Group J preview
Algeria: Algeria are coming off the back of a relatively successful AFCON where they made the quarter-finals losing 2-0 to Nigeria who somehow aren’t at this tournament, they are a team with plenty of quality players scattered around the squad like Rayan Ait-Nouri, Amine Gouri, Houssem Aouar, Ibrahim Maza etc who all make up quite a strong Algeria side. They are still led by their catalyst Riyad Mahrez who whilst approaching the end of his career can still win a game by himself so there’s plenty to be optimistic about for Algeria heading into this World Cup, just in their last friendly they managed to beat the Netherlands 1-0 which shows that Algeria can compete with the very best on their day. I would expect them to make it out of this group but it’ll be tough for that 2nd position in my opinion as Austria also look like a strong side, a win against Jordan would put them into the Round of 32 most likely then anything can happen in the knockouts. Hopefully Algeria are a fun team to watch this tournament.
Player to watch: Ibrahim Maza
Argentina: The defending champions are coming into this tournament with the opportunity to make history by going back-to-back-to-back-to-back in major tournaments which would make them one of the greatest international teams of all time in my opinion, they are of course still led by the great Lionel Messi who does have some injury concerns heading into the tournament but he should be fit for the first game against Algeria and without him I don’t think Argentina have much hope for this tournament. There are some new faces in this Argentina squad like Nico Paz, Valentin Barco and Giuliano Simeone who will add some much needed freshness to an otherwise ageing Argentine squad but they still remain one of the favourites for the competition with how successful they’ve been in recent major tournaments, they know how to get the job done and that is priceless at a World Cup. I fully expect them to top this group and go far in this World Cup, will they win it though? I’m not sure.
Player to watch: Nico Paz
Austria: Surprisingly enough this is Austria’s first World Cup since 1998 and they’ll be keen to impress in a group they can be confident of qualifying from, Ralf Ragnick has been hugely popular since taking the helm in 2022 with his gegenpressing system taking Austria through qualifying relatively easily only losing one game to Romania in the last game. Whilst their squad is towards the older side with the likes of David Alaba, Marko Arnautovic and Marcel Sabitzer all over 32 they do have players in their prime like Konrad Laimer, Kevin Danso, Carney Chukwuemeka etc who paired with the older players will make a pretty strong Austrian side in this World Cup. Ralf Ragnick’s teams are always fun to watch so I would expect that Austria will be no different in this World Cup and could take a few teams by surprise in the knockouts if they make it through which I would expect with Jordan in the group. Are Austria a dark horse for this World Cup?
Player to watch: Paul Wanner
Jordan: Another country that has hugely benefitted from the extended format of this World Cup is Jordan who have qualified for the tournament for the first time in their history so they’ll be sure to make the most of playing in the biggest competition in the world, they did make the final of the last Asian Cup so there is some quality in the squad despite very little of the players playing in Europe. They have been drawn in a very tricky group where even a draw against any of the other three teams would be seen as a victory for a nation making their debut in the World Cup, I hope they are at least competitive in the three group games but I can see them going out of the tournament with 0 points unfortunately.
Player to watch: Yazan Al-Naimat
Overall prediction for the group:
1.Argentina
2.Austria
3.Algeria
4.Jordan