Argentina have made the perfect start to life at the 2026 World Cup with straight wins against Algeria and Austria in Group J.
La Selección sealed first place in Group J after defeating Austria and Algeria. Now, it remains to be seen whether they keep their starters for the Jordan match or rest them and rotate the squad to keep everyone fresh ahead of the knockout stages.
World Cup 2026 Group J outright odds
Get the latest odds for each team to win Group J below:
Argentina Group J odds
Defending champions Argentina come into the World Cup with the weight of expectation on them following their victory in 2022. There haven’t been back to back winners since 1962, when Brazil lifted their second of five World Cups. So history isn’t on Argentina’s side in North America.
That was the third time that the South American nation had been crowned world champions, following their victories in 1978 and 1986, and they come into the 2026 tournament with a strong looking squad and plenty of momentum after dominating the Conmebol qualifying campaign.
It’s hard to look past the talent that Argentina have at their disposal, with Lionel Messi naturally attracting the eye. And the Argentine legend has scored five goals in his first two games, leading his side to topping Group J.
Austria Group J odds
This is, surprisingly, the first time Austria have qualified for the World Cup since 1998. In the modern era they’ve failed to make it out of the group stages. But they have finished as high as third in history, with a semi-final appearance in 1954. They qualified this time around in some style, topping their qualifying group and only dropping five points along the way.
Their squad, while by no means the weakest in the competition, looks to be lacking real quality throughout. They may have to rely on their excellent team spirit if they wish to make a deep run in the competition.
Despite winning their first game, Austria can no longer win Group J. Although they sit three points behind Argentina, head-to-head is the first tiebreaker in the groups now. So even if Austria were to win their final game, and Argentina lose, they cannot leapfrog the defending champions.
Algeria Group J odds
Algeria’s appearances at the World Cup have been sparring over the years. They’ve made the tournament just twice in the nine competitions since 1990. In 2014 they made the round of 16, where they took Germany all the way to extra time before being beaten by the eventual winners. That remains the African nations best finish at the World Cup.
Algeria made relatively light work of their qualifying group, topping Group G in CAF qualification ahead of the likes of Uganda and Mozambique. There are flashes of real quality in the Algeria squad, not least from captain Riyad Mahrez. But they too cannot win the group, owing to their head-to-head defeat against Argentina.
Jordan Group J odds
This is the very first appearance at the World Cup finals for Jordan, with the Asian nation making their debut at the 11th time of asking. They reached this point after finishing second in their AFC qualifying group, finishing just a single point ahead of Iraq but six points behind group winners, South Korea.
There aren’t many familiar names within the Jordan squad, with almost all of their players plying their trade within the Jordanian Pro League and a handful playing for other clubs within the Middle East or North Africa. The only player currently playing in a major European league who might be in contention is Musa Al-Taamari, who is signed to Rennes in Ligue 1.
Jordan went into the Algeria game as the only side that could win Group J other than Argentina. But they failed to protect their lead and ended up losing 1-2, which consequently eliminated them from contention.
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World Cup 2026 Group J fixtures and results
Here are the fixtures for Group J at the 2026 World Cup.
World Cup 2026 Group J table
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