Sport

FIFA World Cup draw: Group D reaction

 In Group D, Argentina will face Nigeria for the third World Cup tournament in a row, as well as Croatia and tournament debutants Iceland.

La Albiceleste qualified in third from CONMEBOL, with help from all-time top scorer Lionel Messi, who scored a hat-trick against Ecuador to secure qualification.

Messi was one of only two players to score for his country in their final eight qualifiers, the other being an own goal.

Iceland and Croatia make up the European contingents, having also been drawn together in qualifying.

What they said

Jorge Sampaoli told FIFA.com: “The only thing I can tell our fans is that we will make Argentina proud. I also have the best player in history, that’s always a plus.

Zlatko Dalic from the Croatia Football Federation said: “It could have been better. It could have been worse. Group d will be a great challenge but Croatia has to believe.”

Group D
Argentina
Iceland
Croatia
Nigeria

Fixtures (all times UK)
June 16 – Argentina v Iceland – Otkrytiye Arena, Moscow, 14:00
June 16 – Croatia v Nigeria – Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad, 20:00
June 21 – Argentina v Croatia – Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod, 19:00
June 22 – Nigeria v Iceland – Volgograd Arena, Volgograd, 16:00
June 26 – Nigeria v Argentina – Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, 19:00
June 26 – Iceland v Croatia – Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don, 19:00
Prediction
1. Argentina
2. Croatia
3. Iceland
4. Nigeria
Group C factfile
  • Argentina face Nigeria in the group stage for the third tournament in a row, having beaten them 4-0 in 2010 and 3-2 in 2014
  • Iceland will face two-time champions Argentina in their first ever World Cup fixture in Moscow on June 16
  • Croatia and Nigeria will meet for the very first time in their opening game of the group.
  • Argentina lifted the trophy in 1978 and 1986, and have also lost three finals – 1930, 1990 and 2014.
  • Croatia’s best performance at a World Cup came on their debut in 1998, beating the Netherlands 2-1 in Paris to finish third.
  • If Lionel messi gave every person in Iceland 1 euro a week, he’d still have £150,000 left over every seven days

Related Articles