Key events
Melissa Hellmann
When Shahidul Partha was growing up in Kulkandi, Bangladesh in the early 2000s.Many villagers watched the World Cup matches on his familyโs property. More than 80 people gathered in his front yard to watch the action on a 14-inch black-and-white, battery-powered television, one of the few in the area. To calm down, they drank tea with milk and ate cookies. The crowd cheered whenever Brazil or Argentina scored.
โIt was a very nice moment, as if they were playing with the players,โ says Partha, 35. He now lives in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, and works as a software engineer and as a township and other local government commissioner.
โWhen itโs a goal, everyone screams,โ he says. โEveryone is excited, people are screaming, like, โCome on, come on, come on.โ Sometimes they give instructions: โGo this way, go that way.โ
Living thousands of miles from Bangladesh, Partha continues to root for Brazil because, paradoxically, it reminds him of home.
Although the Bangladesh national football team has never qualified for the World Cup, this has not stopped the publicโs enthusiastic support for the game. The South Asian country of more than 170 million people and its diaspora have long supported Argentina and Brazil. The fandom is reflected in its audience: almost 20% of the traffic to the Guardianโs live blog for Argentinaโs first match with Algeria on June 16 came from Bangladesh.
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The playoff stage is not yet completed. But itโs fair to say that the draw opens up to Argentina.
Last 32 Cape Verde
Last 16 Australia/Egypt
Australia in the last 16 will be a repeat of 2022, Aziz Behich and all that.Quarterfinals Switzerland/Iran/Algeria/Austria/Colombia/Portugal
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Team news
Odel al-Fakhoury And Ali Azaize Mousa al-Taamari and Mahmoud al-Mardi will be replaced by Mousa al-Taamari and Mahmoud al-Mardi.
Argentina rest nine players from the squad that started against Austria on Monday; two men stand in their place Amy Martinez And Lautaro Martinez.
Jordan (3-4-2-1) Abulayla; Nasib, al-Arab, Abu-Dhahab; Haddad, ar-Rashdan, ar-Rawabdeh, Abu Taha; Oluan, O al-Fakuri; Azaiza.
Subs: Bani Attiyah, A al-Fakhoury, Abu Hashish, Abualnadi, Obeid, al-Rosan, Badawi, Jamus, Ayed, Sadeh, Abu Gush, al-Daoud, Abu Zraik, al-Taamari, al-Mardi.
Argentina (4-4-2) And Martinez; Simeone, Otamendi, Senesi, Tagliafico; Lo Celso, Paredes, Palacios, Lo Celso; Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez.
Subs: Musso, Rulli, Monitel, Lisandro Martinez, Romero, Medina, Molina, De Paul, Barco, Gonzalez, Almada, Mac Allister, Fernandez, Lopez, Messi.
Referee Istvan Kovac (Romania)
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Nick Ames
Cape Verdean head coach Bubista said his team โshowed that nothing is impossible.โ after his team secured a historic meeting with Argentina in the round of 16.
Cape Verde became the smallest country by population to reach the knockout stages of the World Cup and the first debutants since 2010 to do so after a 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia in Houston. The result meant they finished second in Group H, a stunning achievement considering they were considered outsiders in a group that also included Spain and Uruguay.
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Rob Smith
Damn, it flew by. Sixteen days after Mexico and South Africa kicked off the 2026 FIFA World Cup, an impressive group stage ends with a Group J doubleheader: Algeria vs Austria, which you can follow with Sam Lewis, and Jordan vs Argentina in Dallas.
Strictly speaking, this game is a dead rubber: Jordan is eliminated, and Argentina already knows that they will play Cape Verde in the 1/8 finals. But try telling that to the people of Jordan who are hoping to win their first World Cup point, or to the billions of Lionel Messi students around the world. Messi is still in brilliant form, scoring five goals in two games and leading the race for the Golden Boot.
Heโll take his chances to extend that lead today, even though he wonโt be starting the game. Messi is 39 and if all goes to plan in Argentina, Fridayโs match against Cape Verde will be the first of five knockout games in 16 days.
โLeo will probably come on in the second half,โ Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. โWe talked and agreed it was best, but obviously itโs also good for him to stay competitive.โ
And in scoring form. At the last World Cup in Qatar, Messiโs seven goals equaled the record for a player who did not win the Golden Boot. For various reasons, this record will be destroyed at this World Cup.
Kick off 21:00 Local Time / 12:00 AEST / 3:00 UK Standard Time / 22:00 AEST
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Updated at 8:50 pm ET.