AlgeriavsArgentina
ALG 0/ARG 3
Things to say
Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 at Arrowhead.
01
opener
Argentina rolled Algeria three-nil at Arrowhead. Never really in doubt. Algeria parked the bus and it still didn't matter.
02
key player
Messi was Messi — six shots, pulling the strings, basically toying with them out there.
03
hot take
Clean sheet looks tidy but Algeria barely tested them. Argentina's back line hasn't been properly stretched yet.
04
deep cut
Luca Zidane in goal for Algeria — yeah, Zinedine's kid — had three saves and honestly kept it from being a proper paddling.
05
exit
Group stage's a formality at this point. Real test comes in the knockouts.
The recap
Argentina put Algeria to the sword at Arrowhead, 3-nil, and honestly it never felt that close. Messi was everywhere up top, peppering the goal with six shots and pulling defenders out of shape every time he got on the ball.
Enzo Fernández absolutely bossed the middle with eleven defensive interventions, so Algeria barely got a sniff going forward. Luca Zidane made three saves in net or it'd have been an even uglier paddling, and Argentina walk away with the clean sheet to open the group.