{"id":333335,"date":"2025-12-06T05:01:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T05:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/333335\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T05:01:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T05:01:06","slug":"2026-world-cup-draw-argentina-messi-to-start-title-defense-against-algeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/333335\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 World Cup draw: Argentina, Messi to start title defense against Algeria"},"content":{"rendered":"

Argentina<\/a> and Lionel Messi<\/a> will begin their World Cup<\/a> title defense against Algeria<\/a> as they aim to become the first team to retain the crown since Brazil<\/a> in 1962.<\/p>\n

Three-time champion Argentina also will play Austria<\/a> and Jordan<\/a> in Group J of the expanded 48-nation, 104-game festival, spread across 11 NFL stadiums plus three venues in Mexico and two in Canada.<\/p>\n

“As we stated in 2022, there are no easy opponents; we have to play all the matches,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said after the draw. “On paper, it’s a group where we have to give our all to advance to the next round.”<\/p>\n

Regarding Group J opponents, Scaloni said Austria “had a great qualifying campaign,” and he noted that Algeria has “great players and a large youth academy that also feeds France and other countries.” He also praised Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovi\u0107 as a “great one,” recalling his time playing under him for Lazio<\/a> in 2013.<\/p>\n

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Scaloni had a big role in Friday’s draw as he was responsible for bringing the World Cup trophy to the stage.<\/p>\n

“Holding the cup in my hand again was wonderful,” he said. “Being able to touch it again is very moving. It’s hard to explain.”<\/p>\n

Top-ranked and 2010 champion Spain<\/a> has been drawn into Group H, where its opponents are Cape Verde<\/a>, Saudi Arabia<\/a>, and Uruguay<\/a>. The runner-up of this group will face Argentina if the ‘Albiceleste’ win their group in a possible Round of 32 matchup.<\/p>\n

Portugal<\/a> star Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a>, like Messi, is expected to play in a record sixth World Cup, has Group K matches against Uzbekistan<\/a>, Colombia<\/a> and Congo DR<\/a>, Jamaica<\/a> or New Caledonia<\/a>. If Portugal and Argentina win their groups, Ronaldo and Messi could meet in a quarterfinal at Arrowhead Stadium.<\/p>\n

“I’m very satisfied with the draw,” Portugal and Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> midfielder Vitinha<\/a> said. “Colombia will clearly be the most difficult team. We know their players very well, like Luis D\u00edaz, who is in fantastic form, and we know Richard R\u00edos well.”<\/p>\n

Brazil<\/a> and Scotland<\/a> will face each other for the fifth time at the FIFA World Cup. They share Group C with Haiti<\/a> and Morocco<\/a>. The African team, considered one of the toughest sides in the draw after finishing fourth in Qatar 2022 and boasting a great generation of players, will debut against Brazil.<\/p>\n

“We have to win our three group games. Our idea is very clear. We have to be competitive throughout the World Cup,” said Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti.<\/p>\n

Asked if he has watched Neymar<\/a>‘s last two games with Santos<\/a>, where the former Barcelona<\/a> and PSG star scored four goals, he said: “I want to clarify that we are in December and the World Cup is in June. I will choose the team that will play in the World Cup in May. If Neymar deserves to be in the World Cup and is better than someone else, he will play.”<\/p>\n

“We want to try to win the group or at least get through to the next phase,” Morocco coach Walid Regragui said. “Since the 2022 World Cup, everyone wants to beat us.”<\/p>\n

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni brought the World Cup trophy onto stage during the FIFA World Cup 2026 draw\u00a0AP Photo\/Stephanie Scarbrough, Pool<\/p>\n

Four-time champion Germany<\/a> plays Cura\u00e7ao<\/a>, the Ivory Coast<\/a> and Ecuador<\/a> in Group E.<\/p>\n

England<\/a>, which won its only title in 1966, plays Croatia<\/a>, Ghana<\/a> and Panama<\/a> in Group L.<\/p>\n

Two-time champion France<\/a> plays Senegal<\/a>, Norway<\/a> and Bolivia<\/a>, Iraq<\/a> or Suriname<\/a> in Group I. Senegal beat defending champion France 1-0 in the 2002 opener.<\/p>\n

The United States starts Group D against Paraguay<\/a> on June 12 in Inglewood, California. The Americans play Australia<\/a> six days later at Seattle, then face T\u00fcrkiye<\/a>, Romania<\/a>, Slovakia<\/a> or Kosovo<\/a> on June 25 back at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n

Mexico<\/a> hosts the tournament opener at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on June 11 against South Africa<\/a> in Group A, a rematch of the 2010 opener in Johannesburg, a 1-1 draw. El Tri then meets South Korea<\/a> and closes the first round against the Czechia<\/a>, Ireland<\/a>, Denmark<\/a> or North Macedonia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other groups include:<\/p>\n

G: Belgium<\/a>, Egypt<\/a>, Iran<\/a>, New Zealand<\/a><\/p>\n

B: Canada<\/a>, Switzerland<\/a>, Qatar<\/a> and Italy<\/a>, Bosnia-Herzegovina<\/a>, Wales<\/a> or Northern Ireland<\/a><\/p>\n

F: Netherlands<\/a>, Japan<\/a>, Tunisia<\/a> and Sweden<\/a>, Ukraine<\/a>, Albania<\/a> and Poland<\/a><\/p>\n

Forty-two of the teams have been determined and 22 are competing in playoffs for six berths that will be decided March 31.<\/p>\n

Winners and second-place nations from the 12 groups advance to the new round of 32 along with the top eight third-place teams. All games from the quarterfinals on will be in the U.S., culminating in the July 19 final at East Rutherford, New Jersey.<\/p>\n

Specific sites for all group stage games and kickoff times were to be announced on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The ceremony for the draw included U.S. President Donald Trump receiving a peace prize awarded by FIFA, and balls with team names plucked from famous North American athletes Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal, Aaron Judge and Wayne Gretzky.<\/p>\n

Trump, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney selected the balls of their own countries from bowls during a ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n

The lead-in show was almost as long as a soccer match, with the actual draw for the expanded 48-nation tournament starting in the 87th minute.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Argentina and Lionel Messi will begin their World Cup title defense against Algeria as they aim to become…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-333335","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}