Lautaro Martinez to start for Argentina against Algeria; Mahrez benched

KANSAS CITY, Missouri, June 16 : Lautaro Martinez will start as Argentina's striker in their World Cup opener against Algeria on Tuesday, with Julian Alvarez on the bench despite coach Lionel Scaloni saying the Atletico Madrid player was available after recovering from an ankle injury.

• Lautaro Martinez will share attacking duties with Lionel Messi, who is appearing at a record sixth World Cup.

• Left back Nicolas Tagliafico misses out with a calf injury, Facundo Medina replaces him.

• Riyad Mahrez on the bench for Algeria as Anis Hadj Moussa starts.

Argentina: Emiliano Martinez; Gonzalo Montiel, Lisandro Martinez, Cristian Romero, Facundo Medina; Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Thiago Almada; Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez.

Algeria: Luca Zidane; Aissa Mandi, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rafik Belghali, Ramy Bensebaini; Fares Chaibi, Hicham Boudaoui, Nabil Bentaleb; Ibrahim Maza, Amine Gouiri, Anis Hadj Moussa.