The Argentina national team already knows the opponents it will face in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup: Austria, Algeria, and Jordan make up a Group J with history and unprecedented challenges.

For the reigning champion, the clash with Austria is the only one that brings a direct history in the top competition, while the matches against Algerians and Jordanians will be entirely new.

The only precedent, in Argentina’s worst World Cup

The match against Austria is a memory from the early days of the World Cup. Argentinians and Austrians faced each other in the group stage of the 1958 World Cup in Sweden.

In that match, Argentina was defeated 3-2 in a close encounter. Although the match resulted in a defeat, it is the only direct World Cup precedent between the two teams, who now have the opportunity to rewrite their history 68 years later.

Algeria and Jordan, unprecedented clashes

The encounters with Algeria and Jordan will be absolute firsts in the context of the World Cup. While Argentina and Algeria have faced each other in other tournaments like the Olympic Games, they have never met in a World Cup final stage. Algeria is a team with experience in the tournament, so their match presents a physical and tactical test for Argentina in Group J.

📸 Alexander Hassenstein – 2016 Getty Images

As for the Jordan team, their presence in the 2026 World Cup marks their debut in the competition. With this scenario, Argentina begins its title defense with a single precedent of defeat against one of its historical rivals, Austria.

Nevertheless, the strength of Argentina and the inexperience of two of its opponents in direct World Cup matches position it as the great favorite to dominate Group J and advance smoothly in the 2026 World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

📸 Kevin Dietsch – 2025 Getty Images