World Cup: Group J Preview

Algeria – Les Fennecs are sneakily one of the best African teams in the world. The 28th ranked team in the world had absolutely no trouble as they dominated their qualifying group. The headliner was Wolfsburg’s Mohamed Amoura who scored ten goals to lead all players in Africa and had four assists as well. The guys playing behind Amoura are great too. Houssem Aouar will be back in the spotlight after time in Saudi Arabia and Bayer Leverkusen’s Ibrahim Maza is a star in the making. This group’s second and third spots are well within reach for Algeria, so they’ll be looking to get back to the knockout stages, their only prior knockout appearance being in 2014.

Player to watch: Ibrahim Maza
Ceiling: Round of 16

Argentina – Since Lionel Messi’s World Cup debut in 2006, Argentina has only failed to reach the quarterfinals once, playing in two finals and winning one of them. Their squad has shaped up to look every bit capable of defending their 2022 title. For starters, Messi hasn’t slowed down; he led South American qualifying in scoring with eight goals. Despite losing his partner in crime Angel Di María, he has some top-notch new support. Nico Paz stole the show in Italy with twelve goals and six assists as Como qualified for the Champions League. Factor in Lautaro Martínez and Julián Alvarez and this team gets scary quickly. Apart from the attacking flair, they have so many workhorses like Giuliano Simeone, Rodrigo De Paul, and Enzo Fernández. Argentina will make life very difficult for any opposition. La Albiceleste’s potential Achilles heel is the passion they play with that can transform into recklessness at times. That’s what happens when Emi Martinez, Nicolás Otamendi, and Cristian Romero are in the same team. It didn’t bite them in 2022; it might not this year either.

Player to watch: Nico Paz
Ceiling: Champions

Austria – Das Team returns to the World Cup after a 28-year absence. The Austrians are currently ranked 24th in the world and won their qualifying group over Bosnia and Romania. There’s nothing too flashy about them; they’re a group of hard workers. Don’t expect them to blow teams away but they’re consistent and will be hard to beat. The Austrians could be a very frustrating knockout stage opponent for a tournament favorite. Werder Bremen’s Romano Schmid could be an important creator for them as a starter or off the bench; he had four goals and eight assists in the Bundesliga this last season.

Player to watch: Romano Schmid
Ceiling: Round of 16

Jordan – Al-Nashama entered their qualifying group as underdogs but ended up pipping Iraq for the second automatic qualification spot in Group B. Striker Ali Olwan led the way by scoring nine goals in qualifying, the third-most of any player. Rennes’ Mousa Tamari is another player to keep an eye on after he bagged six goals and six assists in France this season. Ranked 63rd in the world, their chances to advance in their first-ever World Cup appearance are low but definitely not zero.

Player to watch: Ali Olwan
Ceiling: Round of 32