Messi claimed World Cup glory with Argentina in 2022. He scored seven goals and laid on three assists to be named player of the tournament, including two goals in the final as Argentina prevailed on penalties after a 3-3 draw against France. A final defeat to Germany in 2014 and a shambolic campaign from La Albiceleste at Russia 2018 had made the prize feel out of reach before Qatar. Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has selected several of the heroes of Qatar 2022 as they seek to go back-to-back.
Argentina begin the defense of their title against Algeria, with the African country back at the World Cup for the first time in 12 years. Argentina vs. Algeria is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16 with kickoff at 9 p.m. ET at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Texas.
Argentina World Cup 2026 group stage schedule
- Group stage: Argentina vs. Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City
- Group stage: Argentina vs. Austria
- Group stage: Jordan vs. Argentina
How to watch Lionel Messi's matches at World Cup 2026
FOX is the main English-language FIFA broadcast partner in the United States, and will have the rights to the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil. The broadcaster has announced that all 104 matches of the tournament will be televised throughout the competition. 69 matches from the competition will air on the main FOX network channel, while 35 others will be televised on FS1.
For Spanish-language coverage, all 104 matches will stream live on Peacock, with 92 matches airing on Telemundo and 12 on Universo. All those channels, both English and Spanish are available to stream in the United States on fubo, who are offering a FREE trial for new users. Every match will also stream live on FOX One and the FOX Sports app.
Argentina World Cup 2026 draw bracket for Group J
The winner of Group J will enter the knockout stage bracket on the bottom half, scheduled to take on the runner-up of Group H. The Group J runner-up enters the top half of the bracket and will meet the winner of Group H.
The third-place finisher in Group J has several potential landing spots in the bracket, but only eight groups will have a third-place qualifier for the knockout stage. Until all third-place qualifiers are known, it is impossible to predict where or when they could potentially play because there are 495 mathematical combinations of third-place qualifiers.
- M1: 2nd, Group A vs. 2nd, Group B at SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA)
- M2: 1st, Group E vs. 3rd place finisher at Gillette Stadium (Foxboro, MA)
- M3: 1st, Group F vs. 2nd, Group C at Estadio BBVA (Guadalupe, MEX)
- M4: 1st, Group C vs. 2nd, Group F at NRG Stadium (Houston, TX)
- M5: 1st, Group I vs. 3rd place finisher at MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)
- M6: 2nd, Group E vs. 2nd, Group I at AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX)
- M7: 1st, Group A vs. 3rd place finisher at Estadio Azteca (Mexico City, MEX)
- M8: 1st, Group L vs. 3rd place finisher at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA)
- M9: 1st, Group D vs. 3rd place finisher at Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, CA)
- M10: 1st, Group G vs. 3rd place finisher at Lumen Field (Seattle, WA)
- M11: 2nd, Group K vs. 2nd, Group L
- M12: 1st, Group H vs. 2nd, Group J
