Around him, Argentina looked like Argentina. Scaloni rolled out the band — Emiliano Martinez behind a back four of Montiel, Romero, Lisandro Martinez and Medina, with Mac Allister, Fernandez and De Paul running midfield and Almada and Lautaro Martinez flanking Messi. They controlled the ball, didn't concede anything serious, and got the three points without needing to empty the tank in game one.
Algeria actually had a moment. Fares Chaibi had the ball in the net in the 8th minute before it got pulled back for offside, and for the first quarter-hour they were in the game. Then Messi happened. Zidane in goal got picked on for the second, and once the lead doubled the Desert Foxes had no obvious answer.
The starting XI — Zidane; Belghali, Mandi, Bensebaini, Ait-Nouri; Boudaoui, Bentaleb, Maza; Hadj Moussa, Chaibi, Gouiri — is a solid group, and to their credit they kept it clean on cards and didn't completely cave. But a 3-0 loss to the favorite in game one means they almost certainly need results against Austria and Jordan to have any shot at advancing.
The market had Argentina at 63.5% on Polymarket to win, and they won. The interesting tell was the total — over 2.5 was basically a coin flip at kickoff, and Messi cashed the over by himself. Argentina now sit at 82.5% to win the group and 71% to reach the Round of 16, which is roughly where you'd expect after a tidy 3-0 against the group's third seed.
Next up Argentina get the rest of Group J at a brisker pace. Algeria, sitting at 23% to reach the knockouts, have to go win a game now — the Austria match is basically a season.
Egypt3-2
Cape Verde3-2
Jordan3-1
Austria2-0
Algeria3-0
Switzerland0-2Austria3-3Jordan2-1Argentina0-3