Today we bring a very interesting match `for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, this is the confrontation between Nigeria and Iceland, which will be played at the Volgograd stadium on Friday, June 22. Iceland is second in the group tied at 1 point with Argentina, while Nigeria is last of the Group and has not yet scored.
Nigeria is one of
the most powerful soccer teams of the African confederation. They were
runners-up in the African Championship of Nations of 2018 and in fact they won
their pass for this Football World Cup
with very good numbers. They were first of Group B, where they won 4 of their 6
matches played and tied the remaining two. In this period they scored 12 goals
and received 4. Only Ghana and Egypt beat Nigeria last year in terms of general
statistics. This is the third consecutive participation of the Super Eagles in
a Soccer World Cup and the sixth in
its history. In Brazil 2014 they reached the second round, a phase of the
tournament that they have also achieved in 3 of their 5 previous
participations.
The Nigerian team is conceived as a very offensive team,
always looking for the verticality and power of their attackers, men like
Obafemi Martins or Leicester striker Ahmed Musa. Although without doubt the
most decisive player of this team is Chelsea midfielder Victor Moses, a player
with technical quality who also has a goal. In its opening in the World Cup Nigeria enjoyed its opportunities
against Croatia, but was overtaken by the best technical approach of the
Europeans, who ended up winning 2-0. Now the Nigerians are forced to win, since
their rival for the last day of the group stage is Argentina and not scoring
against Iceland would be practically eliminated.
It would not be unreasonable to say that Icelanders are
especially comfortable with their status as non-favorites, but by now anyone
who understands football has to
recognize that they are not a team that is easy to beat. They gave the great
surprise 2 years ago, when in their first participation in a Euro they were
planted in the quarterfinals. Well, now they are playing their first FIFA World Cup and in their first game
they have already been able to tie Argentina 1. It is true that Argentina was
very superior, but the Icelanders have already scored 1 point against the most
difficult opponent of the group and it would not be unreasonable to think that
they can finish advancing to the knockout phase of the tournament. The Vikings
have a team full almost entirely of strangers outside their country, with the
possible exception of Gylfi Sigurdsson, an attacking midfielder who plays in
English Everton. The author of the goal in the first match was Alfreð Finnbogason.
