In Group J – world champions with Messi, last star dances and “Mazadona”

The World Cup will take place from June 11 to July 19 in Canada, the USA, and Mexico.

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Group J teams will play in Kansas City, Santa Clara, and Arlington (USA).

All news about the World Cup can be found here.

Argentina

The world champions arrive at the planetary championship with one goal – to defend the trophy.

The Argentinians, who have become the strongest in the world three times in total, will seek to join Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962), the only teams that have managed to defend their championship titles so far.

Moreover, in case of triumph, Argentina would catch up with Italy and Germany and would only trail the five-time champions Brazil in terms of World Cup trophies.

Having won all possible tournaments since 2021 (2021 and 2024 South American Championships, 2022 World Cup, and “Finalissima”, where South American and European champions play), the Argentinians demonstrated their unwavering ambitions in the qualifiers for the planetary championship, securing a ticket to the tournament 15 months in advance, and finally finishing at least 10 points ahead of all rivals.

In the qualifiers, the Argentinians twice defeated their eternal rival Brazil: first, they triumphed in the legendary Brazilian “Maracana”, recording their first home defeat in World Cup qualifying history, and later crushed them at home, achieving their biggest victory against their northern neighbors since 1963.

Argentina brings as many as 17 world champions from 2022 to the World Cup.

Some of them, like 27-year-old Alexis MacAllister, 26-year-old Julian Alvarez, or 25-year-old Enzo Fernandez, have made strides and should play even more important roles than in Qatar, but a large part of Argentina’s golden boys have already entered the late stage of their careers or are even experiencing career sunsets.

No exception is Argentina’s and the world’s brightest star Lionel Messi, for whom this will be his sixth World Cup – he, along with Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and Mexican Guillermo Ochoa, should break the all-time record.

L. Messi has already played the most matches in the tournament’s history (26), and with 13 goals scored, he is only behind Miroslav Klose (16), Ronaldo (15), and Gerd Muller (14).

However, having spent three years in the MLS, the US football league dubbed a veterans’ paradise, L. Messi will likely no longer be the game-changing player he was in 2022, so his namesake Lionel Scaloni will have to find another way to reach the final scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium and become only the second coach after Italian Vittorio Pozzo to win the World Cup twice.

The 48-year-old specialist, who has been at the helm of his country’s national team since 2018, should face the most headaches in organizing the team’s defense, which features prominent names, but not necessarily in their best form.

Nevertheless, there is little doubt – Argentina is once again in the small circle of the tournament’s brightest favorites, and no one would be surprised if L. Messi lifted the World Cup trophy once more.

Austria

The Austrians return to the brightest stage of world football after a 28-year break – the last time Das Team was there was in 1998.

The “godfather of gegenpressing” Ralf Rangnick brought the Austrians back to the elite.

The 67-year-old German, who took over the Austrian national team in 2022, turned this team into one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2024 European Championship, when Austria defeated even the Netherlands national team in the group stage and overtook France, and the Austrians flew through the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup by winning six out of eight matches and securing a direct ticket to North America.

The team, playing with an eye-pleasing attacking style and lightning-fast counterattacks, suffered a painful defeat in the round of 16 against Turkey two years ago and still remains without a victory in major tournament knockouts since 1954, so this year’s tournament seems like the best opportunity to break this decades-long drought.

Marko Arnautović, 37, who has played the most matches (132) and scored the most goals (47) for the national team, is likely playing his last major tournament for the Austrian national team, as is the country’s brightest football icon, 33-year-old David Alaba, who has just said goodbye to Real Madrid after five years spent in the Spanish capital.

Two other key Austrian pillars, 32-year-old Marcel Sabitzer and Michael Gregoritsch, are also not in their prime, while Bayern Munich representative Konrad Laimer seems to have just reached his peak – this defender/midfielder is 29.

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When, if not now?

Algeria

In 2014, the Algerians, who dragged future world champions Germany to extra time in the round of 16, watched the next two planetary championships only on television.

However, having overcome the African qualifiers for the World Cup with only one stumble in 10 matches, the two-time continental champions return full of ambition and well-known names in the football world.

For Riyad Mahrez, 35, the brightest name in Algerian football of the last decade, this will be his second World Cup and an opportunity to perhaps make a grand farewell to the national team.

31-year-old Borussia Dortmund defender Ramy Bensebaini should be a solid pillar for Algeria in his half of the field.

Meanwhile, for other Algerian rising stars, everything is still ahead.

24-year-old Rayan Ait-Nouri became an important figure in Pep Guardiola’s coached Manchester City last season. Wolfsburg striker Mohamed Amoura just celebrated his 26th birthday, but has already scored 19 goals for the national team, 10 of which were in the qualifiers for this World Cup.

And perhaps the most interesting figure in the Algerian national team could be 20-year-old Ibrahim Maza. Born in Germany and dubbed “Mazadona” in his home country, the Bayer Leverkusen striker is already being called R. Mahrez’s successor and stands out not only for his talent but also for his playfulness on the field, capable of captivating millions of eyes watching the World Cup.

An experienced head on the sidelines should add calm and stability to the “Desert Foxes”. 62-year-old Bosnian Vladimir Petković has already coached Switzerland in the 2018 World Cup, and Algerian football officials did not doubt the Bosnian’s future even after the team played a disappointing African Championship and exited in the quarterfinals.

The Algerians well remember how four years ago their biggest rival Morocco reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.

Why couldn’t they do the same?

Jordan

Group J minnow Jordan is one of four countries debuting in the World Cup.

The Middle Eastern team only entered the Asian Championship for the first time in 2004, but a few years ago, it already jumped into the continental elite – in the 2023 championship, it sensationally defeated South Korea in the semi-finals and only fell to the Qatar national team in the final.

However, making a splash in North America will be considerably harder.

Only two Jordan national team players play in European clubs, and only one of them competes in one of the five strongest leagues on the Old Continent: national team captain Musa Al-Taamari represents “Rennes” (France).

Together with Ali Olwan, who shone in the World Cup qualifiers, they should form the most dangerous pair of Jordanian players, although undoubtedly much more pressure will fall on this country’s team defense and goalkeeper – in a group with Argentinians, Austrians, and Algerians, it is difficult to expect Jordan to create many scoring opportunities.

The Jordan national team is coached by 55-year-old Moroccan Jamal Sellami, who himself experienced what it means to be part of the World Cup while playing for his country’s national team in 1998.

The former midfielder is trying to implement a structured and disciplined playing style, and if his players listen, J. Sellami has no doubt that Jordan can repeat previous major World Cup sensations: Algeria’s victory over Germany in 1982, Cameroon’s triumph over Argentina in 1990, or Senegal’s win over France in 2002.

“These results are a source of hope and ambition for our fans. They can dream about it,” said the Jordan coach before the tournament.

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Prepared based on publications by AP, Sports Illustrated, and Reuters.