Lionel Messi's Last Dance For Argentina: World Cup Group J Preview
The World Cup is only a few days away, and 48 nations are preparing for the greatest battles of their lives across North America, in what is the biggest iteration of the famed tournament in history.
The sport’s greatest player had a fairytale ending in 2022 at the Qatar World Cup, but Lionel Messi is back for one more dance in the country he now plays domestically, with an Argentina team that wants to become the first back-to-back champions of the event since Brazil in 1962.
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Game of The Group: Argentina vs. Austria
This will be an extremely telling game for how far Argentina can go in this tournament.
Although Argentina has the huge skill advantage of every team in their group, including Austria, the Austrians are a team with extreme endurance and structure that can frustrate even the best of teams.
Austria was hyper-efficient in qualifying, conceding only four goals in eight games against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Cyprus, and San Marino.
If Messi and company can break down Austria’s defense and slice through them to a convincing victory, then Argentina might be on the road to a repeat.
Player of The Group: Lionel Messi (Argentina, Inter Miami)
At 38, Messi might not have the motor to carry a team like Barcelona anymore in La Liga, but this is the World Cup. Even with an expanded field, it’s an eight-game tournament, and when it gets into the deep waters of the knockouts, is there any player you’d take over Messi?
A magician on the field, we thought we might be saying goodbye to the legend in Qatar, but he looks like he can still possibly score a few goals across America this summer to break Germany’s Miroslav Klose’s record of 16.
He only needs three to tie and four to etch his name in history. Well, until Kylian Mbappé most likely breaks it in 2030.
Group Prediction
It really should be a one-team race for the top spot in this group, with Argentina just having too much skill and experience to really be challenged by anyone, even Austria.
In the battle for second and third, Algeria is an intriguing team, with Riyad Mahrez also having his last dance, while Jordan seems the punching bag of the group.
- Argentina
- Austria
- Algeria
- Jordan
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This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 9:51 PM.