Group D updated scenarios

The two goals Iceland conceded today will hurt them in the final round of matches. They are now -2 while Argentina are -3. Argentine will need to beat Nigeria in the final round of matches to have a chance of going through. If Iceland also beat Croatia, it will come down to goal difference. To makes matters even more interesting, remember the last round of matches are all played at the same time.

FT! Nigeria win. Stay alive. Nigeria win. Keep Argentina alive. It’s not all over for Iceland either. The last round of matches is going to be epic. The game sparked to life in the second half and Nigeria showed that they have an attractive edge to their game when the mood takes them. Well played! The Super Eagles are finally flying high.

90’: Six minutes of added time. Nigeria in complete control here.

83’: Disaster. Sigurdsson misses from the spot. He hits it over the bar. Damn. That is a sucker punch. Just when Iceland thought they had a chance, their experienced star has missed.

81’: VAR works in Iceland’s favour. Penalty given. Iceland have a lifeline.

75’: Musa scores!!! He scores again! Nigeria are almost certainly going to get a win here. Wonderful move, superb pace and strength. Iceland gone off to sleep here.

72’: Balogun’s header goes just over the bar. A good rhythm to the game now. Both teams playing with much more freedom.

66’: Moses is making all the right moves. His run resulted in the goal and now, he unleashed another good shot. This is good stuff from Nigeria. His shot went just over but the intent is there.

59’: Shot by Ndidi, takes a deflection and forces a save out of Halldorsson. Whatever Nigeria were told in the dressing room at half-time has worked. It sure has.

56’: Nothing like a goal to spark a game to life. Good response by Iceland. They want to level this as quickly as possible.

54’: Now, what will Iceland do? How will they respond? Here’s a quick look at that goal.

49’: GOAAAALLLLL!!!! Iceland caught on the break, brilliant run by Moses and then even better control by Musa. His first touch was class and then his finish was even better. Wonderful strike.

46’: And Nigeria have a shot on goal! Imagine that. The entire first half, they had nothing. They need to go forward with much more purpose. HT sub as well. Idowu goes off, Ibuehi comes on.

HT: The story on Nigeria’s half.

HT: Nigeria had just two touches in the Iceland box during the first half. But they kept trying to cross the ball in.

HT: 6 attempts on goal in the first half for Iceland. Nigeria have had just two. Not too much quality on display from both sides. They will need to be better if they want to win this. While we are talking about Argentina, Nigeria also need to win/draw here to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

45’: Iceland go close. Good looking ball in from a free kick and it took Finnbogason’s thigh on the way out. It was very close.

38’: Nigeria have had more of the ball in this match but they have for some reason decided to play the long ball game. When they do go forward, there is no pace or creativity. Musa has been getting stuck in every once in a while while Moses has had a couple of good runs but that’s about it.

34’: Dull midfield battle neither side is consistently breaking into the final third. If anything, Iceland making the better plays at the moment.

26’: The final ball has been lacking quality from both sides at the moment.

23’: Still goalless but the game has been played at a good pace. Entertaining but neither goal has been majorly threatened.

19’: A gritty battle being fought mostly in the midfield for now. No side in the ascendancy for the moment. This has been a very even contest. After the initial spark, Sigurdsson seems to have got lost a bit. But he is the key.

14’: The first Viking Clap of the evening is done. If this doesn’t lift Iceland, nothing will. For number nerds, around 4% of the Iceland population is in the stadium today!

11’: Watching Nigeria and missing Jay Jay Okocha. They just don’t have the same kind of skill set now. Very fit, very strong but the likes of Okocha made them such a joy to watch. Still 0-0.

Play

7’: First corner for Nigeria. Nothing came out of it. Still early days, both sides looking to settle into a rhythm.

5’: Sigurdsson’s free kick was on target in the third minute and then a couple of minutes later, he took another shot at goal. Both on target. Iceland looking good as they go forward.

1’: We are a go now. Both teams need the points. This should be fun – bigger question for most football fans around the world though – will Argentina survive this match?

Group D scenarios

  • If Iceland beat Nigeria, they will have 4 points to Argentina’s 1. Messi and Co will need a win in their last match to get to 4 and hope Iceland then lose to Croatia and they score enough to have a better goal difference than Iceland.
  • If Iceland and Nigeria draw, the World Cup debutants will be on 2 points and Argentina will need a win in their last match to reach 4 and hope Iceland draw or lose against Croatia to remain static.
  • If Nigeria beats Iceland, Argentina and Iceland will both be on 1 point. Sampoali’s men will still need a win in their last match and hope that either Croatia beat or draw Iceland so that the Nordic nation’s tally doesn’t increase. They would essentially have to better Iceland’s result in their final match, while improving the GD as needed.
  • If Iceland lose to Nigeria but beat Croatia in the next round of games, Argentina will need a win in their last match and hope to have a better goal difference than Iceland.

Changes ahoy!

Coach Gernot Rohr has brought in Ahmed Musa, Kelechi Iheanacho and Kenneth Omeruo in place of Odion Ighalo, Abdullahi Shehu and Alex Iwobi.

Iceland like to sit deep and hit on the counter but the Nordic nation will know that a win will almost assure them of a place in the last 16. They just might choose to be a bit more adventurous today. The temptation will certainly be there. Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson has changed his formation to a 4-4-2, from the 4-5-1 he used against Argentina. Bodvarsson comes in, and Hallfredsson is out.

Line-ups

Nigeria: Uzoho, Omeruo, Troost-Ekong, Balogun, Moses, Etebo, Mikel, Ndidi, Idowu, Musa, Iheanacho

Iceland: Halldorsson, Saevarsson, Arnason, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Magnusson, Gislason, Gunnarsson, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Bjarnason, Bodvarsson, Finnbogason

Nigeria have lost their last three games at World Cup

Head-to-head: The only game between the two teams was a friendly match in 1981, which had Iceland walk away with a 3-0 win.

Hello and welcome to the live updates of the Group D match between Nigeria and Iceland at Volgograd. The world is still reeling from Croatia’s stunning win over Argentina last night. Now, the two-time champions are staring down the barrel of a group-stage exit, something that was unthinkable before the start of the tournament.

On Friday, many remained stunned by what had happened. The result was Argentina’s worst at a World Cup since being dismantled by Johan Cruyff’s “Total Football” Dutch side 4-0 on a thundery night in West Germany back in 1974.

The Super Eagles started this tournament on a poor note, putting in a tepid display while going down 0-2 to Croatia. Meanwhile, Iceland showed heart, character, and desire as they held Argentina to a 1-1 draw. Hope we have an enthralling encounter today.

(With inputs from AFP)