Algeria, Austria, Jordan: five key facts on Argentina’s 2026 rivals

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·5 de diciembre de 2025

Algeria, Austria, Jordan: five key facts on Argentina’s 2026 rivals

Algeria, Austria, and Jordan will be the rivals of the Argentine National Team in Group J of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Here are the first essential details to start getting to know them.

Algeria

Ranked 35th in the FIFA rankings, they comfortably won their group in the African Qualifiers but secured their spot by defeating Somalia last October.
This will be their fifth World Cup, having been affected by the aforementioned controversy in '82, with their best performance in Brazil 2014, when they forced extra time in the round of 16 against a powerful Germany that would later become champions.
Vladimir Petkovic is the coach, a Bosnian who favors a 4-3-3 formation and replaced Djamel Belmadi, who had won the African Cup of Nations but failed on the road to Qatar.
The star player is Riyad Mahrez, a dynamic winger with the experience of his 34 years, currently at Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, but with a past at Leicester, where he won the Premier League, and Manchester City under Pep Guardiola.
Another standout is Mohamed El Amine Amoura from Wolfsburg, a forward who also destabilizes on the flanks, enters the box, and scores plenty of goals.

Austria

Although they started with five consecutive victories, ranked 24th in the FIFA rankings, they barely qualified in the European Qualifiers after a tense draw in the final match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
They haven't played in a World Cup for over 20 years, since France 1998. Their best performance was in Switzerland 1954, finishing third. They were also involved in the controversial arrangement to lose 1-0 in Spain '82 against West Germany, which changed the rules.
Their coach is Ralf Rangnick, an experienced German who took over in 2022, with a brief stint - less than a year - at Manchester United. He implemented high-pressure tactics, intensity, and quick transitions, with players he coached in the Bundesliga.
They come from a surprising Euro 2024, where they emerged as leaders of a group shared with France and the Netherlands but were eliminated in the round of 16 by Turkey.
The key player in the 4-2-3-1 scheme is Christoph Baumgartner, a 26-year-old attacking midfielder at RB Leipzig. David Alaba (Real Madrid defender) and Marcel Sabitzer (Borussia Dortmund midfielder) also stand out.

Jordan

They secured their first World Cup appearance after a challenging journey through the Asian Qualifiers, with a positive turning point in a draw against South Korea away. Last March, after defeating Oman, they sealed their ticket a matchday early.
Currently ranked 66th in the FIFA rankings, they were close to qualifying for Brazil 2014: they reached the playoffs, where they were thrashed by Uruguay (0-5 at home and 0-0 in Montevideo). Now, with 48 teams, they qualified directly.
Their coach is Jamal Sellami, who played little to no part for Morocco in France 1998 but is, of course, the only one with World Cup experience among them. He managed to forge a solid and hardworking team, relying on counterattacks to win.
Musa Al-Taamari, the number 10 and player for Rennes in France, is their main disruptive force. He is described as a quick and agile attacking midfielder, crucial for Jordan's counterattacks, which Argentina will need to watch out for.
They are an unprecedented opponent for the Argentine team, which does have a history - at least in friendlies - with Austria (one win and one draw) and Algeria (one victory).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.