World Cup: We Know Nigeria History, Eagles Will Be Tough – Iceland Coach

Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson is looking forward to facing two-time champions Argentina, a familiar foe, Croatia and a team they hardly know, the Super Eagles of Nigeria in their FIFA World Cup™ debut after being drawn in Group D.

“When you think about the World Cup, you think about Argentina and Brazil, so it’s a little bit of a romantic feeling to play Argentina in the first game,” Hallgrimsson said of Iceland’s debut match in Moscow on 16 June 2018. “Hopefully, we show our best side, both the players and the fans in the opening game.”

“We know a lot about Croatia,” Hallgrimsson said. “They have been the kind of hurdle that we have needed to step to achieve something. Obviously, we know less about Nigeria, but we know their past history, so it’s another tough opponent.”

The smallest country by population ever to qualify for a World Cup, Iceland will then face African qualifiers Nigeria in Volgograd on 22 June 2018 before concluding their group campaign against a familiar foe in Croatia in Rostov-On-Don four days later. It was in qualifying for Russia 2018 that Iceland edged their Balkan opponents to top spot in European zone Group.

FIFA.com, however reports that Group D looks likely to be one of the most fiercely-contested groups at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™. It pits historic giants Argentina against two blossoming European sides in Croatia and Iceland, plus the ever-unpredictable Nigeria, who are sure to be a tough nut to crack.

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What you need to know
• Iceland and Croatia have met on six occasions in World Cup qualifying in the last eight years. The Croatians have the better of the head-to-head, with four wins from those games, but the Icelanders have the fonder memories of the most recent encounter, which they won 1-0 in June 2017.

• Nigeria and Iceland have only faced one another once before, with the Europeans easing to a 3-0 victory in a friendly in 1981.

• History will be made in two Group D fixtures: Argentina have never taken on Iceland before, while Croatia and Nigeria will also do battle for the first time.

The stat
4 – The number of times that Argentina and Nigeria have met in World Cup group action. La Albiceleste have triumphed in all four matches: 2-1 in 1994, 1-0 in 2002, 1-0 in 2010 and 3-2 in 2014.