The second commitment of the National Team in the Group J against the Europeans will be this Monday, June 22 at 14:00 (Argentina time) at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The match will be broadcast on television through the channels of Telefe, TyC Sports, TV Pública, and Dsports, as well as Disney+ Premium, DGO, and Paramount+ for streaming.
Possible lineups
Argentina (4-4-2):
Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martínez
Defenders: Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, and Facundo Medina
Midfielders: Thiago Almada or Nicolás González, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, and Rodrigo De Paul
Forwards: Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martínez or Julián Álvarez
