Nigeria vs Argentina Preview

This match sees two very familiar nations come together for the fourth consecutive time in a FIFA World Cup, and this time the stakes are higher as they both need a win.

Nigeria come into this game with 3 points after beating Iceland 2-0 in their last game following a poor first match against Croatia.

They are currently second in the table and could go through with a draw supposing Iceland fails to win against Croatia, however, the Super Eagles should be targeting all three points as their opponents seem to be having serious issues in their camp.

Argentina have been so poor at this World Cup that the players have turned against their manager, and there are reports that the stars will pick their team for this game.

The Argentinians struggled to qualify for this competition, and many thought they would find it hard to reach the final again like they did four years ago, but not as bad as this campaign has been.

Their first game ended 1-1 after Lionel Messi missed a penalty to win the game.

They were then humiliated 3-0 by Croatia in their next match and it was so bad even Ante Rebic claimed he couldn’t ask for Lionel Messi’s shirt because of how poor the Argentinians were.

Argentina were lucky Nigeria won against Iceland or else they would have already been eliminated by now.

Beating Nigeria would also be easier said than done especially after they lost 4-2 to the Africans the last time these two sides met.

Despite this seeming like a tough game on paper, bookmakers favour Argentina strongly to come out on top in this game.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Nigeria

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Nigeria		2-0		Iceland	22 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
L	Croatia		2-0		Nigeria	16 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
L	Nigeria		0-1		Czech Republic	6 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
L	England		2-1		Nigeria	2 Jun, 2018	International Friendly
D	Nigeria		1-1		Congo DR	28 May, 2018	International Friendly

Argentina

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
L	Argentina		0-3		Croatia	21 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
D	Argentina		1-1		Iceland	16 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup
W	Argentina		4-0		Haiti	30 May, 2018	International Friendly
L	Spain		6-1		Argentina	27 Mar, 2018	International Friendly
W	Argentina		2-0		Italy	23 Mar, 2018	International Friendly