Here we have it — the group of death at the World Cup 2018. What an exciting draw! This group has a lot of interesting stats, and we are more than eager to see the results. Did you know that Argentina and Nigeria are going to meet each other for the fifth (!) time in the group stage? Or that Iceland, the squad that stole so many hearts at the European Championship in 2016, is the first-timer of the tournament? We at Ticombo cannot wait for the action that Group D is going to bring — grab your bee… snacks and get ready!
Argentina
Team that has football rockstar Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) among its ranks equals with a team that has to be respected and taken into a serious consideration at every major tournament. Argentinian squad is definitely on the radar for football observers. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the road to Russia 2018 was quite a rough one for World Cup 2014 finalists, and they were on the verge of not qualifying. The beginning of their World Cup journey was not convincing, eventually finishing third in the South American section of the qualification with a huge help from Messi — his hat-trick against Ecuador, to be more precise. There are many worries regarding the Argentinian squad — Jorge Sampaoli is country’s third coach in less than a year, and people are far from being impressed. Some say it's Argentina who are “the biggest question mark of this World Cup”. Argentina is going to play against Croatia, second strongest team of the group on paper, on June 21. It's the first time for both teams since 1998 when Argentina took victory home. Everybody is excited about Messi breaking a lance with his Barcelona team-mate Ivan Rakitic. This is a match that could decide many things in this hellish group. We just hope that Argentina is going to do better than their terrifying 1–6 loss in an international friendly match with Spain, otherwise worries might rise to extreme levels as June 2018 approaches. There is a lot on Messi's shoulders — do you think he can cope with his status and pressure?
Croatia
Croatia consist of a string of very talented and powerful players, just dropping some names here — Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Rakitic and Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan). Many hopes are placed on Modric, and the country is looking at him to lead the way and welcome success that was once brought by Croatian squad in 1998, during the era of Davon Šuker himself. It might be the last opportunity for a player like Modric to compete for the most important trophy in the world of football. That being said, it might be the last opportunity for Messi as well. At the end of March, Croatia played a couple of friendly matches, disappointing their fans big time by losing to Peru but then bringing some good vibes back, taking home a win against Mexico. Fans were not the only people disappointed, so was the coach Zlatko Dalic. So far “reports” regarding the chances of Croatia getting out of the group stage are quite different— most of them are in favour of the squad making it to the last 16 but some are expecting to see Argentina and Nigeria as the winners of the group. By the way, Iceland might be a new player to welcome to World Cup finals but Croatia know them well — teams have met six times in World Cup qualifying in the last eight years. The Croatians have won their derby 4 times.
Nigeria
Nigeria was the first team from Africa to qualify for the World Cup, and it happened with an unbelievable ease. On their way to Russia they won in a group that had such teams as current African champion Cameroon, former champion Zambia, and Algeria. Super Eagles are a team that can fly high when they play their best. Tournament in Russia is going to be their sixth World Cup so far; Nigeria have qualified for five of the last six World Cups since their debut at USA 1994. They are the lowest ranking team of the group though, but there are some predictions that are favourable towards them and they've always been one of the African teams with the highest expectations. No matter the predictions, Nigeria have been destined to surprise. In 1994, their first World Cup, Super Eagles almost made it past Italy, but Roberto Baggio managed to save his team to a final score 2–1. Back in 1998 — in Group D — Nigeria defeated Spain to a huge astonishment. Not everyone has high hopes for Nigeria this time around though. Former Nigerian star Finidi George has pointed out that he has his doubts about his former squad making in it to the next level in Russia. Three-time African champions have some international stars to fill its ranks — Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Victor Moses, as well as captain John Obi Mikel leading the way.
Iceland
It is official, Iceland is the smallest country by population ever to qualify for the World Cup. And it is no exaggeration to call this squad “giant-killers”. Their performance at Euro 2016, including victory over England, proved this statement. Iceland managed to raise their game to completely new levels, as well as earned a lot of admiration from basically everyone in the world. In Group D, they are paired with Croatia once more, having played against the squad of Dalic in the World Cup qualifiers. Croatia secured themselves with one win, but Iceland showed their force as well with a 1–0 victory last summer. Their first match of the tournament is going to be quite a test — Iceland is playing against Argentina and their star Messi in the grand opening of their World Cup adventure. Proving that they are not a “one hit wonder” Iceland qualified for the World Cup ahead of Croatia, and Ukraine and also Turkey. Rather impressive, don't you think? There are many questions on how Iceland did it but we just happen to believe that they've got the right team and even a bigger spirit. We are definitely looking forward to seeing Iceland, sweethearts of many, and their fans in action again. Iceland might be newcomers to the World Cup, but we at Ticombo are more than sure that nobody is going to take them lightly anymore.
There's a first for everyone in this group — Argentina have never tested their power against Iceland before, while Croatia and Nigeria will also lock horns for the first time. Any of the teams in Group D are more than good to advance further. This is going to be crazy entertaining group.
World Cup will forever stay our favourite event, and we are more than happy to bring you the experience of the games live — come to Ticombo, take a look at our website and browse through the matches you don’t want to miss. Russia is calling! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to be in the know.
