Defending champion Argentina, led by superstar Lionel Messi who scored for the third consecutive match, defeated Jordan to conclude the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage with three straight wins.

Argentina beat Jordan 3-1 in their final Group J match held at Dallas Stadium in Texas, USA, on June 28.

With this victory, Argentina finished with a perfect record of three wins (9 points). Austria, which drew 3-3 with Algeria (4 points, 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss, -2 goal difference) on the same day, also secured a spot in the round of 32 as the group runner-up (4 points, 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss, 0 goal difference).

Jordan finished the group stage with three consecutive losses.

Algeria, which finished third in the group, ranked sixth among all third-placed teams, securing the final ticket to the round of 32.

For Algeria, which achieved the miracle of reaching the round of 16 in the 2014 tournament, this marks their second time advancing past the group stage in a World Cup appearance in 12 years.

In the match against Jordan, Argentina started with Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez as the two strikers, while "God of Football" Lionel Messi began the game on the bench.

Jordan's defense featured Yazan Al-Arab, a center-back for FC Seoul in the K League 1, who started the match to help contain Argentina's offensive.

However, Argentina remained a formidable force even without Messi.

In the 19th minute of the first half, Giovani Lo Celso scored the opening goal with a brilliant left-footed shot from a free-kick opportunity just to the right of the penalty arc.

Lo Celso became the first player other than Messi (5 goals) to score for the Argentine national team in this tournament.

Messi had scored a hat-trick in the 3-0 win against Algeria in the first match and netted two goals in the 2-0 victory against Austria in the second match, accounting for all of Argentina's goals in the first two games.

In the 27th minute of the first half, after Martinez's header hit the crossbar, Alvarez attempted a follow-up header but was denied by a save from the goalkeeper.

However, the referee awarded a penalty kick as Alvarez was struck in the face by a Jordanian defender's foot while attempting the header.

Martinez successfully converted the penalty in the 31st minute of the first half, giving Argentina a 2-0 lead going into halftime.

Jordan, which struggled to create shooting opportunities in the first half, managed to pull one back in the 10th minute of the second half.

Mousa Al-Tamari rushed into the center of the penalty area to connect with a cross from Ehsan Haddad on the right flank, scoring with a left-footed shot.

It was the first goal Argentina had conceded in the tournament.

Argentina brought on Messi, who had been waiting on the bench, in the 15th minute of the second half, replacing Martinez. With this appearance, Messi extended his record for the most World Cup matches played to 29.

Entering the pitch to a standing ovation from some 70,000 spectators, Messi scored with a stunning left-footed shot from a free-kick just outside the penalty arc in the 35th minute of the second half.

Having scored in all three group stage matches, Messi extended his lead as the sole top scorer with 6 goals.

Furthermore, starting with his goal in the round of 16 of the 2022 tournament, Messi has now scored in seven consecutive matches, including all three group stage games of this tournament. He surpassed Just Fontaine (France) and Jairzinho (Brazil), who both held the record with six consecutive matches, to become the player with the most consecutive matches scored in World Cup history.

Messi also increased his personal all-time World Cup goal tally to 19, sealing Argentina's 3-1 victory.

In the other final Group J match held at Kansas City Stadium in Missouri, USA, Algeria drew 3-3 with Austria after a back-and-forth battle, led by Riyad Mahrez's brace, to secure their spot in the round of 32.

After Marko Arnautovic scored for Austria in the 28th minute, Rafik Belghali equalized for Algeria in the 45th minute.

Algeria conceded another goal to Marcel Sabitzer of Austria in the 10th minute of the second half, but Mahrez leveled the score again in the 15th minute.

Algeria had a chance to jump to second place in the group after Mahrez scored his second goal of the match three minutes into second-half stoppage time, but they had to settle for a 3-3 draw after conceding an equalizing header to Sasa Kalajdzic of Austria just before the final whistle.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)