Argentina 3-0 Algeria: FIFA World Cup Match Report

Argentina 3-0 Algeria, and the margin arrived late. Argentina led by a single goal at half-time, a position that says very little about control and a great deal about conversion, then scored twice more after the break to turn a recoverable deficit into one Algeria could do nothing with.

That pattern recurred across Argentina's whole group. They beat Austria 2-0 from a 1-0 half-time lead five days later and Jordan 3-1 on the final matchday. Over three matches they scored eight and conceded one, and in none of them were they more than a goal ahead at the interval. A team that pulls away after half-time is either fitter, deeper or more patient than its opponents; the group results do not tell you which, but they do tell you it was not coincidence.

For Algeria this was the hardest possible opening. Three conceded on matchday one against the reigning champions, in a group where second place was the realistic target, damaged goal difference as much as points — and goal difference is where their group eventually finished, at five scored and seven conceded.

It set the terms of Group J immediately. Argentina took all nine points and closed with a goal difference of plus seven, matched among group winners only by France and Mexico. Algeria were left needing results against Jordan and Austria and got a 2-1 win over the former and a 3-3 draw with the latter — four points, which in most groups would be enough for second outright and here left them level with Austria on the same total.

The wider consequence took a month to show itself. Argentina's route out of this group ran to the final, where they lost 1-0 to Spain after extra time. This 3-0 was the first ninety minutes of that run and, on the evidence of the group, one of the more straightforward.

Our pre-match call was Argentina to win at 1.55, rated high confidence, and it was the obvious read on an obvious fixture. The case we made was collective control rather than individual brilliance — a side built to manage tempo and convert the handful of chances a disciplined opponent concedes. A 1-0 half-time lead extended to 3-0 is close to a literal rendering of that argument.

The quibble is with the price rather than the pick. At 1.55 there was no margin for the tight, awkward evening we had explicitly warned Argentina might have to grind through, and the actual match proved more comfortable than the odds anticipated. Backing the champions to win a group opener at short odds is rarely where value sits, but it is frequently where results do.

Verdict: won