Austria, with Paul Wanner confident against Argentina

After a 3-1 win over Jordan, Austria, with PSV player Paul Wanner, enters the second group match of the 2026 World Cup full of confidence. The team coached by Ralf Rangnick plays on Monday evening at 7 p.m. Dutch time in Dallas against the reigning world champions, Argentina.

Argentina won their first group match 3-0 against Algeria thanks to a hat-trick by Lionel Messi, who, with the score at 1-0, got away after a nasty foul. Messi escaped a yellow and perhaps even a red card when the star player planted his studs on the Achilles tendon of defender Aïssa Mandi.

The Austrians are the underdog against the reigning world champion, and Rangnick recognizes that like no other. ''We play against all odds. If you want to make a lot of money, take your savings and put it on an Austrian win'', says the coach, as quoted by Voetbal International.

In the match against Jordan, PSV player Paul Wanner came on after an hour in place of Phillipp Mwene, a former PSV player, and afterwards the Austrian fans praised Wanner’s substitute appearance. Some fans even argue for a starting spot against the Argentines.

About the pain points of Argentina, the national team coach is also quite clear. ''In our analysis, we were able to find few to no weaknesses. Individually, they have exceptionally much quality,'' Rangnick said.

In the Alpine country, they also know that the reigning world champion has more good footballers than just Lionel Messi. ''We are not going to show the players a compilation with the best actions by Messi. There will also be no session devoted entirely to Lionel Messi'', says assistant coach Stefan Oesen.

Oesen is of the opinion that the team with Wanner also should not have to do with marking him against the Argentines. ''That makes absolutely no sense, because he appears everywhere on the pitch. He dominates in central areas, but also drops back. You need to create multiple duels around him so that players can take risks because they know that someone is still behind them. He will get one or two chances. We must try to stay close to him and prevent him from having a free swing. If he has a free foot from 25 yards out, that’s almost a penalty shot'', the assistant coach said.