THE CHAMPIONS' CURTAIN-RAISER

Group J The Champions' Curtain-Raiser At the Kennedy Center draw the last four balls came out Argentina Austria Algeria And Jordan The reigning world champions drawn against a nation that has never played a World Cup match This is the only group that pairs the title holder with a first-ever debutant Every fixture inside it is a first-ever World Cup meeting

Here they are by the numbers Argentina FIFA ranked number three The defending world champions Lionel Scaloni in charge Three World Cup titles Austria Ranked twenty-fourth Ralf Rangnick on the touchline Back for the first time since nineteen ninety-eight Algeria Ranked twenty-eighth Vladimir Petković in command Champions of Africa in twenty nineteen And Jordan Ranked sixty-third Jamal Sellami in charge The first World Cup in the country's history

Now the contrast Add the four rankings together Three twenty-four twenty-eight sixty-three One hundred and eighteen The spread is the story Argentina's squad is worth around five hundred and seventy million euros Jordan's around forty million A ratio of roughly fourteen to one The widest gap in pedigree at the entire World Cup

These four carry the group And four legends are taking their final bow Lionel Messi The captain Thirty-eight years old Inter Miami Argentina's all-time top scorer with one hundred and sixteen goals He won the World Cup and the Golden Ball in twenty twenty-two Almost certainly his last one Marko Arnautović The forward Thirty-seven years old Austria's all-time top scorer and most-capped player ever Forty-seven goals In October twenty twenty-five he passed Toni Polster's record Riyad Mahrez The captain and winger Thirty-five years old Al-Ahli The two thousand sixteen P F A Player of the Year He won the Africa Cup of Nations in twenty nineteen His last hurrah Musa Al-Taamari The winger Twenty-eight years old Stade Rennais in France Jordan's modern talisman He moved to Rennes for around nine million euros The man carrying a nation's first World Cup

Now the history And the file is empty All six fixtures in this group are first-ever World Cup meetings None of these four nations has ever faced another at a World Cup But one carries the weight of history Argentina have eighteen World Cup appearances and three titles Jordan have none Zero This is their debut The widest experience gap the World Cup has ever staged in a single group

Mark the dates The sixteenth of June Argentina open the defence against Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City Around seventy-three thousand seats The same day Austria face Jordan at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara Jordan's first World Cup match in history The twenty-second of June Argentina meet Austria at A T and T Stadium in Arlington Around ninety-four thousand seats under a retractable roof And Jordan play Algeria back at Levi's for second place The twenty-seventh of June Algeria face Austria at Arrowhead And Jordan close against Argentina at A T and T Likely Messi's final group-stage match

Now the verdict And we are not doing this by squad value We are doing it by history Argentina win the group Defending champions deepest pedigree thirty-one goals in qualifying First place Argentina The real fight is for second Austria versus Algeria The squads are almost level The odds may lean Algeria with Mahrez and that pace But we lean Austria Rangnick's side conceded just four goals in eight qualifiers Algeria arrive inconsistent with a shock loss to Guinea Structure beats flair when the margins are thin Second place Austria Then Algeria then Jordan But keep an eye on the romance Jordan reached the Asian Cup final in twenty twenty-three One shock draw and the fairytale is alive Now we wait for the football