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Argentina will play their final friendly before beginning their title defence at the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday, when they take on Iceland in Alabama.
La Albiceleste recently returned to number one in the world rankings and will begin a bid to win again on the global stage when the group stage begins next week, while their opponents missed out on qualifying for the summer's tournament.
Read our prediction, preview and betting tips for the game below, and make sure to check out our today's betting tips page for more of our expert predictions.
Argentina vs. Iceland key stats
- Argentina have won their last six matches – scoring 18 goals and only conceding one.
- Argentina have not lost an international friendly since March 2019.
- Iceland are winless in their last five matches.
- The only previous H2H ended in a 1-1 draw in the 2018 World Cup.
Argentina vs. Iceland preview: Argentina to head into World Cup on the back of seventh straight win?
| Argentina | vs | Iceland |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIFA Ranking | 74 |
| Lionel Messi (198) | Most Caps | Gylfi Sigurdsson (85) |
| Lionel Messi (116) | Most Goals | Gylfi Sigurdsson (28) |
| 1,234 | Total Caps | 613 |
| 220 | Total Goals | 80 |
| 2 | Uncapped Players | 0 |
Argentina head into the second international friendly of their final World Cup preparations on Tuesday aiming to continue a winning streak into the start of this summer's tournament, which they enter as defending champions.
Lionel Scaloni's team prevailed for the third time in the 2022 competition and have lost just four times since, while now entering next week's friendly in a six-game winning run dating back to October 2025.
Their World Cup qualifying bid ended in a loss to Ecuador, albeit La Albiceleste topped the South American group by nine points regardless, and they have since bounced back, recording friendly wins over Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Angola, Mauritania and Zambia, before heading to USA in camp ahead of the group stage and beginning against Honduras.
Twenty-one players featured for Argentina in that game, as Scaloni rotated to test his World Cup squad, as they won 2-0 through Lautaro Martinez and Giuliano Simeone, with talisman Lionel Messi one of the few not to play a part due to a slight injury concern, and he is likely to get a first run out for parts on Tuesday.
Now with a week between their final friendly and the beginning of their World Cup defence in their group-stage opener against Algeria, with clashes against Austria and Jordan to follow, Argentina will look to build further momentum with another friendly triumph and stretch an unbeaten run dating back to 2019 in friendlies with a win in Alabama.
Their opponents, meanwhile, travel to USA for the clash keen to take a major scalp, albeit having not made this summer's World Cup.
Iceland featured in back-to-back major tournaments in Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, but they have failed to make one since, most recently falling short in European World Cup qualifying as they finished third in their group on seven points, three behind the playoff spot awarded to second place.
That culminated in a defeat to Ukraine in the decisive final outing in 2025, and they have not bounced back since, going on to lose to Mexico in a February friendly before drawing against Canada and Haiti in March.
Strakarnir okkar then headed to Tokyo to take on World Cup-bound Japan in late May and fell to a 1-0 friendly defeat as Koki Ogawa's late goal made the only difference, before travelling to USA for a meeting with the world champions and world rankings leaders Argentina with a squad headlined by the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Hakon Haraldsson, Albert Gudmundsson and exciting young striker Orri Oskarsson.
In what is their final contest before kicking off a new UEFA Nations League campaign in September, Iceland will now aim to end their five-game winless streak with a first-ever victory over Argentina, having drawn the previous meeting in their only ever World Cup eight years ago.
Argentina vs. Iceland form guide & betting tips
| Argentina | vs | Iceland |
|---|---|---|
WWWWW |
Form | LLDDL |
| 17 | Goals For | 3 |
| 1 | Goals Against | 10 |
WWWWW |
Friendlies | LDDL |
Whispers predicts: Argentina 3-0 Iceland
Argentina will look to ramp up their World Cup preparations and could field different XIs in each half on Tuesday – members of each will be keen to impress and stake their claim for starting places in the World Cup. We see them getting off to hot starts in each half and fancy Argentina to win both halves at 7/5 (2.40).
Iceland certainly have the quality to cause problems for the world champions, but Lionel Scaloni's men have kept five clean sheets in their last six matches. Both Teams to Score – No is priced at 8/11 (1.73).
All of Argentina's attacking options will hope to improve their standing in Scaloni's squad with their displays in the final pre-World Cup outing, and La Albiceleste have scored 17 goals in their last five matches. We see over 2.5 Argentina goals as good value at 10/11 (1.91).
> Argentina to win both halves at 7/5 (2.40) | Likelihood: Possible
> Both Teams to Score – No at 8/11 (1.73) | Likelihood: Likely
> Over 2.5 Argentina goals | Likelihood: Probable