Can Messi, De Paul help Argentina clinch knockout-round berth today? | OneFootball

Inter Miami teammates are key to Argentina's World Cup defense

Only two teams have won back-to-back World Cup championships -- Italy (1934, 1938) and Brazil (1958, 1962). Today, Argentina could take a key step in its quest to become the third.

La Albiceleste will play Austria at noon central time today in Dallas; both teams won their first Group J matches -- Argentina 3-0 against Algeria (Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick) and Austria 3-1 against Jordan, which is making its first World Cup appearance thanks to FIFA expanding the field from 32 to 48 teams. Today's winner will guarantee itself a place in the knockout phase's Round of 32.

Once there, the Cup is only five wins away.

Messi, who turns 39 on Thursday, led Argentina to its third World Cup crown in 2022 -- it also lifted the trophy in 1978 and 1986 -- with 7 goals and 3 assists in 7 matches. He earned five Man of the Match awards along the way and became the first and only player ever to win two Golden Ball awards as the tournament's best player (also winning in 2014, when Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany in the final.)

Many observers expected Messi to retire after capturing the one major trophy eluding him, but he surprised them by continuing at Paris St. Germain and, when his contract expired in 2023, moving to South Florida to play for Inter Miami.

Again, pundits opined that playing in Major League Soccer was a way for Messi, arguably the world's greatest player, to ease into retirement. But his competitive nature hasn't dimmed. "The Flea" has earned back-to-back MLS Most Valuable Player awards and led Inter Miami to the 2023 Leagues Cup and 2025 MLS Cup championships and the 2024 Supporters' Shield, awarded to the MLS team with the best regular-season record (the Herons amassed a season-record 74 points in Messi's first full season with the club).

Competitive spirit carries Messi into sixth World Cup

Some soccer writers weren't paying attention. They considered Messi a long shot to continue playing for Argentina, much less compete in the 2026 World Cup. They must have been surprised when Messi helped carry La Albiceleste to the CONMEBOL 2024 title and even more shocked when he not only was selected to Lionel Scaloni's World Cup roster but turned in one of his best-ever performances against Algeria last week. The 2026 World Cup is Messi's sixth, a record he shares with Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal (of course) and Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa.

Messi scored three times against the North African side, bringing his career World Cup goal total to 16, tied with Germany's Miroslav Klose. With at the very least two matches remaining in Argentina's cup run (a final group stage match against Jordan and a Round of 32 contest), it seems impossible that Messi won't become the greatest-ever scorer on the sport's greatest stage.

While less lauded, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul has been a critical part of Argentina's recent success. He earned a reputation as Messi's "on field bodyguard" while playing with the national team in the 2021 Copa América (which La Albiceleste won, defeating host Brazil 1-0 in the final), but "El Motorcito" is a world class footballer in his own right. De Paul joined Inter Miami from Atlético Madridlast summer at least partly to train with him before the World Cup.

It seems to have paid off; besides combining for a sublime first goal, FotMob rated the duo's performances higher than any other player's against Algeria; Messi led with an incredible 9.7 (of a possible 10) and De Paul had an 8.1 rating.

Austria thrives on defensive intensity, swift counterattacks

Next up: Austria. Coach Ralf Rangnick has Austria back in the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Long gone are the days when reporters dubbed the Austrian side Wunderteam for its strong showings in the 1930s. The Wonder Team is officially known as Das Nationalteam and unofficially as Unsere Burschen ("Our Boys") these days.

Under Rangnick, the Boys favor a high-pressing, quick-transition team. Key players include co-captain David Alaba, 33, a Real Madrid center back who spent most of his career at Bayern Munich; midfielder Marcel Sabitzer, 32, of Borussia Dortmund; and co-captain Marko Arnautović, 37, a striker who plays for Red Star Belgrade in the Serbian SuperLiga and who holds all-time Austria national team records with 134 appearances and 48 goals.

The match begins at 12 p.m. Argentina will play Jordan in its final Group J match at 9 p.m. CDT on June 27, also in Dallas.