We break down every team, in every group in our World Cup 2026 betting guide. Group J features holders Argentina, Algeria, Austria and Jordan.
Football betting tips: World Cup
5pts Argentina to reach the quarter finals at evens (General)
1pt Ali Olwan top Jordan goalscorer at 4/1 (BetVictor, William Hill)
1pt Mohammed Amoura top Algeria goalscorer at 5/1 (bet365)
Fixtures & kick-off times (BST)
June 17: Argentina 02:00 Algeria
Austria 05:00 Jordan
June 22: Argentina 18:00 Austria
June 23: Jordan 04:00 Algeria
June 28: Algeria 03:00 Austria
Jordan 03:00 Argentina
Argentina
Reigning champions ARGENTINA headline Group J, with this likely to be Lionel Messi's swan song. La Albiceleste will no doubt be reliant on their little magician once again, with Messi keeping himself sharp in the MLS while not overexerting. He'll be well acclimatised at least.
Another Lionel, Scaloni, continues as manager and why wouldn't he after overseeing an incredible period of dominance on the international stage. He's led Argentina into the last three three tournaments, two Copa Americas and one World Cup, and won them all.
In Qatar they were a team built to be hard to beat, a workhorse side who relied upon Messi for moments of magic, and that was the case at the Copa in 2024. Since then we have witnessed some scintillating Argentinean talents break through that suggests they could try a different approach and at the very least not be as reliant on the GOAT in forward areas.
Julián Alvarez (aged 26) and Enzo Fernández (25) are older and wiser having broken through in Qatar, Nico Paz (21) is a sensational footballer and has had a wonderful season at Como while Atletico Madrid pair Giuliano Simeone (23) and Thiago Almada (25) provide both guile and flair.
The old stalwarts have gone nowhere though. Messi's bodyguards, Rodrigo De Paul - also at Inter Miami with Messi now - and Leandro Paredes, are still in the fold, as is Alexis Mac Allister, with wily centre-back Nicolás Otamendi also remaining alongside striker Lautaro Martínez and goalkeeping hero Emiliano Martínez.
It's a squad that has the perfect balance of youth, experience, quality, knowhow, flexibility and fight. It wouldn't all be a surprise to see them go back-to-back.
The fact that the 2024 Copa America was held in the US can only be seen as a positive too, highlighting how comfortable the players will be in the climate, and it's hard to make a case against them.
Given how well Argentina have been playing and how varied their squad is, you'd hope to get a good run for your money on them winning outright, so much so we'll back them TO REACH THE QUARTER FINALS at evens.
Algeria
ALGERIA qualified for their first World Cup in 12 years with relative ease, though a disappointing AFCON display suggests there is plenty of work still to do.
Manager Vladimir Petković, the man who led Switzerland to the 2018 World Cup knockout stages and Euro 2020 quarter-finals, has a decent pool of players to choose from and has them playing a control-based style given the technical quality in the squad.
Riyad Mahrez is still the main man for the Desert Warriors, but is supported by some exciting talent in Amine Gouri, MOHAMMED AMOURA and Ibrahim Maza. Mahrez is the bookies' favourite to be Algeria's top scorer, but it is Amoura who did all the scoring in qualifying.
Mahrez netted just one goal in eight qualifiers and Gouri one in nine, with Amoura firing a whopping 10 in 10 appearances, so the 5/1 about him to be ALGERIA TOP SCORER looks big.
The chances are that Mahrez will be on penalty duty, but Amoura's record warrants him being favourite here. All told he's bagged 23 in 45 appearances for his country, and is as dangerous when playing on the left wing as he is when playing as a striker.
Despite relegation from the Bundesliga, Amoura still had a decent season with Wolfsburg, netting eight times (0.37 per 90) and posting a 0.40 xG per 90 in a struggling team.
Austria
AUSTRIA have qualified for their first finals since 1998, ending a 28-year wait to reappear on the world stage. Led by Ralf Rangnick, they are the epitome of a team, being extremely unselfish and winning together rather than with standout individuals.
They really impressed at Euro 2024, pushing France incredibly close in the group stage before beating Poland and the Netherlands, getting eliminated by Türkiye in the last 16 despite being comfortably the better team. It was a tournament that showed plenty of promise and hinted that better is yet to come.
An intense pressing style was fun to watch in Germany, with fouls galore, but it will be much tougher to do that in the US in the heat and humidity, while they also have the short straw having to play their three group games in three different states, meaning travel and time difference could be yet another hurdle to overcome.
As could be the lack of freshness in the team, with the XI very similar to two years ago - while the injury suffered to the red-hot Christoph Baumgartner in a pre-tournament friendly is also a bitter blow.
The RB Leipzig midfielder netted 17 times in 37 games this season, with his xG per 90 of 0.49 ranking as the most of any midfielder across Europe's top five leagues (1500 mins or more). He'll be missed, and all in all, Rangnick has a lot against him at this tournament. NO BET.
Jordan
JORDAN are one of the World Cup's newcomers, making their tournament debut in the USA after a stellar qualifying campaign, though them making it to the finals is more down to Asia getting eight spots as opposed to four when the tournament featured just 32 teams.
Nonetheless, they're here, and they could cause a few surprises, mainly by offering a real attacking threat. Unfortunately for them, they've landed in one of the tougher groups possible, making a group-stage exit extremely likely - as quotes of 3/10 suggest.
But their counter-attacking style could be well suited to this group, where they will be penned in for most of the game as their opponents look to win handsomely. I fancy them to get on the scoresheet at least once at the tournament; the bookies make it a 64% chance they score twice.
It's therefore surprising to see their striker and top scorer ALI OLWAN priced at 4/1 TO BE TOP JORDAN GOALSCORER in a wide open market.
He's tied at the head of the betting with winger Yazan Al Naimat, while Rennes winger Musa Al Taamari is only a point bigger at 5/1. For my money, Olwan should be the standout favourite given his recent scoring record.
Olwan, who plies his trade in Qatar with Al-Sailiya, was the top scorer in December's Arab Cup, netting six times in six games. He scored in two of the friendlies that preceded that tournament and was Jordan's top scorer in World Cup qualifying with nine.
All told he's netted 18 times in his last 23 caps, which is some record. Compare that to Al Naimat, who has not only been injured since December but has scored 11 times in his last 27 caps, and Al Taamari who has managed eight goals in 21 in that span, and Olwan should be a strong favourite.
It's highly likely that Olwan will also be on penalties too which is a huge bonus. He's taken nine of the last 11 penalties his side have won, scoring eight.
Odds correct at 14:00 BST (02/06/26)
Group previews
- Group A: Mexico; South Africa; South Korea; Czechia
- Group B: Canada; Bosnia; Qatar; Switzerland
- Group C: Brazil; Morocco; Haiti; Scotland
- Group D: USA; Paraguay; Australia; Turkiye
- Group E: Germany; Curacao; Ivory Coast; Ecuador
- Group F: Netherlands; Japan; Sweden; Tunisia
- Group G: Belgium; Egypt; Iran; New Zealand
- Group H: Spain; Cape Verde; Saudi Arabia; Uruguay
- Group I: France; Senegal; Iraq; Norway
- Group K: Portugal; DR Congo; Uzbekistan; Colombia
- Group L: England; Croatia; Ghana; Panama
Outright previews
More World Cup content from Sporting Life
- FREE World Cup wallchart
- FREE World Cup sweepstake kit
- Fixtures, results and live scores
- World Cup 2026: All you need to know
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