Argentina vs Algeria Bet Builder Tips: Messi the main name in 18/1 four-fold

| Tuesday 16th June 2026, 18:08

Tuesday 16th June 2026, 18:08

Argentina vs algeria bet builder tips wednesday 17 june 2026

Reigning champions Argentina kick off their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a Group J game against Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri (Tuesday 8pm local, Wednesday 2am BST, ITV).

Below are my Argentina vs Algeria Bet Builder Tips as I combine four legs for an 18/1 payout.

Argentina vs Algeria Bet Builder Tips

Anytime Goalscorer - Lionel Messi (ARG)
Player 1+ Shots On Target (Sub Switch) - Mohamed Amoura (ALG)
Player to Be Carded (Sub Switch) - Facundo Medina (ARG)
Player 2+ Fouls (Sub Switch) - Ramiz Zerrouki (ALG)

Bet Builder pays @ 18.77/1

*odds correct at time of publishing

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Anytime Goalscorer - Lionel Messi (ARG)

This will be Lionel Messi's sixth and, surely, final World Cup, and with three players, Miroslav Klose (16), Ronaldo (15) and Gerd Muller (14), still ahead of him (13) in the scoring ranks, you can bet he'll be desperate to make himself the outright leader before he calls time on his international career.

The 38-year-old has been in fine goalscoring form for his club side, Inter Miami, in Major League Soccer this year, netting 12 times in 14 appearances, while he's also shown his potency for La Albiceleste, notching in his last two international outings, including a goal inside two minutes of his introduction against Iceland (3-0) last week.

Messi's longevity is perhaps best highlighted by the brace he bagged in Argentina's only previous game against Algeria, a 4-3 friendly victory in June 2007 when the likes of Javier Zanetti and Pablo Aimar were still strutting their stuff for La Albiceleste.

At just under EVS, I'm taking Messi to outline his intention at this World Cup from the get-go, in a country he's very familiar with having spent the best part of the last four years there.

Player 1+ Shots On Target (Sub Switch) - Mohamed Amoura (ALG)

Algeria forward Mohamed Amoura averaged 0.9 shots on target per 90 minutes in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season for VfL Wolfsburg, scoring eight times in 30 appearances (23 starts).

The 26-year-old registered four shots on target across his final four league starts of the regular campaign, while he showed that he could accurately take aim in some of the bigger games, hitting the target in both meetings with third-placed RB Leipzig and in one of his two matches against second-placed Borussia Dortmund (he didn't play in either one against champions Bayern Munich).

Amoura failed to score at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, but he registered a shot on target in all three of Algeria's group games and starred in the CAF World Cup qualifiers, netting 10 times in as many appearances; Egypt's Mohamed Salah was closest to his tally with nine goals.

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Argentina vs Algeria Odds

Player to Be Carded (Sub Switch) - Facundo Medina (ARG)

Facundo Medina, who spent the 2025/26 season at Olympique Marseille, on loan from Ligue 1 rivals RC Lens, can play at centre-back or left-back, but it's in the latter position where he is likely to be deployed for Argentina in their first group game.

The 27-year-old is likely to be tasked with containing Algeria captain Riyah Mahrez, who starts on the right-hand side of their attack but looks to cut in on his favoured left foot at any opportunity.

Mahrez showed his trickery at the AFCON in December/January, drawing eight fouls across his four competition appearances, including four in Algeria's 2-0 defeat to Nigeria in the last 16, with the Super Eagles' left back Bruno Onyemaechi whistled three times for upending the Al-Ahli winger, with all three offences taking place inside the first 36 minutes.

Medina, meanwhile, is a player who is no stranger to a foul or card; in the French top flight last term, he averaged 1.6 fouls per 90 and picked up seven yellows in 17 appearances (16 starts). He's collected 62 yellows and one red in 164 Ligue 1 games for Lens and Marseille, so he's averaging a card every 2.6 matches.

The 6ft defender was booked in six of his last seven appearances for Marseille in 2025/26, including his last four, and was cautioned in his country's 2-0 victory over Honduras on 7 June, making two fouls after coming on at the start of the second half.

Player 2+ Fouls (Sub Switch) - Ramiz Zerrouki (ALG)

FC Twente midfielder Ramiz Zerrouki is also fancied to get physical at Arrowhead Stadium, having averaged 1.3 fouls per game in the 2025/26 Eredivisie season.

The 28-year-old wasn't shy to stick a foot in at the 2025 AFCON, either, committing three fouls in each of his two starts against Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria, conceding three free-kicks in the first 15 minutes against the latter and going into the book for his final foul.

Argentine have plenty of players who can draw fouls from opponents, such as Messi and Lautaro Martinez, but crucially, all three of their expected midfield starters are well-versed in buying free kicks.

Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernandez all earned a foul each after coming on at the start of the second half of last week's 3-0 win over Iceland, while all three averaged over a foul won per 90 in their respective league campaigns in 2025/26.

World Cup Odds