Jordan v Algeria: World Cup 2026 – live

⚽️ Kick-off time: 8pm local/1pm AEST/4am BST/11pm EDT
⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Martin

Earlier today, Messi’s Argentina met Austria in the other Group J match in Dallas.

Messi turned his march into a run and created history with his two goals placing him well clear as the top all-time World Cup goalscorer.

It had to be Lionel Messi, it had to be on this day and perhaps it even needed to be in Dallas too. History was created in the way he knows best, a clinical left-footed flourish setting him out on his own as the World Cup’s highest goalscorer of all time. An occasion that already throbbed with an epic, cinematic quality had its moment for the ages and the genius who served it up will surely provide even more. A first golden boot would not be the worst present for an icon who turns 39 on Wednesday.

No region benefited as much from the expansion of the World Cup as Africa. In Qatar in 2022, five of the 32 slots (16% of the field) went to the Confederation of African Football (Caf). Of the 48 slots this time around, nine went automatically to Caf, and they secured a 10th when DR Congo beat Jamaica in an interconfederational playoff in March. Caf had lobbied for years for more representation, arguing it was unfair that it had only five slots for its 54 members, while Conmebol, the South American confederation, had four plus a playoff for 10 members (21% of the field). The response was that Conmebol sides had won the World Cup nine times, while Caf sides had only made the quarter-finals on three occasions. By the end of the last World Cup, Conmebol were up to 10 victories and Caf had its first semi-finalist.

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