It
looks like Group D of the 2018 FIFA World Cup is the most competitive group.
This group is made up of Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria. Of the four
teams, only top two performers will move to the next round, which is known as
round of 16. It is hard to predict which two teams will advance to the second
round, but it is sure the best two teams will be able to do it. Matches of this
group will be played between 16 and 26 June 2018.
First
match of this group between Argentina and Iceland will take place on 16 June
2018 at Otkritie Arena, Moscow. These two teams have never met each other
before. So, it is going to be their first ever encounter. There is no doubt
that Argentina will be tagged as hot favorite against the new nation who has
made their first ever appearance in the World Cup tournament.
Matches
between Argentina and Croatia and between Argentina and Nigeria are thought to
be the most fiercely-contested games in this group. Both Argentina and Croatia
are strong teams on pen and paper. The Latin American football nation will take
on the European side for the first time since 1998. Argentina sealed their
previous encounter with a 1-0 win. This time, Croatia will try to take revenge
for their previous defeat. With this game, football fans can see a battle
between Lionel Messi and Ivan Rakitic who are Barcelona team-mates. This match
will be held on 21 June 2018 at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod.
Nigeria
is an unpredictable team. They can make upset against any strong team. Both Nigeria
and Argentina have once again been drafted in the same group. La Albiceleste (nickname of Argentina’s national football team)
faced Super Eagles (nickname of Nigeria’s national football team) four times in
the group stage of the 1994, 2002, 2010 and 2014 World Cup. In all four
matches, Argentina beat their opponent 2-1, 1-0, 1-0, and 3-2 respectively. The
fifth match has made them arch enemies. It will be played on 26 June, 2018 at
Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg. No doubt, Argentina will try to maintain
their unbeaten record while Nigeria will try their level best to make Argentina
upset showing some excellent performance. So the question remains if Nigeria
can beat Argentina for the first time in the World Cup tournament.
Two blossoming European sides Iceland and Croatia
can also make some tough competitions. They met each other on six occasions in
World Cup qualifying in the last eight years. Of the six games, Croatia won
four while the Icelanders won only one 1-0 in June 2017 and one match ended in
a 0-0 draw.
Croatia
and Nigeria are other two teams who will play against each other for the first
time in the history of football. It is also expected to be an exciting game. Both
teams have equal opportunity to secure their place in the knockout round. Let’s
see who between two can make it.
|
Date
|
Team
|
Time
|
Venue
|
|
16 June 2018
|
Argentina vs Iceland
|
16:00 MSK
|
Otkritie Arena, Moscow
|
|
16 June 2018
|
Croatia vs Nigeria
|
21:00 KALT
|
Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad
|
|
21 June 2018
|
Argentina vs Croatia
|
21:00 MSK
|
Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny
Novgorod
|
|
22 June 2018
|
Nigeria vs Iceland
|
18:00 MSK
|
Volgograd Arena, Volgograd
|
|
26 June 2018
|
Nigeria vs Argentina
|
21:00 MSK
|
Krestovsky Stadium, Saint
Petersburg
|
|
26 June 2018
|
Iceland vs Croatia
|
21:00 MSK
|
Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don
|
Sources-
