World Cup

Argentina vs Algeria World Cup 2026 prediction

Defending champions Argentina kick off their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign against Algeria on Wednesday morning, British Summer Time.

Lionel Messi will turn 39 before the third group game, but remains the key in Lionel Scaloni’s side. The Inter Miami forward will be playing in a record sixth World Cup, and is three goals behind Miroslav Klose’s record 16 goals in the competition.

Messi will have support from Lautaru Martinez and Julian Alvarez in attack, whom either could easily end the competition as Argentina’s top scorer.

Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister, Inter Miami’s Rodrigo De Paul and Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández will anchor the centre midfield, whilst Thiago Almada is an attacking playmaker. Manchester United’s Lisandro Martínez and Tottenham Hotspur’s Cristian Romero should be the centre-back partnership, but 38-year-old Nicolás Otamendi is also included in the squad.

Argentina have a very strong squad and head into the tournament as the bookmakers’ fourth favourites. Surprised to be them longer odds than England and Spain, but Portugal could arguably be shorter. Third or fourth favourites sounds about right. They won the CONMEBOL qualifying by nine points, winning 12 of 18 games and losing only four. They scored a high 31 goals and joint-second best defensive record with only 10 goals conceded.

Algeria are competing in their fifth World Cup, and first since 2014 when they made the round of 16 in Brazil. They only have three wins in 13 games in the competition with seven defeats. Vladimir Petković’s side breezed qualifying – winning their group by seven points through games, winning eight, drawing one and losing only at home to Guinea. Uganda, Mozambique, Botswana and Somalia were the other countries in the group.

Riyad Mahrez is 35-years-old now but is still one of the stars of the team. He should be supporting Marseille’s Amine Gouiri up front, with Feyenoord’s Anis Hadj Moussa in support down the wing. Lille’s Nabil Bentaleb and Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Ibrahim Maza are well-known names in centre midfield.

Manchester City’s Rayan Aït-Nouri will be attacking from left-back, whilst Borussia Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini centre-back these days. He should partner Lille’s Aïssa Mandi.

Argentina’s odds are much better than I was expecting. Sure, they lost to Saudi Arabia in their opener 4.5 years ago, but with that experience and their qualifying campaign I don’t expect that to happen two tournaments in a row. They should be looking to wrap this group up after two games to rest key players in their final group game versus Jordan. That means three points is on the cards for the defending champions.

Best bet: Argentina to win is 5/9 with Bet365