Argentina vs Algeria live online: updates, goals, score and highlights | Messi’s 2026 World Cup debut

How the favorites are fairing

Argentina are at the top of the FIFA World Rankings. That's the good news. The bad news is how the other favorites in the Rankings are fairing almost a week into the tournament. Spain dropped from 2nd to 3rd after their draw to debutants Cape Verde. France played earlier today and took care of Senegal in convincing fashion. England and Portugal play tomorrow but the only other team to win in the top 10 of the FIFA Rankings was Germany with their 7-1 win over Curacao. Brazil and Morocco played to a 1-1 draw. The Netherlands drew with Japan, 2-2 and Belgium and Egypt drew 1-1. 

FIFA Rankings

After winning the World Cup four years ago, and continuing that fantastic form in between Qatar 2022 and USA/Canada/Mexico 2026 they earned themselves the top spot in the FIFA Rankings coming into the tournament. They came in above Spain, France, England and Portugal and will be hoping to end the tournament as the number one ranked team which would almost certainly mean they won the tournament for a second straight tournament. 

Norway on top

Norway just took the lead in Group I, over France. Both teams started their World Cup campaign on the right foot, but it was Norway winning by the biggest scoreline. They beat Iraq 4-1 and now are the group leaders after a first day of action that saw France beat Senegal 3-1.

Tonight's venue 

We are in Kansas City Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs from the months of September to January. It is one of the most historic, loudest stadium in the NFL and with fans from both sides packing the house, this will surely be a historic night from what is usually referred to as Arrowhead Stadium. Argentina fans are known to be some of the most passionate fans in the world, and if they know anything about this stadium they will use it to their advantage during tonight’s kickoff match against Algeria. 

Messi starting in 200th cap

Messi gets the start. No real surprise there, but he there was just a question of his fitness arriving to camp carrying an injury. 

History of a back-to-back

There have only been eight countries that have ever won the tournament, so you would think back-to-backs would be pretty common, but that actually not the case. The first country to go back-to-back was Italy in the second and third edition of the tournament back in 1934 and 1938. The only other country to do so was Brazil in the late 50s and early 60s. Led by Pele, Brazil won it all in 1958 and did it again in 1962. Argentina have a chance to join rarified air if they are able to put on a repeat performance of their heroics in Qatar four years ago  

Argentina XI 

It's not been published on their social media pages but Scaloni's first XI of the World Cup title defense looks like this: 

E. Martínez; Montiel, Lisandro, Cuti; Medina; De Paul, Mac Allister, Enzo; Messi, Almada, Lautaro

The Argentina XI should be out in no time. We already have Algeria's starting eleven, but the defending champions are taking a little while longer to release their first XI of the World Cup. 

Group J

It's a pretty stacked group in Group J. You could definitely see this being one of the groups in which three teams move on from. You figure Argentina is pretty safe, especially if they win tonight. Algeria and Austria could very well both qualify. Jordan might have it a little tougher. 

Teams 
1. Argentina
2. Algeria
3. Austria
4. Jordan

Schedule

Tuesday, June 16, 9 p.m. (Fox): Argentina vs. Algeria, Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri)
Tuesday, June 16, 12 a.m. (FS1): Austria vs. Jordan, Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, California)
Monday, June 22, 1 p.m. (Fox): Argentina vs. Austria, AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
Monday, June 22, 11 p.m. (FS1): Jordan vs. Algeria, Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, California)
Saturday, June 27, 10 p.m. (Fox): Jordan vs. Argentina, AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
Saturday, June 27, 10 p.m. (FS1): Algeria vs. Austria, Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri)

World Cup history: Algeria 

This is just the fifth appearance in a World Cup for the Algerians. They first made the tournament in 1982, when they were controversially knocked out of the group stages after beating then powerhouse West Germany and Chile. West Germany and Austria played a game that was dubbed the “Match of Shame” after both sides seemed to make a pact that advanced both teams through after a 1-0 win from the West Germans. They have been to the World Cup just three time since then, and the only time they got past the group stages was back in 2014 when they were beaten in the round of 16 by Germany. 

World Cup history: Argentina 

It's a side that needs no introduction in this tournament. They are three time champions after their last win in Qatar 2022. That puts them fourth all time, behind Brazil with five, and Germany and Italy with four a piece. On top of their three World Cups, they have been finalists another three times, back in the first World Cup in 1930, 1990, and in 2014 from Brazil. This summer they have a chance to make history with a fourth star, and a back to back bid which would make them the first country to win back to back World Cups in a long, long time. 

Algeria XI

Here is Petkovic's first eleven in Algeria's return to the World Cup. Ait Nouri gets the start in the back but Mahrez will start on the bench. That means it's up to Chaibi and Gouri to create up top. 

Star watch: Algeria 

He may not be playing in any of the top leagues in Europe, but class is permanent, and Riyad Mahrez is certainly proof of that. He is 35 coming into this World Cup, but his experience, his wisdom and his skill will be a welcomed addition to this side that as gearing up for another appearance in the knockout round. While he is the star of the show, no one had a better World Cup qualifiers than Mohamed Amoura who scored 10 goals served 4 assists in 8 matches. These two will be heading the attack against an Argentina side that will be eager to get off to a good start. 

Star watch: Argentina 

We need not look too hard for the Argentina star in this portion of the preview. Is he the greatest of all time? It certainly a tough question to debate. While everyone has their personal preference there is no arguing that Lionel Messi has checked off every box possible over the span of the last two decades. The only thing that was missing was a World Cup, and he's now got that in his trophy case after last World Cup. At 39 years old, he is still going to be one of the most important players on this squad, and the game against Iceland showed us that he is still capable of producing magic in the blink of an eye. 

Algeria squad

They may not be the most known side in the tournament, but there are some names you will certainly know as you look at Vladimir Petkovic's 26 man squad. The most recognizable of all is Riyad Mahrez who has a sensation in the Premier League before heading to the Saudi League. Luca Zidane is representing Algeria as well and Man City defender Rayan Ait-Nouri are the headliners of this team that should come into this summer with some loft goals. Here is the 26 man squad

Goalkeepers:

Anthony Mandrea (SM Caen)

Luca Zidane (Granada CF)

Oussama Benbot (USM Alger)

Defenders:

Aïssa Mandi (Lille OSC)

Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Dortmund)

Rayan Aït-Nouri (Manchester City)

Mehdi Dorval (SSC Bari)

Mohamed Amine Tougaï (Espérance de Tunis)

Zineddine Belaïd (JS Kabylie)

Rafiq Belghali (Hellas Verona)

Jaouen Hadjam (Young Boys)

Youcef Atal (Al-Sadd SC)

Midfielders:

Ismaël Bennacer (Dinamo Zagreb)

Hicham Boudaoui (OGC Nice)

Ramiz Zerrouki (FC Twente)

Farès Chaïbi (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Houssem Aouar (Al-Ittihad)

Adam Zorgane (Union Saint-Gilloise)

Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen)

Ahmed Kendouci (Ceramica Cleopatra)

Forwards:

Riyad Mahrez (Al-Ahli)

Mohamed Amoura (VfL Wolfsburg)

Amine Gouiri (Olympique de Marseille)

Anis Hadj Moussa (Feyenoord)

Baghdad Bounedjah (Al-Shamal)

Adel Boulbina (Al-Duhail)

Argentina squad

It's not an easy task bringing a squad that has that same hunger and that same drive from four years ago. Argentina were desperate to win a World Cup after such a long wait, now they come in as defending champs and it’s up to Luis Scaloni to know who to select to this squad and how to manager them. This is his roster, that has some familiar faces from four years ago. 

Goalkeepers: Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez (Aston Villa), Gerónimo Rulli (Olympique Marseille), Juan Musso (Atlético Madrid)

Defenders: Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica), Nahuel Molina (Atlético Madrid), Nicolás Tagliafico (Ajax), Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate), Leonardo Balerdi (Olympique Marseille), Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United), Facundo Medina (Olympique Marseille)

Midfielders: Enzo Fernández (Chelsea), Rodrigo De Paul (Inter Miami), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Leandro Paredes (Boca Juniors), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Valentín Barco (Strasbourg), Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis)

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Julián Álvarez (Atlético Madrid), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), José Manuel López (Palmeiras), Nico González (Atlético Madrid), Thiago Almada (Atlético Madrid), Giuliano Simeone (Atlético Madrid), Nico Paz (Como)

Last match: Algeria 

Don't sleep on Algeria. They were knocked out of the AfCon quarterfinals back in January, but since then they haven’t lost a game. They drew against Uruguay in a game back in March, and then beat the Netherlands 1-0 before smacking Bolivia around in a 4-0 route right before the start of the tournament. Aissa Mandi scored the opener in the 45th minute. Algeria made some subs out of the halftime gate, and one of those subs, Amine Gouiri, scored a brace in a matter of minutes to put the Africans up 3-0. The final goal came in the 61st minutes, just three minutes minutes after Gouiri’s brace, and it came from Anis Hadj Moussa to cap the 4-0 win over Bolivia and send this side flying into their opener against the top ranked team in the world. 

Last match: Argentina 

Argentina have rattled off seven straight wins heading into the World Cup, stretching all the way back to September of 2025. Their last tune up before starting the tournament was against Iceland and they had a fairly easy time against the Icelandic side. Barco scored the early goal in the 8th minute,  but it wasn't until Messi came on in the 70th minute that things really started to simplify for the Albiceleste. Messi sent in Laturo Martinez who provoked a penalty which Messi slotted home in the 72nd minute, just two minutes after getting subbed on to the pitch. Then he set up another goal that was polished off by Thiago Almada in the 86th minutes to wrap up a perfect exhibition tour before their title defense tournament. 

We are live from KC  

Hello everyone and welcome to Kansas City, Missouri where the defending World Cup champions have been preparing for a title defense for the last couple weeks, and tonight they take on an Algeria who know they have a chance to get out of this group and make some noise in the knockout rounds. If they can steal a point, or even a miraculous three points against Argentina the goal would become even more reachable, but they are playing the top ranked side in the FIFA World Rankings so expectations have to be realistic coming into this game. We get our first look at the World Cup champs from Qatar back in 2022 

Argentina vs. Algeria live 

Nearly a week into the tournament, and the defending champions will finally kick off their repeat bid for a second straight World Cup after winning it in Qatar back in 2022. Lionel Messi headlines a star studded Argentina side that will be looking to send their hero into the sunset with back-to-back World Cups but before they can look at the underlying goal of the tournament they have to get through group stages, starting with Algeria tonight. AS English will be with you all night providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight's game from Kansas City.