Argentina vs Austria live online: updates, goals, score and highlights | 2026 World Cup Group J

World Cup's top scorers 

Less than two weeks into the tournament and there have already been some major changes to one of the most important lists in the history of the sport. The World Cup's All-time top scorer list is having to be updated almost by the hour in the 2026 World Cup. Messi drew level with Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 and has a chance to take the top spot on the list but Kylian Mbappe is closing in with 14 goals in his three World Cups. 

Messi, Klose: 16

Ronaldo: 15 

G. Muller, Mbappe: 14 

Fontaine: 13

Pele: 12

What a moment!

Messi has just led his team out of the tunnel for the pre-game warmups, and the crowd have reacted in kind, putting on a show of noise that is right up there with what we've heard so far at the tournament! 

Today's TV lineup

What a day full of soccer we have lined up today. Big games, top stars and must see TV all day and into the night. We start with Messi and Argentina battling for the top spot in the group and then we go to Phillhy for the France - Iraq match as Mbappe gets set add to his impressive World Cup resume. Erling Haaland and Norway will play Senegal as three of the best players in the world all get set to play over the next few hours.

Dallas Stadium 

We are here in Arlington, Texas. This stadium plays host to America's team, the Dallas Cowboys during the NFL season. It’s an American Football temple that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones built and it is going to be flooded with Argentinian fans today. There will be a large contingent of Austrians in attendance too, but it will be hard to hear them with the Argentinian fans chanting, and singing and praising Messi all day long. One of the things that has surprised a lot of the traveling fans is the grandeur of these stadiums and there are few places in the world has grand as Dallas Stadium. 

Only one man top of the pops...

While colossal goalkeepers have been the story of the tournament so far, Leo Messi stays top of the pile when it comes to Sofascore ratings.

Golden Boot standings 

Taking a look at the Golden Boot standings heading into Day 12 of the World Cup, we see Lionel Messi, obviously at the top of the Golden Boot list. He is currently tied with Canada's Jonathan David and Germany’s Deniz Undav. Undav and David have played one match than Messi, and technically Undav is at the top of the Golden Boot list with two assists to go along with his three goals. That could all chance today once Messi steps on the pitch for the second match of Argentina’s group stage campaign. Harry Kane has two. Kylian Mbappe has two and Erlign Haaland has two as the star studded Golden Boot race is already heating up midway through the group stages. 

FIFA Rankings  

Coming into the tournament Argentina were the top team in the official FIFA World Rankings. It should come as no surprise that the 2022 World Cup winners are still at the top of the list after their 3-0 win over Algeria. These rankings are ever-changing but one this that hasn’t changed much is Argentina’s place at the top for the last few years. France is right behind them, and then Spain while England and Brazil round out the top five. Austria has moved up to the 21st spot in the rankings after their win over Jordan. 

World Cup hat tricks 

What Lionel Messi did last week against Algeria isn't unheard of. Hat tricks in a World Cup are a common thing. In fact there have been 56 hat tricks scored in the history of the World Cup. That’s over the span of 96 years, 23 tournaments and over 800 games. The first, funnily enough, was scored by American Bert Patenaude in the inaugural World Cup back in 1930. Frenchman Just Fontaine scored two hat tricks in the same World Cup back in 1958, as did Gerd Muller for West Germany in the 1970 World Cup. Kylian Mbappe became the first player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final in Qatar four years ago. Messi joined that special list of players to score three goal in a World Cup last week against Algeria. He isn’t the only one that has scored a hat trick in this edition of the World Cup. Jonathan David scored a Hat trick against Qatar last week to join Messi.

Scaloni's reaction to hat trick 

The emotion and the appreciation people experience when watching Messi is unlike anything or anyone we have seen in this sport in a very long time, maybe ever. Experts drool over his genius. Novice soccer fans marvel at his brilliance. And Argentina fans worship him like he’s a god. In a country where soccer is religion, the number 10 is their Messiah. Even his own coach was reduced to watching on in awe as Messi scored his first ever hat trick in a World Cup. He took him off late in the second half to give the fans a chance to show their appreciation for the performance he gave in Kansas City, but it was Lionel Scaloni who was nearly brought to tears on the touchline of the Algeria game.

The birthday boy's gift

There are a handful of players in this World Cup who are 40 years old or older. Lionel Messi is not on that list, but on Wednesday he will turn 39 years old. Even as he pushes 40, and has been out of the limelight of the top four leagues in Europe for the last few years, he continues to prove his quality and class is timeless. He is still playing at the highest level, and even though he may not be as quick, or as explosive as the Messi we once saw, he is smarter, he is more cunning and he knows how to play with this Argentina side. Let’s see if Messi has a birthday present to give the world just days away from turning 39 years old. 

Last time out...

In Argentina's opening game, it was the Lionel Messi show on steroids. The wizard opened his World Cup account in typical fashion... just the three goals seemed to be enough for him as Argentina beat Algeria 3-0. 

It's set today up to be a potentially historic day, but more on that later! 

Star watch: Austria 

When you look up and down Ralf Rangnick's squad list for this World Cup you don’t see many names that stick out as world renowned stars, but this is a team that is complied of useful and effective pieces that make a team that is far from easy to take points from. Konrad Laimer is one of the most well known players on this side, and is coming off this best campaign with Bayern Munich this last year. He had 9 assists along with four goals in the Bundesliga for Vincent Kompany’s side and is now looking to carry that over to his second World Cup campaign with Austria. 

Star watch: Argentina 

Do we really have to even put anything in this section of the preview? The star watch for Argentina couldn't be more obvious, and it’s been that way for about two decades. Every now and then a player comes along that captivates the entire world. A player that will make the most ignorant followers of the sport realize they are in the presence of royalty. And every now and then that player will have a match that he, his opponents and everyone watching will remember forever. The match against Algeria was one of those days. You could see how much the first goal meant to Messi when he scored it. In what is likely to be his last World Cup of his historic career, that first goal he scored might have just brought out those emotions. Once he fought through that wave of emotion, it was time to make history and he did so with his first World Cup hat trick on a day that he made his 200th cap for Argentina. 

Group J standings 

After the first batch of games in Group J, this is how the table is looking. The two teams we thought would be fighting for the top spot in the table, are in fact fighting for the top spot in the table. The winner of today's game should move on to the round of 32 as the winners of the group, while the loser will be in pole position for the second spot in the group. Meanwhile Jordan and Algeria play later tonight with options at the second spot or perhaps even one of the eight third place spots in the next stage of the tournament. 

Here's how things look ahead of kick-off

Team news shortly!

Last game: Austria 

Austria's last game was a bit over shadowed by Messi’s incredible match from earlier that night, but the Austrians had a convincing win over World Cup debutants Jordan last week. Romano Schmid got the opening goal in the 21st minute, but it wasn’t until the second half that they would pull away. Ali Olwan scored the first goal in the World Cup for the country of Jordan and leveled the match at 1-1 out of the break, but an own goal on Jordan in the 76th minute would put the Austrians up a goal. Marko Arnautovic would put the cherry on top with a goal from the penalty spot in stoppage time to give Austria tree points to open up their World Cup campaign. 

Last game: Argentina

I highly doubt you have already forgotten Argentina's last game. It was one of those magical nights in which Messi reminded us why many people consider him the best player on the planet. Even still, at 38 years old, he does things that no one else can do and proved it to us with a World Cup hat trick. It all started within the first 10 minutes. Messi scored a goal that was called offside, but he would make amends in the 17th minute. A laser from distance beat the Algerian keeper to put the Argentine’s up a goal to the good. The second goal came right the hour mark, and it was a rebound that Messi tucked home after the keeper couldn’t handle the shot form MacAllister. The third was another work of art as Messi complete his first World Cup hat trick to cross off one of the only unchecked boxes on his career CV. 

We are live from Arlington 

Hello everyone and welcome to Dallas where there is quite the buzz around the stadium today. With the top spot in Group J up for grabs, this match is going to have a little more excitement around it, but the entire world will be tuning in to see what Lionel Messi has in store for us after a heroic performance a week ago in Kansas City. Austria are prepared to give the Albiceleste much more of a scrap than they got against Algeria last week while Lionel Scaloni's side eye the top spot to set up an easier path to the later rounds. It’s a match with big group implications, but almost more importantly its another chance to watch the greatest player in the world on the biggest stage in the world. 

Argentina vs. Austria  

The World Cup winners for four years ago take the pitch for the second time in their title defense campaign and everybody is waiting to see what the greatest player in the world has for an encore today from Arlington, Texas. It's Argentina taking on Austria in battle at the top of Group J and AS English will be with you all day providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of this match that could determine who wins the group with one match still remaining.