Lionel Scaloni, coach of the Argentina national team, shared his thoughts after the 2026 World Cup group draw, where they will face Algeria, Austria, and Jordan. He highlighted the emotion of presenting the World Cup trophy and the reason for wearing gloves during the ceremony. FIFA will confirm dates and venues on December 6, 2025.
Following the draw on December 5, 2025, the Argentina national team was placed in Group J with Algeria, Austria, and Jordan. Tentative matches are Tuesday, June 16 against Algeria in Kansas City or the San Francisco Bay stadium; Monday, June 22 against Austria in Dallas or California; and Saturday, June 27 against Jordan in the same options.
Scaloni, in an interview with Telefé, expressed the ceremony's emotion: “Volver a tener la copa ahí al lado fue muy lindo. Espero que la gente lo haya disfrutado, porque somos los vigentes campeones”. Regarding the white gloves he wore to hold the trophy, he clarified: “No me dejaban tocarla sin los guantes. No se puede”.
On the sporting side, the coach assessed the opponents. About Algeria: “A su entrenador lo conozco. Fue entrenador mío, estuve ahora con él, Vladimir Petkovi, que me dirigió en la Lazio. Es una buena selección, que creo que tiene grandes jugadores, tiene un semillero muy grande”. On Austria: “Hizo una gran Eliminatoria”. And on Jordan: “Entre comillas, el más desconocido es Jordania, pero no damos nada por descontado”.
“No hay rivales fáciles. Hay que jugar los partidos”, Scaloni emphasized, who felt tension during the draw. The new format features 12 groups of four teams, with the top two and the eight best third-placed teams advancing to the round of 16.
If Argentina finishes first, they will face the second from Group H (Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay). If second, the leader of that group. Scaloni commented on a potential matchup with Spain: “También está Uruguay. Un cruce difícil sí es así, pero primero hay que pasar y después ya se vera”.
The coach ended with a message: “Como siempre, vamos a dar el máximo, vamos a intentar hacer lo que hicimos en el último Mundial, que es dar todo lo que podemos y no dar una pelota por perdida”. Meanwhile, Jordan's coach Jamal Sellami recalled Saudi Arabia's victory over Argentina in Qatar 2022 to motivate his team. The Austrian Football Association confirmed the match with a photo that sparked confusion on social media. Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul, absent from the ceremony, followed the draw from Inter Miami. There is a possibility of an Argentina-Portugal clash in later stages.
