Argentina rests Messi against Jordan in first-ever World Cup meeting

FIFA scheduled Group J, Match 70, for 02:00 at Dallas Stadium in Dallas, and Argentina used the occasion to leave Lionel Messi on the bench against Jordan. The game carried little table pressure by kickoff because Argentina had already sealed first place with wins over Algeria and Austria, while Jordan had already been eliminated after losses to the same two teams. It was also the first World Cup meeting between the countries.

The rotation sent Nico Paz into Argentina’s lineup for his first World Cup start, replacing Messi as Lionel Scaloni protected his captain for the knockout stage. USA Today framed the move plainly: Messi was resting up for the elimination rounds, and Paz was handed the chance to step into one of the most scrutinized attacking roles in the tournament.

That decision said as much about Argentina’s confidence as it did about Messi’s workload. Scaloni had already guided the defending champions through Group J in emphatic fashion, and the benching suggested he trusted the rest of the squad to carry a match that mattered more as preparation than as a headline. Jordan’s side, meanwhile, entered the fixture with the weight of a different milestone behind it, having made its first-ever appearance at the World Cup finals in 2026 after a qualifying run that Jordanian officials called historic.

For Argentina, the calculation was simple: preserve the player who shapes matches most often and avoid turning a dead rubber into a risk. For Jordan, even an already-ended campaign ended on the sport’s biggest stage, in a first meeting with a reigning powerhouse that will be remembered as part of the country’s debut World Cup chapter.