2018 World Cup Draw: All you need to know about Super Eagles' Group D opponents

Here is a quick rundown of everything you need to know about Super Eagles opponents in Group D of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

It is no longer news that Nigeria have been drawn in group D of the 2018 FIFA World Cup to be held in Russia.

The Super Eagles were grouped alongside perennial world cup foes Argentina, surprise package and debutants Iceland and Croatia, who finished third in the 1998 world cup held in France, completed the seeding.

With the Super Eagles set to meet Argentina for the fifth time in their sixth world cup appearance - baring 1998 World Cup -  Nigerians definitely know what to expect from the South American giants.

 

However, not much is known about our other opponents with no record of previous meetings between us and the two European nations. Theoretically, Nigeria look the weakest team in the group judging by the latest FIFA ranking but history has it that the Eagles have been very successful against European teams at the World Cup.

In fact, Nigeria have only recorded five victories in all their sojourns to the World Cup and all the five have come against European teams. Although, it must be stated that the Eagles have a dismal record against teams from Europe in the knockout stages as they have been eliminated in the second round on three different occasions by three different European teams - Italy 1994, Denmark 1998 and France 2014.

ALSO READ: See full list of groups for next year's 2018 FIFA World Cup

 

Without much ado, let's serve you all you need to know about our World Cup opponents in Group D:

Argentina

The La Albiceleste are previous winners of the World Cup in 1978 and 1986 and will be making their 17th World cup appearance in Russia, but how did they get to Russia?

Qualification

The Argentines booked their place in Russia by picking one of the four and half automatic tickets alloted to the CONMEBOL region. The journey wasn't rosy for them as they struggled throughout the qualifiers and were even in danger of not qualifying.

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After a string of poor results, the Argentina Football Association (AFA) relieved Edgardo Bauza of hid duties and was replaced by the then Seivilla FC gaffer, Jorge Sampaoli. The latter would steer them to qualification with the very last game of the series.

Star Player

Arguably the best footballer of the modern era, Lionel Messi needs no introduction. The little Barcelona forward was instrumental in his teams' qualification for World Cup.

 

After announcing his retirement from international football due to criticisms which followed Argentina's two successful Copa America final defeats in the hands of Chile, the mercurial forward was convinced to come out of retirement in other to rescue the La Albiceleste who were on the brink of missing out on the World Cup. 

Lionel Messi worked his magic and scored a sweet hat-trick in their 3-1 win over Ecuador in the last game of the qualifiers. The victory sealed Argentina's passage to Russia.

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Coach

Argentina are being coached by Jorge Sampaoli, the man who was brought in to salvage their world Cup hopes after the failures recorded by Edgardo Bauza. The charismatic gaffer was the former coach of Chile and he led them to win the Copa America back-to-back beating his native country Argentina in both finals.

FIFA ranking

Argentina are currently ranked 4th best football playing team in the world by FIFA and are 46 places ahead of Nigeria who are ranked 50th in the world.

Croatia

The Balcan nation will be playing in their  fifth World Cup tournament. In their debut outing in France 1998, Croatia surprised the rest of the world by going as far as the Semi-final before they were knocked out by  the host and eventual winners France. They went on to beat Holland in the losers final (third place match) by 2-1 to finish the tournament as the third best team.

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Qualification

After finding themselves in group I of the Eruo zone of the qualifiers alongside the likes of Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland  and Kosovo, the Croats were touted as the favourites to snatch an automatic ticket in the group.

However, things never went as expected. The tiny Nordic island nation, Iceland, had other ideas as they toppled Croatia to qualify as the group winners while condemning the latter to a play off spot.

Croatia sacked their coach Ante Cacic after that outcome and was replaced by the current manager of the team Zlatko Dalic who oversaw their last group game against Ukraine and the two leg playoff matches against Greece. The Croats beat Greece 4-1 in the first leg of the qualifiers and drew the second leg 0-0 to confirm their place at the World Cup.

Star Player

Croatia parade a lot of star players in their rank but one man stands tall above every other players - Luka Modric. The Real Madrid midfielder is one of the best around.

 

He is the captain of his team and he's also responsible for their creative play in the midfield. With three Champions league titles under his belt and a couple of La Liga titles to go with, Modric undoubtedly has what it takes to steer his team to success in Russia.

Coach

Zlatko Dalic took over the reigns as the coach of Croatia after the sack of Ante Cacic who oversaw all but one of their 'failed' group I campaigns. Dalic has since been in charge of  three competitive games  recording two victories and a draw in the process.

With no admirable managerial track record, the Croatia-born tactician will be hoping to put his name in the league of great coaches when he leads his team out in Russia next year.

FIFA ranking

Croatia are the best ranked team in group D of the World Cup after Argentina. The Croats are currently ranked 17th in the world by FIFA thus 33 places ahead of Nigeria.

Iceland

When Iceland step out in Russia next year, they will be doing so as the smallest nation by population to ever clinch a FIFA World Cup berth and if there is any team capable of springing surprise in Russia come 2018, they will definitely be the one.

The tiny nation with population of 334,252 people announced their arrival to international football with an impressive outing at the UEFA Euro 2016.

Having beaten European football giant Holland both home and away during their qualification campaign, Iceland went on to pull the biggest shock of Euro 2016 by eliminating England in the second round to reach the quarter finals.

Qualification

After their Euro 2016 success, Iceland followed it up with yet another impressive performance to usurp Croatia in group I of the European qualifiers thereby grabbing an automatic ticket to Russia.

This will be their first ever World Cup appearance and Our Boys (Iceland national team nickname) will be hoping to pull more upset at the mundial.

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Star Player

The strength of the Icelandic team lies in their marvelous team play and this is built around one player, Gylfi  Sigurdsson. With Premier League faithfuls, Sigurdsson's name resonates loudly.

 

The midfielder, who just moved from Swansea City to Everton in the summer might currently be going through hard time with his new club but that has not affected his performances for his national team.

Sigurdsson bagged four goals for Iceland during the qualifiers as the they wrap up a successful campaign and will be carrying the hopes of his nation when they take to the field in Russia.

Coach

Iceland will be going to the World Cup next year boasting of a former dentist, Heimir Hallgrimsson, as their coach. The manager previously served as joint-head coach with former Super Eagles coach, Lars Lagerback. Hallgrimsson has overseen Iceland’s remarkable rise. Having led the team with Lagerback at UEFA EURO 2016, he was in sole charge as they reached their first World Cup.

FIFA ranking

Iceland are placed 22nd in the latest FIFA ranking and this placed them as the third best ranked team in Group D with 28 places ahead of Nigeria.