By Opta Analyst | Created at 2026-06-21 10:24:56 | Updated at 2026-06-23 21:55:24
2 days ago
Can Austria stop Lionel Messi making FIFA World Cup history and securing another win for Argentina? We look ahead to the game with our Argentina vs Austria prediction and preview.
Argentina vs Austria: The Key Insights
- The Opta supercomputer gives Argentina a 61.1% win probability based on 25,000 pre-match simulations.
- Argentina could become just the seventh nation to score at least three goals in four consecutive World Cup matches, and the first since Spain between 1998 and 2002.
- Seven of Austria’s last 10 World Cup goals have been scored from set-pieces (3 corners, 2 penalties, 1 free-kick, 1 direct free-kick).
Lionel Messi can make men’s FIFA World Cup history when Argentina take on Austria in a tantalising Group J clash at Dallas Stadium on Monday.
Having scored his 61st career hat-trick (50 for clubs, 11 for Argentina) in the 3-0 win over Algeria, Messi is just one goal away from surpassing Miroslav Klose (16) as the competition’s all-time leading scorer.
If he manages to find the back of the net against Austria, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner will also become only the third player in World Cup history to score in six consecutive games.
While France’s Just Fontaine and Brazil’s Jairzinho managed it in single tournaments in the 1958 and 1970 editions respectively, Messi’s run stretches back to the culmination of La Albiceleste’s long-awaited World Cup triumph in Qatar four years ago.
Despite his advancing years, the 38-year-old’s influence for Argentina shows no sign of wavering. He had a direct hand in eight of their 10 shots against Algeria (6 shots, 2 chances created), and will look to be just as influential against Austria.
While Messi’s attacking display rightfully stole the headlines, it is also worth nothing that Lionel Scaloni’s side managed to keep Algeria from getting a single shot on target.
If they beat Austria and Jordan fail to get the better of Algeria, they will be guaranteed to advance as group winners and take on the runners-up of Group H.
Austria could also go through as group winners if they win this match, but they’ll need to improve after labouring for long periods in the opening 3-1 victory over Jordan.
“We know how good Argentina are,” said young midfielder Paul Wanner. “We respect them, but we are confident in our strengths. If we bring our qualities to the pitch, we will pose problems for any team.”
After seeing Romano Schmid‘s opener cancelled out by Ali Olwan, it was not until the 76th minute that Austria regained the lead – and that only happened when Yazan Al Arab put through his own net.
Marko Arnautovic‘s late penalty only served to help make the scoreline look more convincing than the performance really had been.
Still, Austria are on a four-game winning streak in all competitions and have triumphed in 10 of their last 12 games, drawing one and losing one.
If they manage to record another victory against Argentina, it will be the first time since 1982 that they’ve started a World Cup with back-to-back wins.
Austria have concerns over the availability of David Alaba, Stefan Posch – who has had a special mask made after breaking his jaw against Jordan – and Alessandro Schöpf, though. The trio have been training separately from the rest of the team and face a race to be fit.
Marcel Sabitzer will expect to keep his place in the line-up and earn his 100th cap, putting him level with Aleksandar Dragovic in fourth on Austria’s all-time appearance list. Only Andreas Herzog (103), Alaba (114 before this game) and Arnautovic (134 before this game) stand ahead of him now.
For Argentina, Scaloni is expected to make a couple of changes, with one perhaps seeing Gonzalo Montiel make way for Nahuel Molina after the latter recovered from a minor muscle strain.
Argentina vs Austria Head-to-Head
There is not much history between these two teams, with their only previous meetings being friendlies and the most recent one taking place 36 years ago.
That was a 1-1 draw in Vienna, where their 1980 meeting also took place. That ended in a 5-1 victory for Argentina – a match that included Diego Maradona’s only international hat-trick.
Argentina have only lost one of their last eight World Cup group-stage matches against European nations (W4 D3), with Croatia beating them 3-0 in 2018.
Austria, meanwhile, have historically struggled against South American opponents. Since a 1-0 win against Chile at the 1982 World Cup, they have only won one of their 10 matches against such opposition (D4 L5), with that victory coming against Uruguay in a friendly back in November 2017.
Argentina vs Austria Prediction
Argentina look set to make it two wins from two, with the Opta supercomputer putting their win probability at 61.1%.
There’s a 21.9% chance of the spoils being shared, with Austria’s likelihood of pulling off an upset at and taking all three points calculated to be 17.0%.
Argentina vs Austria Squads
Argentina: Juan Musso, Gerónimo Rulli, Emiliano Martínez, Nicolás Tagliafico, Gonzalo Montiel, Lisandro Martínez, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Facundo Medina, Nahuel Molina, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Valentín Barco, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Thiago Almada, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández, Julián Alvarez, Lionel Messi, Nico González, Giuliano Simeone, Nico Paz, José Manuel López, Lautaro Martínez.
Austria: Alexander Schlager, Florian Wiegele, Patrick Pentz, David Affengruber, Kevin Danso, Stefan Posch, David Alaba, Philipp Lienhart, Phillipp Mwene, Alexander Prass, Marco Friedl, Michael Svoboda, Xaver Schlager, Nicolas Seiwald, Marcel Sabitzer, Florian Grillitsch, Carney Chukwuemeka, Romano Schmid, Dejan Ljubicic, Konrad Laimer, Patrick Wimmer, Paul Wanner, Alessandro Schöpf, Marko Arnautovic, Michael Gregoritsch, Sasa Kalajdzic.
Argentina vs Austria Predicted Lineups
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