Jordan vs Argentina LIVE: Latest World Cup team news with Lionel Messi decision made

Austria coach Ralf ​Rangnick and midfielder Konrad Laimer insisted that their sole focus was beating Algeria and reaching the World Cup knockout stage, dismissing suggestions that avoiding victory could provide ⁠a more favourable route.

Tonight’s Group J finale has generated unusual intrigue because the runners-up could be on course to face European champions Spain in the round of 32, while the third-placed finisher would likely play less daunting opponents.

Rangnick quickly ​shut ⁠down the discussion on Friday when he was asked if Austria might prefer to lose on Saturday.

“No, definitely not. Next question,” the Austria manager replied.

Laimer struck a similar ​tone, ⁠insisting Austria’s players were ‌uninterested in speculation about a possible meeting with Spain.

“I don’t care, honestly,” the Bayern Munich midfielder said. “We go out, we want to win the game. We want to come through the group stage, and then we don’t know if it’s Spain or not. We will see tomorrow after the game which nation we ⁠got, but in the end we want to focus on us. We want to win the game. We want to come through the group stage, and then it doesn’t matter for me who we face.”

They may be out of the tournament already but Jordan are looking to sign off on a positive note at the World Cup.

“Being able to be ​here is a message that we would ‌like to convey about ⁠the Jordanian people and about Jordanian culture, to ⁠show to the world who we are,” captain Noor Al-Rawabdeh said.

“The Jordanians are ‌people who have ​dreams and perseverance and ‌we’re happy that we have ​been able to reflect this image.”

Austria XI: A Schlager; Posch, Leinhart, Alaba, Mwene; Schmid, X Schlager, Laimer, Seiwald, Sabitzer; Arnautovic.

Algeria XI: Benbot; Mandi, Hadjam, Belghali, Bensebaini; Aouar, Bentaleb; Mahrez, Maza, Chaibi; Gouri.

As expected, Lionel Messi is left on the bench but it still looks an Argentina XI packed with attacking talent.

Argentina XI: E Martinez; Palacios, Senesi, Otamendi, Tagliafico; Paredes, Lo Celso, Paz; Simeone, Alvarez, Martinez.

There are three changes for Jordan, with Mousa Al Tamari only on the bench in a bit of a surprise.

Jordan XI: Abulaila; Abu Dahab, Nasib, Al Arab; Haddad, Al Rashdan, Al Rawabdeh, Abu Taha; Fakhoury, Azaizeh; Olwan.

Ordinarily. Lionel Messi might see this as a chance to swell his personal tally – but will the Argentina captain play? It seems like he’ll be on the bench, but we’ll have official team news shortly…

The chase for the golden boot is hotting up in North America – it may be secondary to the overall World Cup prize but the tournament’s top forwards will have their eye on the prize.

They do say history recurs, and there are strange echoes of the “Disgrace of Gijon” about this game. Austria were the team beaten by West Germany 1-0 at the 1982 World Cup in a mutually beneficial result that eliminated Algeria, and ensured that the final round of group games would kick off simultaneously going forward. Jamie Braidwood explains.

Any result other than defeat for Austria would similarly be enough to progress to the knockouts. Victory will see them finish as group runners-up, as would a draw due to their superior goal difference.

The only scenario where Algeria can leapfrog them into second is if they lose. There is still a chance can Austria progress on three points from third if the defeat is a slender one, with their goal difference currently zero.

As mentioned previously, this eventuality would probably offer a better round of 32 draw, but the high risk of dropping into third will not look enticing for Austria. Weirdly enough, a draw seems to suit both teams best – don’t be surprised if this one has an oddly uncompetitive feel to it.