Back
Aron Wright - June 4, 2026
Argentina arrive at the 2026 World Cup as the defending champions and one of the heaviest favourites in tournament history. They won the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, the Copa America in 2021 and again in 2024.
Lionel Scaloni’s men have not lost a competitive match since the 2019 Copa America. The challenge ahead of them is unique. No nation has won back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Argentina are drawn in Group J of the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Algeria, Austria and Jordan. For all our World Cup 2026 predictions and analysis visit LeagueLane.
Lionel Messi arrives at his record sixth World Cup at the age of 38. He is three goals short of the all-time tournament scoring record.
A hamstring scare in training raised alarms in the build-up but Lionel Scaloni has confirmed he will be fit for the opener against Algeria.
The squad has 17 players from the winning squad in Qatar. It is the most experienced group of footballers Argentina has ever assembled at a World Cup.
Appearances: 19 | Best finish: Winners (1978, 1986, 2022) | Runners-up in 2014
Argentina have one of the great World Cup records in the history of the tournament. They were present at the first edition in 1930 in Uruguay, reaching the final before losing to the hosts. They withdrew in 1938 and did not participate in 1950 and 1954 due to disputes over hosting rights and political decisions.
From 1958 onwards they have been a consistent presence on the biggest stage, reaching the quarter-finals in 1966 and 1974 before winning their first title on home soil in 1978 under Cesar Luis Menotti.
The 1986 tournament in Mexico belongs to Diego Maradona. His Hand of God goal and his second against England, the greatest individual goal ever scored at a World Cup, defined an entire era of the game. Argentina beat West Germany in the final.
Four years later they reached the final again, losing to the same opponents in a tight, scrappy game decided by a penalty. The 1990s and 2000s brought quarter-final and round of 16 exits as the generation changed.
In 2014 in Brazil, Messi led Argentina to the final before losing to Germany in extra time. He won the Golden Ball despite Argentina losing. It was the tournament that defined the question hanging over his career for years.
That question was answered in Qatar in 2022, Argentina beat France in the most extraordinary final in World Cup history, a 3-3 draw after extra time decided on penalties. Messi scored twice. Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick for France. Emiliano Martinez saved two penalties in the shootout.
Argentina won their third star and Messi completed the one title missing from his career. Now they want a fourth.
Scaloni was a surprise appointment in 2018 when he was named interim manager after Jorge Sampaoli’s departure following a poor World Cup. He had limited managerial experience and Diego Maradona publicly questioned his credentials. What followed has been the most successful period in Argentine football history. Scaloni won the 2021 Copa America, ending a 28-year trophy drought. He won the 2022 World Cup. He won the 2024 Copa America. Three consecutive major trophies.
Scaloni’s genius is not tactical complexity. It is the environment he has created. He built a squad with collective identity, mutual trust and a clear understanding of roles. Every player knows what is expected of them. There are no egos bigger than the team. He ended Argentina’s dependence on Messi being at his best to win games. This Argentina can win without Messi performing at his peak. That is the most significant achievement of his management career.
Formation: 4-3-3
Scaloni uses a 4-3-3 with Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernandez in midfield. The shape gives Argentina control and the ability to press aggressively when they lose the ball. Messi operates from the right but drifts centrally. Lautaro Martinez leads the line. Julian Alvarez provides energy from the left, pressing defenders and creating space for Messi and Martinez. The full-backs push high when Argentina have the ball, creating width and overloads. Emiliano Martinez sweeps behind a compact defence.
The system is built on collective pressing and quick transitions. When Argentina win the ball back high up the pitch, they move it fast and forward. Messi’s passing quality and De Paul’s carrying ability from midfield are the key links between defence and attack. Scaloni has the depth to rotate without losing quality. Nicolas Paz gives him a technical option in midfield. Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez can both lead the line. Argentina can adapt to whatever the game demands.
Messi is the greatest player the game has ever produced. He arrives at his sixth and almost certainly final World Cup carrying the title he won in 2022 and hunting the all-time tournament scoring record. He has 13 World Cup goals across five tournaments. The record is 16. Three more goals in North America and he owns every record the tournament has to offer. At 38 his pace is not what it was. His football intelligence, his passing and his ability to find the decisive moment from nothing are completely intact.
The hamstring scare before this tournament is the only real concern. Scaloni has managed his minutes carefully and believes he will be fit for the opener. In a group containing Algeria, Austria and Jordan, Messi should have three games to build his fitness and find his rhythm before the knockout rounds begin. The weight of history will surround every appearance he makes. The Argentine fans will treat each one as a gift.
Martinez is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and the man who saved Argentina’s World Cup in Qatar. His two penalty saves in the shootout against France are among the most important moments in Argentine football history. He is not a conventional goalkeeper. He intimidates opponents from the penalty spot, uses psychology as a weapon and has the reflexes and shot-stopping ability to back it up. Aston Villa’s form in Europe over recent seasons has cemented his reputation. He is the best penalty-saving goalkeeper at this tournament.
Alvarez scored four goals at the 2022 World Cup. He won the Champions League with Manchester City before moving to Atletico Madrid, where he has been outstanding. His combination of relentless pressing, intelligent movement and clinical finishing makes him the ideal partner for Messi and Martinez. He does the running others do not want to do. He creates space by pressing defenders into mistakes. He scores important goals in big games. At 25 this is his first World Cup at his absolute best and Argentina will need his energy throughout the tournament.
Martinez is the Serie A top scorer this season with 17 goals for Inter Milan and the player Scaloni trusts to lead the line when Messi drops deep. His physicality, his finishing quality and his ability to link play under pressure make him one of the best centre-forwards in world football. He struggled with injury in Qatar and did not have the impact expected of him. He made up for it at the 2024 Copa America. This is the World Cup where Martinez establishes himself as one of the tournament’s defining players.
Mac Allister is one of the best midfielders in European football and the engine of Scaloni’s system. At Liverpool he controls games from the base of midfield. For Argentina he does the same. His press resistance, his passing range and his ability to cover enormous amounts of ground without the ball make him indispensable. He is the player who makes Argentina’s system work from the inside. Without him, Argentina are a lesser team. With him they have a midfield platform that can compete with anyone at this tournament.
Argentina win Group J and they will not be troubled doing it. Algeria, Austria and Jordan are all capable sides but none of them has the individual quality or the collective organisation to match what Scaloni has built. Nine points from three games is the expectation and anything less would be a significant surprise.
The real question is whether Argentina can do what no team has done in over 60 years and retain the World Cup. The squad is experienced. The system is proven. Messi is motivated. The only genuine vulnerabilities are fitness and the weight of history that comes with defending a title. Neither of those should be enough to stop them in the group stage.
For a betting angle, Argentina to win all three group games and Messi to score at least once is the straightforward play. The odds on Lautaro Martinez as top scorer in the group stage represent better value. He was in the form of his life at Inter Milan this season and has a point to prove after his quiet 2022 tournament. Group J is where Argentina set their statement of intent.
