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Austria & Argentina battle for crucial World Cup Group J knockout advancement

Austria and Argentina have secured 3 points each in Group J after both teams won their first World Cup 2026 games

Austria & Argentina battle for crucial World Cup Group J knockout advancement
Austria & Argentina battle for crucial World Cup Group J knockout advancement

Austria is gearing up to become the first team from Group J to advance to the knockout stages, as the team is set to face Argentina on Monday.

The defending champions kicked off their 2026 tournament with a 3-0 win over Algeria, as Lionel Messi scored a hat trick.

Meanwhile, Austria earned a 3-1 victory over World Cup debutantes Jordan.


The two teams have only met twice before in friendlies, with Argentina winning one game and drawing the other.

How to watch the Argentina vs Austria World Cup game?

The match will be available to enjoy on BBC One in the UK, Zee5 in India, SBS in Australia, and for US audiences, the highly anticipated game will be available on Fox Sports.

Venue and Time for the Argentina vs Austria Match 

The Argentina vs Austria game will kick off on Monday, June 22, at 1 p.m. ET at AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, with Amin Mohamed Omar serving as the referee.

Predicted lineup for Argentina

For Argentina, the possible 11 are Emiliano Martínez (goalkeeper), Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez as centre backs, Nahuel Molina at the right-back position, and Nicolás Tagliafico at the left back.

Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister would play as central midfielders, with Thiago Almada, Julián Álvarez and Lionel Messi (captain) at the forward positions.

Predicted lineup for Austria 

While the Austria lineup would consist of Alexander Schlager (goalkeeper), David Alaba (captain) at left back, and Philipp Lienhart and Kevin Danso as the centre backs.

Moreover, Konrad Laimer will be at the right back, with Nicolas Seiwald and Xaver Schlager at the centre midfield, Marcel Sabitzer as the left midfielder, Romano Schmid as the right midfielder, Patrick Wimmer (CAM) and Sasa Kalajdzic as the striker.

World Cup 2026 Group J standings

Argentina, Austria, Algeria and Jordan are in Group J.

Argentina and Austria both have three points, with Argentina leading the way on goal difference.

Meanwhile, Jordan and Algeria remain pointless, with the Middle East nation third and Algeria bottom.

Will Lionel Messi take a break amid family challenges?


Lionel Messi had a challenging week amid his heroic hat-trick against Algeria, as it was reported that the football star's father, Jorge Messi, is dealing with health issues, details of which were not revealed to the media.

Besides that, the 38-year-old landed in controversy after Algeria complained that Messi should have been sent off for standing on the calf of their captain, Aissa Mandi. 

Austria looking forward to Argentina's clash

Ahead of the highly anticipated game, Austria captain David Alaba said that the team is aware of Argentina's talent on the field.


"We know what kind of opponent we're up against, what kind of quality they have in their ranks, even besides Messi, but also what they're capable of as a team," he told reporters.

Argentina vs Austria prediction

Stats provider Opta's supercomputer has made Argentina favourites for this match, giving them a 60.1 per cent chance of winning against Austria.

The draw is ranked at 22.4 per cent, with Austria given just a 17.6 per cent chance of beating the defending champions.

Opta currently ranks Argentina as the fourth favourites to win the World Cup.

Notably, the top two teams from each of the 12 groups, along with the eight best third-placed teams, will qualify for the knockout stages.