Argentina vs. Algeria preview: Team news and how to watch World Cup match

The reigning World Cup champions start their defence of the title on Tuesday in Kansas City as Argentina will face Algeria in a Group J clash.

The Argentines come into this tournament having regained their perch atop the official FIFA men's world rankings, and they look to become the first back-to-back winners since Brazil claimed the 1958 and 1962 editions.

La Albiceleste are in fine form, having won seven straight matches ahead of the World Cup, including three straight clean sheet victories in their most recent outings.

• Read next | World Cup hydration breaks: How long are they? Are they good or bad for the matches?

As for the Algerians, they come into this match as decided underdogs. Ranked 28th in the world, they have also enjoyed a fine recent spell of games, having won four times so far in 2026, along with one draw and one loss.

DAZN News has all the information ahead of Argentina vs. Algeria. 

Argentina vs. Algeria kick-off, date, venue 

Argentina vs. Algeria is at 8pm local time on Tuesday, June 16, in Kansas City. 

UK viewers can watch the match at 2am BST (Wednesday). Fans watching in the US and Canada can catch the game at 9pm ET and 6pm PT.

• Date: Tuesday, June 16 
• Kick-off: 2am BST (Wednesday) / 9pm EDT / 6pm PDT 

The fixture will take place at Kansas City Stadium (Arrowhead Stadium).

Argentina vs. Algeria: How to watch, live stream, TV

• UK: ITV
• US: FOX / FOX One
• Canada: TSN

Argentina vs. Algeria team news 

(C)Getty Images

Argentina

The Argentines left a lot of their stars on the bench to start their most recent friendly, with the likes of Messi, Mac Allister, Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez coming on as second-half substitutes. Expect most or all of them to start in this one.

Previous XI: Rulli, Li. Martinez, Giay, Otamendi, Medina, Barco, Lo Celso, Palacios, Lopez, Simeone, Paz (vs. Iceland, June 9)

Algeria

Head coach Vladimir Petković went with a first-choice XI in Algeria's rout of Bolivia, which served as their final tune-up for the World Cup. That should be close to the starting lineup against Argentina.

Previous XI: Benbot, Abada, Chergui, Mandi, Ait-Nouri, Boudaoui, Maza, Bentaleb, Mahrez, Amoura, Benbouali (vs. Bolivia, June 10)

Watch World Cup archive, highlights and documentaries for FREE on DAZN

DAZN is the home of FIFA+, a vast library of football on-demand content including World Cup archive, iconic documentaries, player profiles, live matches, and both full match replays and highlights.

Watch it all for FREE on DAZN on smart TVs, phones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles, and web browsers.

FIFA+ includes:

• FIFA World Cup archive - full match replays of all matches from Brazil 1970 to Qatar 2022
• World Cup goals - the best goals from each tournament; every goal from every nation from every tournament
• Original documentaries - including Mo: A Global Icon; Golden Boot: The Documentary; After Diego
• Icons of the game - From Pelé to Cristiano Ronaldo
• Behind-the-scenes content
• Live matches from around the world