Can Messi repeat the magic?

Defending champions Argentina begin title defence against Algeria

FE Team | Published: June 15, 2026 23:51:06

BUENOS AIRES, June 15 (Reuters): Argentina start their bid for back-to-back World Cups on Tuesday with a side full of familiar faces from Qatar 2022, facing an Algerian team buoyed by warm-up wins and featuring a 20-year-old rising star nicknamed after Diego Maradona.
The reigning champions are looking to defy the statistics after climbing last week to the top of FIFA's rankings for the first time since July 2025, as no team holding that position at the start of the tournament has gone on to lift the trophy.
When they line up ?in Kansas City, all eyes will be on 38-year-old captain Lionel Messi, playing in a record sixth World Cup.
"I'm happy, savouring every moment and excited as ever," he said last week.
Still, coach Lionel Scaloni has concerns after left back Nicolas Tagliafico suffered a muscle injury in their 2-0 win over Honduras on June 6, forcing centre-back Facundo Medina to fill in during last week's 3-0 victory over Iceland.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, meanwhile, recovered from a finger fracture suffered during the warm-up for Aston Villa's Europa League final win and is expected to be in the starting lineup.
If Tagliafico is fit, Argentina's starting team would likely feature 11 players from the 2022 squad, with Scaloni relying ?on their experience as they seek to become the first side since Brazil in 1962 to win two consecutive men's World Cups.
The background, however, includes a shock defeat by Saudi Arabia in their opening match four years ago - an upset Algeria will be eager to replicate.
With Argentina clear favourites to top Group J, a strong performance against them would be key ?for Algeria as they battle Austria and Jordan to reach the round of 32.
The African side boast a four-match unbeaten run that included a draw against twice world champions Uruguay and a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands. They recently extended coach Vladimir ?Petkovic's contract until 2028.
Forwards Anis Hadj Moussa and Amine Gouiri combined for four goals in their last two games, including a 4-0 thrashing of Bolivia in a friendly.
Offensive midfielder Ibrahim Maza, nicknamed "Mazadona" at his club Bayer Leverkusen, voiced confidence ?that his team will be able to "beat Messi".
Argentina, who last lost in September 2025 to Ecuador and are on a seven-match winning streak, have other plans.
"Opponents will find it very hard to face Argentina, because this is a very strong, very united group," Messi said.
Lionel Messi will turn 39 during the upcoming World Cup and could have been forgiven for quitting international football after leading Argentina to glory in Qatar in 2022, but he remains his country's talisman as they aim to retain the trophy in North America.
The Barcelona legend somehow found another level three and a half years ago as he scored seven goals and set up three more in seven games, including a brace in the epic final in Doha against France - when he also converted his penalty in the shoot-out which gave Argentina the trophy.
"Obviously I wanted to finish my career with this. I can't ask for any more," Messi said after that triumph, which seemed to mark the completion of his glorious career.
But he did admit he would like to play on a little longer as a world champion, and in the end he kept going all the way to this year's tournament.
It will be a record sixth World Cup for Messi, and the decision to delay his retirement will have been a relief for coach Lionel Scaloni.
There is no need, yet, to try to somehow find a replacement for arguably the greatest player of all time.
"There can't be. There won't be. There won't be an heir to Messi, for sure," Scaloni said in an interview with Flashscore in September.
Messi is obviously not the player he once was, having left Europe in 2023 following an underwhelming two-season spell at Paris Saint-Germain.
He is no longer playing at the very highest level on a weekly basis - indeed, Messi has not played in a UEFA Champions League knockout tie victory since 2020.
However, he is in fine form in Major League Soccer for Inter Miami, for whom he has 13 goals in 16 games in 2026 after helping them win the MLS Cup last year.
Assuming he overcomes a slight hamstring injury which recently forced him off against Philadelphia Union, Messi will lead Argentina into their opening game at the tournament when they play Algeria in Kansas City on Wednesday (as per BST).
Messi has already won more silverware with Argentina since the last World Cup, captaining the team to victory in the Copa America in the United States in 2024.
He was the top scorer in South American World Cup qualifying, too. "I love playing football, and I'm going to do it until I can't anymore," he recently declared.
Messi first played a World Cup game as a teenager in 2006 in Germany, before later skippering them to the final in Brazil in 2014, when they lost in extra time to the Germans.
Argentina's all-time top scorer is also their most-capped player and he is just two games away from reaching 200 appearances.
He may even get there before Argentina's opening World Cup fixture, as they first have friendlies against Honduras in Texas and Iceland in Alabama.