The Algerian and Jordanian teams have arrived. An hour-and-a-quarter to go until kick-off in this one.

There’s a quarter of an hour left in Norway v Senegal in New Jersey. Erling Haaland making things very difficult for Senegal. You can follow the match live with Jeff Reuter:

While acknowledging that the moment was “special”, Messi didn’t let himself get too excited.

Like I’ve said other times, I enjoy playing, having a good time on the pitch.

Earlier today, Messi’s Argentina met Austria in the other Group J match in Dallas.

Messi turned his march into a run and created history with his two goals placing him well clear as the top all-time World Cup goalscorer.

Nick Ames was at Dallas Stadium for the historic moment in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Austria.

It had to be Lionel Messi, it had to be on this day and perhaps it even needed to be in Dallas too. History was created in the way he knows best, a clinical left-footed flourish setting him out on his own as the World Cup’s highest goalscorer of all time. An occasion that already throbbed with an epic, cinematic quality had its moment for the ages and the genius who served it up will surely provide even more. A first golden boot would not be the worst present for an icon who turns 39 on Wednesday.

Algeria were immediately on the back foot when opening their tournament campaign against reigning champions Argentina and with a certain Lionel Messi on the march toward the all-time World Cup goalscoring record. But Vladimir Petkovic’s side will get a better idea of their prospects of reaching the knockout phase in their clash with Jordan.

Jonathan Wilson has considered what Algeria – as well as the other nine African teams at this World Cup – need to do in North America to justify the doubling of the number of World Cup spots handed to Caf for this edition.

No region benefited as much from the expansion of the World Cup as Africa. In Qatar in 2022, five of the 32 slots (16% of the field) went to the Confederation of African Football (Caf). Of the 48 slots this time around, nine went automatically to Caf, and they secured a 10th when DR Congo beat Jamaica in an interconfederational playoff in March. Caf had lobbied for years for more representation, arguing it was unfair that it had only five slots for its 54 members, while Conmebol, the South American confederation, had four plus a playoff for 10 members (21% of the field). The response was that Conmebol sides had won the World Cup nine times, while Caf sides had only made the quarter-finals on three occasions. By the end of the last World Cup, Conmebol were up to 10 victories and Caf had its first semi-finalist.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the World Cup match between Jordan and Algeria at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. Kick-off in this Group J game is 8pm local/11pm EDT/4am BST/1pm AEST – or 4am in Algeria and 6am in Jordan for those following from the lands of the competing teams.

This looms as a crunch clash for both Jordan and Algeria which could make or break their hopes of reaching the knockout phase. Jordan are still searching for a first win during their World Cup debut after pushing Austria in a rollicking, end-to-end affair before falling behind to a second-half own goal then giving up a late penalty in a 3-1 defeat. Lively attacker Ali Olwan scored the nation’s first World Cup goal while Musa Al-Taamari looked especially threatening on the counter. But the greater concerns for Jordan tend to be at the other end with the No 68-ranked side conceding multiple goals in each game across a five-match winless run.

Algeria were quickly pushed into a supporting role in their World Cup opener as Argentina great Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 triumph for the reigning champions. The defensive cracks are unlikely to be exposed in the same way against Jordan and it must be remembered that head coach Vladimir Petkovic had steered the side to 21 wins, four draws and only three defeats from 28 matches – including a friendly victory over the Netherlands – before facing Argentina. The No 29-ranked side have firepower up front with veteran Riyad Mahrez out to make his mark on the tournament and young midfielder Ibrahim Maza pulling the strings.

I’ll be back shortly with the line-ups and team news – and the latest from the World Cup. In the meantime, get in touch with any questions, thoughts and predictions. You can shoot me an email, or find me on Bluesky @martinpegan.bsky.social. Let’s get into it!