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Arun - June 22, 2026
Argentina and Austria meet at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Monday evening in the standout fixture of Group J matchday two. Both sides sit on three points after winning their openers, making this a straight battle for top spot. Our Argentina vs Austria prediction has the full breakdown.
Argentina opened their title defence with a Lionel Messi hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria, while Austria came from behind to beat Jordan 3-1. A win here puts the victor on the verge of the Round of 32
Lionel Scaloni has two fitness doubts heading into this match. Nicolas Tagliafico and Leandro Paredes are both carrying knocks and their availability will be assessed before kickoff.
If Tagliafico misses out, Facundo Medina is the most likely replacement at left-back. At right-back, Gonzalo Montiel has been managing a hamstring problem, and Nahuel Molina is expected to start in his place.
Lautaro Martinez started the opener and is expected to retain his place ahead of Alvarez, though Scaloni may be tempted to pair him with Julian Alvarez.
The midfield of Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez and Thiago Almada is built entirely around providing a platform for Messi and is expected unchanged. Emiliano Martinez continues in goal, with Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez the centre-back partnership.
Messi himself is the central story. The 38-year-old, who celebrated his 200th international cap against Algeria, hat-trick against Algeria took his World Cup goals tally to 16, level with Miroslav Klose’s all-time record.
One more goal here makes Messi the outright leading scorer in World Cup history. He turns 39 on Wednesday and shows no sign whatsoever of slowing down.
Formation: 4-4-2
GK: Emiliano Martinez
Defenders: Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Facundo Medina
Midfield: Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Thiago Almada
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez
Key bench: Julian Alvarez
Ralf Rangnick has no injury concerns and no suspensions following the Jordan win. Austria come into this match in excellent spirits, having recovered from going behind to Jordan to win 3-1 in what was their first World Cup appearance since 1998. The result was achieved without their most experienced forward starting the game.
The key selection question for Rangnick is whether to hand Marko Arnautovic a starting berth after his decisive impact from the bench against Jordan.
Austria’s all-time leading scorer and appearance-maker came on at half-time, had a goal ruled out by VAR, and then scored a stoppage-time penalty to make the result safe.
Arnautovic brings 117 caps and 36 international goals to the tournament. He is expected to start here ahead of Sasa Kalajdzic, who played the full first half against Jordan without making a significant impact.
David Alaba anchors the defence with Kevin Danso alongside him. Stephan Posch and Phillipp Mwene are the full backs. Konrad Laimer and Nicolas Seiwald form the midfield double pivot, with Marcel Sabitzer, Romano Schmid and Patrick Wimmer providing creativity and width ahead of them.
Sabitzer, with 26 international goals, is Austria’s primary long-range threat and set-piece specialist. Patrick Pentz continues in goal.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
GK: Patrick Pentz
Defenders: Stephan Posch, Kevin Danso, David Alaba, Phillipp Mwene
Midfield: Konrad Laimer, Nicolas Seiwald
Attacking mid: Romano Schmid, Marcel Sabitzer, Patrick Wimmer
Forward: Marko Arnautovic
For all our World Cup 2026 tips and predictions throughout the tournament, head to the hub.
Post Title: Argentina vs Austria Predicted Lineups and Team News | World Cup 2026
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Meta Description: Full team news and predicted lineups for Argentina vs Austria at the 2026 World Cup. Messi chases World Cup record, Arnautovic starts and both predicted XIs.
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Caption: Argentina face Austria at AT&T Stadium, Arlington on June 22, 2026.
Image Description: Argentina vs Austria World Cup 2026 predicted lineups and team news for the Group J matchday 2 fixture at AT&T Stadium, Arlington.
