Argentina can book its place in the knockout stage tonight after opening its World Cup title defense in style with a 3-0 victory, powered by a brilliant hat trick from Lionel Messi.
Algeria was widely tipped to challenge Argentina, and showed that intent in the opening stages. However, the tactical discipline of Lionel Scaloni’s side, combined with the brilliance of Lionel Messi, ultimately helped the South Americans take control and pull clear.
Lucky to avoid a red card in the opening half, the Inter Miami skipper saw an early goal ruled out before making his mark with two superb long-range finishes, scored on either side of a well-taken rebound effort.
Meanwhile, Ralf Rangnick’s Austria marked its first World Cup appearance of the century with a hard-earned 3-1 victory over tournament newcomer Jordan, turning a closely contested encounter into a comfortable win as the match progressed.
After taking the lead through Romani Schmid midway through the opening half, Austria was pegged back when Ali Olwan equalized for Jordan after the break. However, an own goal from Yazan Al Arab and a late penalty converted by Marko Arnautovic helped Austria seal a 3-1 victory.
Argentina vs. Austria: Who Takes the Win?
Argentina is the clear favorite to top the group, but it’s not going to be a total breeze. The players can’t just coast through; they’ll actually have to roll up their sleeves and grind out these points instead of expecting easy blowouts.
Going into the game, a lot of people thought Algeria would give them a serious run for their money. And to be fair, they started off really aggressively right out of the gate. But Scaloni has this Argentina squad playing with so much discipline and unity right now, and that organization ended up being way too much for Algeria to break down.
Everyone knew Algeria wasn’t going to just roll over, and they definitely brought the heat in those opening minutes. In the end, though, they just couldn’t find a way through that rock-solid setup. Plus, when you add Messi doing his absolute magic to the mix, it’s pretty much impossible for anyone to keep up.
Argentina’s superior quality should ultimately help them secure the win, though Austria has the tools to make life difficult for the reigning champion in Dallas.
Argentina vs. Austria Predicted Lineups
Argentina (4-3-3)
E. Martinez in goal. Defense: Molina, C. Romero, L. Martinez, Tagliafico. Midfield: De Paul, Mac Allister (c), E. Fernandez. Up top, you’ve got Messi, L. Martinez, and J. Alvarez.
Austria (4-2-3-1)
Schlager in goal. The back four are Posch, Danso, Lienhart, and Mwene. Seiwald and Laimer are playing holding midfield. Then you have Wimmer, Sabitzer (c), and Schmid playing right behind Arnautovic.
Note: Just a heads-up, these are only educated guesses based on who played on Matchday 1. We’ll find out the official starting XIs once we get a bit closer to kickoff!
Short Summary
Argentina is feeling pretty good heading into its game against Austria tonight. They just beat Algeria 3-0 after Messi went off and scored a hat trick. Austria won its first game too, beating Jordan 3-1, so they aren’t going to just roll over. Almost everyone expects Argentina to get the win in Dallas and take the group, but Austria can definitely make things hard for them. Messi and the rest of the team will have to actually work for these points if they want to lock in their spot for the knockouts.
