Defending champions Argentina will open Group J at the 2026 World Cup when they face Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, USA.
The Tango team is looking for a positive start and an early win, hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when Messi and his teammates lost their opening match to Saudi Arabia.
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In this tournament, Argentina aims to become only the third team in history to win back-to-back World Cup titles, an achievement previously reached only by Italy and Brazil.
This year marks Argentina's 14th consecutive appearance in the World Cup. They also managed to finish top of the South American qualifiers for the first time since 2014.
On the other hand, Algeria, ranked 28th globally by FIFA, is preparing for their fifth historical appearance in the World Cup, and their first since 2014.
The Desert Warriors are looking to surpass their best achievement so far, which was reaching the Round of 16 in 2014 before being knocked out by Germany in extra time.
Argentina Predicted XI:
Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martinez
Defenders: Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Facundo Medina
Midfielders: Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez
Forwards: Thiago Almada, Lautaro Martinez, Lionel Messi
Algeria Predicted XI:
Goalkeeper: Luca Zidane
Defenders: Aissa Mandi, Zinedine Belaid, Ramy Bensebaini
Midfielders: Rafik Belghali, Hicham Boudaoui, Nabil Bentaleb, Rayan Ait-Nouri
Forwards: Anis Hadj Moussa, Amine Gouiri, Ibrahim Maza
