While maybe not filled with the world star power of Group I also starting today, it does have Lionel Messi and a pair of pretty underrated yet very solid and potential knockout winning sides.
Algeria and Austria aren't exactly World Cup regulars, but they do put in solid continental performances from time to time and should be among the more regular qualifying sides in the expanded tournament. Then the debutants from Jordan have a pair of attackers that should be able to do more than threaten the goal.
Why a primer and not a preview? Because this is more of a handy reference guide than it is expert analysis. I did not watch or scout 32 international teams to prepare for the World Cup let alone 48 of them because I enjoy sleep and I am not apologizing.
TV SCHEDULE
Tuesday, June 16
Match 19: Argentina vs. Algeria, 9 p.m. on Fox (Kansas City, Mo.)
Match 20: Austria vs. Jordan, midnight Wed./9 p.m. local Tue. on FS1 (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Monday, June 22
Match 41: Argentina vs. Austria, 1 p.m. on Fox (Dallas)
Match 44: Jordan vs. Algeria, 11 p.m. on FS1 (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Saturday, June 27
Match 71: Jordan vs. Argentina, 10 p.m. on Fox (Dallas)
Match 72: Algeria vs. Austria, 10 p.m. on FS1 (Kansas City, Mo.)
GROUP J TEAM PRIMERS
Author's Notes: FIFA Rankings are from the November 2025 listing at the time of the tournament draw. Players international caps/goals are relatively accurate but may not include the recent warm-up friendlies as research for these articles started weeks ago. Abbreviations next to the country names should be their official Olympic code on the score bug and the Letter/Number is their draw position for the group schedule not their pot from the initial tournament draw. Warm up friendlies in the USA are noted otherwise vs/at indicates true home/away matches.
Jake Catanese
ALGERIA [ALG/J2]
Head Coach: Vladimir Petkovic (BIH/YUG)
FIFA Ranking: 35
Nickname: Les Fennecs (Desert Foxes)
Qualification: CAF (Africa) Group G Winners
Appearance: 5th
,Best Finish: Round of 16 (2014)
Roster Breakdown: 3 Domestic, 5 France, 4 Germany, 2 Italy, 2 Netherlands, 2 Saudi Arabia, 2 Switzerland, 1 Hungary, 1 Qatar, 1 Belgium, 1 Spain, 1 England
Recent Matches: Friendly W at Netherlands 1-0, Friendly (Lawrence, KS) W vs Bolivia 4-0
Player To Know: FW Riyad Mahrez, Al-Ahli (KSA), 116 Int’l Caps/38 Int’l Goals – At age 35, the one-time Leicester City hero and Man City stalwart has said this will be his last major tournament internationally as he looks to get Algeria back to the knockouts as they did in 2014.
Player To Watch: MF Ibrahim Maza, Bayer Leverkusen (GER), 17 Int’l Caps / 2 Int’l Goals – The German-born, Algerian/Vietnamese midfielder came up through the Hertha Berlin setup and made a move last year to Leverkusen where he started 40 games in the Bundesliga and UCL combined. The 20-year-old also notched two goals at the most recent AFCON.
Tournament Outlook
They have already won the hearts of Rock Chalk Jayhawk nation in Kansas, how much more they have to win I don't know.
I am fairly impressed with the Algerians' resume of late; they had a comfortable qualifying campaign, and also drew Uruguay in a neutral-site friendly this spring to go with that win against the Netherlands and an AFCON quarterfinal exit to Nigeria. As always, stunned this is only their 5th World Cup appearance as they won AFCON back in 2019 but missed the last two World Cups. Second place and pushing Argentina for the top spot is not unreachable given their recent performances but this is a significant step up from what they saw most of last year in continental action.
Jake Catanese
ARGENTINA [ARG/J1]
Head Coach: Lionel Scaloni (ARG)
FIFA Ranking: 2
Nickname: La Albiceleste
Qualification: CONEMBOL (S. America) Champions
Appearance: 19th
,Best Finish: Champions (1978, 1986, 2022)
Roster Breakdown: 2 Domestic, 7 Spain, 6 England, 4 France, 2 Italy, 2 USA/MLS, 1 Brazil, 1 Germany, 1 Portugal
Recent Matches: Friendly (College Station, TX) W 2-0 vs Honduras, Friendly (Auburn, AL) W 3-0 vs Iceland
Player To Know: FW Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF (USA/MLS), 199 Int’l Caps/117 Int’l Goals – Joins the elite double centurion club with Cristiano Ronaldo and Bader Al-Mutawa of Kuwait (Luka Modric should also join this tournament he’s at 198) and absolutely has a chance to go back-to-back here.
Player To Watch: MF Thiago Almada, Atletico Madrid (ESP), 16 Int’l Caps / 5 Int’l Goals – The former Atlanta United wonderkid is finally emerging overseas and with the Albiceleste. Three goals in qualifying and one against Iceland, to go along with a solid league season where he sees about half his national team in the Atleti locker room on a regular basis.
Tournament Outlook
This team is still tremendous and already has the next generation of stars like Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez ready to go for when Messi and Otamendi among others take a step back from the international stage. A clear tournament favorite.
Jake Catanese
AUSTRIA [AUT/J3]
Head Coach: Ralf Rangnick (GER)
FIFA Ranking: 24
Nickname: Burschen (The Boys)
Qualification: UEFA (Europe) Group H Winners
Appearance: 8th
,Best Finish: Third Place (1954)
Roster Breakdown: 3 Domestic, 14 Germany, 2 Spain, 1 Czechia, 1 Denmark, 1 England, 1 Italy, 1 Netherlands, 1 Portugal, 1 Serbia,
Recent Matches: Friendly W vs Ghana 5-1, Friendly W vs South Korea 1-0, Friendly W vs Tunisia 1-0
Player To Know: DF David Alaba, Real Madrid (ESP), 113 Int’l Caps / 15 Int’l Goals – The longtime Madrid player will have a new club next year as he’s missed time with a couple of significant knee injuries. The versatile defender can still be a key man for Austria if he’s fully fit.
Player To Watch: FW Marko Arnautovic, Red Star Belgrade (SRB), 133 Int’l Caps / 47 Int’l Goals – Probably the last World Cup for the towering striker who led UEFA’s Group H with 8 goals, though six of them were in two matches against San Marino. Still, he carries a versatile skill set with tremendous hold-up play that should help set up Austria's next generation in Marcel Sabitzer and Michael Gregoritsch.
Tournament Outlook
That Rangnick fella knows how to build a roster, as the former Red Bull group director of football helped RBNY win three Supporters’ Shields. Austria might have been the last Pot 1 team in European qualifying but survived with a final day draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Like Algeria, perhaps not overly dominant but very much capable. They topped their Euros group in 2024 despite losing their opener to France, though were bounced immediately in the knockouts.
Jake Catanese
JORDAN [JOR/J4]
Head Coach: Jamal Sellami (MAR)
FIFA Ranking: 66
Nickname: Al-Nashama (The Chivalrous Ones)
Qualification: AFC (Asia) Third Round Group B Runners-up
Appearance: Debut
Best Finish: N/A
Roster Breakdown: 12 Domestic, 5 Iraq, 2 Qatar, 1 Egypt, 1 France, 1 Malaysia, 1 South Korea, 1 Romania, 1 Morocco, 1 Saudi Arabia
Recent Matches: Friendly L at Switzerland 1-4, Friendly (San Diego, CA) L vs Colombia 0-2
Player To Know: Musa Al-Taamari, Rennes (FRA), 92 Int’l Caps / 24 Int’l Goals – By far the most impressive resume on the Jordanian roster, a former Cypriot league MVP with APOEL has found success in Ligue 1 with Montpellier and Rennes the last few years, totaling almost 100 appearances combined in the French league and cups.
Player To Watch: FW Ali Olwan, Al-Sailiya (QAT), 66 Int’l Caps / 29 Int’l Goals – Was the co-leader in scoring for Jordan with Yasan Al-Naimat (who is set to miss the World Cup with an ACL injury) and was the 2025 Arab Cup Golden Boot winner with six tallies as Jordan finished runner up to Morocco.
Tournament Outlook
I want to give the Chivalrous Ones as good of a chance as I can in this group since it’s not as brutal of a draw as we’ve seen some of the lower CONCACAF teams get. Algeria and Austria aren’t usually the type of teams that overwhelm you with goals but Jordan is fighting a steep uphill battle. We’ve already seen enough smaller teams get results so it’s possible they can get a point somewhere, but I think their success might be measured in goals which I’d be shocked if their talented group up front can’t bag a couple.
Jake Catanese
GROUP OVERVIEW
Is it possible that Argentina doesn't have six points and is rotating against Jordan on the final matchday? Of course.
It happened last year with a much more unheralded Saudi Arabian side knocking off Argentina in their first game and both Algeria and Austria are far more likely to get points off the defending champs. I'll lean towards Algeria due to Austria's inflated numbers in that one 10-o game against San Marino
The key here is second place and the potential Round of 32 matchup with Spain, with third place playing one of the other group winners. While I think three teams will make it out of this group, I don't see many knockout wins in the future.
Jordan will likely have a much better time than their Iraqi counterparts. A few goals and a draw would be a solid debut though.
Third Place Advancement: High (Austria)
GROUP PREDICTIONS
- Argentina 2. Algeria 3. Austria 4. Jordan
