Key events
Team news
Odel al-Fakhouri and Ali Azaizeh come into the Jordan side in place of Musa al-Taamari and Mahmoud al-Mardi.
Argentina rest nine of the XI that started against Austria on Monday; the two men keeping their place are Emi Martinez and Lautaro Martinez.
Jordan (3-4-2-1) Abulaila; Nasib, al-Arab, Abu Dahab; Haddad, al-Rashdan, al-Rawabdeh, Abu Taha; Olwan, O al-Fakouhri; Azaizeh.
Subs: Bani Attiah, A al-Fakhouri, Abu Hashish, Abualnadi, Obaid, al-Rosan, Badawi, Jamous, Ayed, Sadeh, Abu Ghoush, al-Dawoud, Abu Zrayq, al-Taamari, al-Mardi.
Argentina (4-4-2) E Martinez; Simeone, Otamendi, Senesi, Tagliafico; Lo Celso, Paredes, Palacios, Lo Celso; Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez.
Subs: Musso, Rulli, Monitel, Lisandro Martinez, Romero, Medina, Molina, De Paul, Barco, Gonzalez, Almada, Mac Allister, Fernandez, Lopez, Messi.
Referee Istvan Kovacs (Romania)
Nick Ames
The Cape Verde head coach, Bubista, said his team have “shown that nothing is impossible” after his side secured a historic meeting with Argentina in the last 32.
Cape Verde became the smallest country by population to reach the World Cup’s knockout stages, and the first debutants since 2010 to do so, after drawing 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in Houston. The result meant they finished second in Group H, a stunning achievement given they were deemed outsiders in a group also including Spain and Uruguay.
Rob Smyth
Crikey, that flew by. Sixteen days after Mexico and South Africa kicked off the 2026 World Cup, the bumper group stage ends with a Group J double header: Algeria v Austria, which you can follow with Sam Lewis, and Jordan v Argentina in Dallas.
Strictly speaking, this game is a dead rubber: Jordan have been eliminated and Argentina already know they will play Cape Verde in the last 32. But try telling that to the populace of Jordan, who are hoping to win their first point at a World Cup – or to the billions of Lionel Messi disciples across the globe. Messi has been in sparkling form so far, scoring five goals in two games, and leads a goat-studded race for the Golden Boot.
He’ll fancy his chances of extending that lead today, even though he won’t be starting the game. Messi is 39 years old and, if all goes to plan for Argentina, the match against Cape Verde on Friday will be the first of five knockout games in 16 days.
“Leo will most likely come on in the second half,” said the Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni. “We talked and agreed that it was better that way, but obviously it’s also good for him to stay in competitive form.”
And in goalscoring form. At the last World Cup in Qatar, Messi’s seven goals equalled the record for a player who didn’t win the Golden Boot. For a variety of reasons, that record is going to be obliterated at this World Cup.
Kick off 9pm local/12pm AEST/3am BST/10pm EDT
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