Day: June 15, 2018

This could be Lionel Messi’s last involvement in an international competition with Argentina if he fails to lift the trophy. He would come into this competition still heartbroken from the final loss to Germany at the last competition in Brazil alongside the two Copa America final losses to Chile also.

They would kickstart their World Cup campaign against Iceland who are debutants at this stage. While the Argentines are favourites to go win this game, they know they have to be careful about this Iceland team as they showed in the last Euros that they can be a menace.

Argentina’s only warm-up game was against Haiti and it ended in a 4-0 win for them. Lionel Messi scored a hattrick to take his goal for the Argentines to 64 goals in 124 games.

Iceland shocked Europe with their performances at the last Euro which was their first international competition. They qualified for the World Cup ahead of Croatia and they would be looking to continue their fairytale run in this competition.

They drew 2-2 with Ghana in their last warm up game, but their preparations have been far from ideal. They have lost three of their last four games and their defence which has been solid have conceded 11 goals in those matches.

This France squad is one of the most talented in the world at the moment. After falling short at Euro 2016 which they hosted, they are expected to go very far when this World Cup starts for them. Les Blues are blessed in attack with the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann. Their midfield also contains the likes of Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi, while four times Champions League winner Rafael Varane leads their defence.

France have had mixed preparation for this competition. They drew 1-1 with the USA in their last game, however, they had been efficient in previous games against Republic of Ireland and Italy, winning both.

While they have struggled in some games in the past like when they failed to beat Luxembourg at home last year, they are unstoppable when they hit top form. They have won eight of their last 12 games, scoring 25 goals.

The quality of the French attackers should worry Australia who come into this World Cup with no established defender that plays in Europe’s top five leagues. Their lack of quality in defence was made even more glaring when they were beaten 4-1 by Norway back in March.

The Australians have had good pretournament results, they beat Czech Republic 4-0, before beating Hungary also ahead of this game. However, playing France would be a different game entirely and it would be interesting to see how they go about it.

Most of Croatia’s squad know this is their last chance to win the World Cup or any major competition for their nation as several of this generation’s best players are well over 30 years now. Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic, and Ivan Rakitic are among those who are heading towards retirement.

The Europeans crashed out of the group stage of the last World Cup, and were eliminated at the round of 16 at Euro 2016. Their World Cup preparations ended with a 2-1 win over Senegal that follows a poor 2-0 loss to Brazil at Anfield. They have now won four of their last seven games leading up to this match.

Nigeria became the first African team to qualify for the World Cup, however, their preparations for the World Cup have not entirely gone to plan. They lost their last friendly game 1-0 against the Czech Republic, that followed a 2-1 loss to England. They have now avoided defeat in only two of their last six games.

Nigeria’s team is made up Premier League experience with the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho, Victor Moses and Wilfred Ndidi all Premier League regulars.

The Super Eagles have scored in seven of their last ten games, while Croatia have conceded in 10 of their last 15 games.