The South American nation has progressed through the group stage in each of the last five tournaments, dating back to the 2002 tournament.

Scaloni, who led La Albiceleste to glory in Qatar three years ago, presented the World Cup on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Argentine wore white gloves to handle the golden trophy, something Infantino admits he was unaware of until after the draw.

Arlington’s AT&T Stadium will host a tournament-high nine matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The full schedule was revealed Saturday morning.

The resale price of tickets to 2026 World Cup games involving Portugal and Argentina jumped by an average of nearly 300 per cent in the hours after Friday’s World Cup draw and Saturday’s schedule release.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has apologised to Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni after a bizarre mix-up at the 2026 World Cup draw forced the reigning world champion coach to wear gloves before touching the trophy.

Argentina and Lionel Messi will play Algeria to open its World Cup title defense as part of a group that also includes Austria.

Some big names will be playing here, too, like Lionel Messi and Argentina and a star-studded Netherlands squad that should bring a big traveling fan base. While initial expectations were some 650,000 fans could travel to KC as part of the World Cup games, that number may now be bigger, representatives from KC2026 say.

With four strikes to his name, including a hat-trick at Qatar 2022, no man has scored more goals in FIFA World Cup finals than Kylian Mbappe.

Jordan, Paraguay will each play two matches in Santa Clara next summer. FIFA sends defending champ Argentina to Kansas City, Arlington, Texas.