Hello, and welcome to The Athletic’s live coverage of this Group J finale between Algeria and Austria.
After opening the tournament with a 3-1 win over Jordan, Austria lost to Argentina 2-0 on Monday as Lionel Messi scored a brace to break the all-time World Cup goalscoring record. Austria played well but could not find the quality needed in the attacking third to truly threaten Argentina.
Conversely, Algeria started with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Argentina thanks to a Messi hat-trick, before responding with a 2-1 comeback victory over Jordan.
Both teams can progress to the knockout stage today.
Stay tuned for the latest news, analysis, play-by-play and more from our team of writers.
