Preview: Struggling to make their mark, Iceland will aim for nothing less than a win when they take on already-qualified Croatia in their last Group D clash at the Rostov Arena on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_4604421” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Argentina players celebrate Marcos Rojo’s goal. AP/Dmitri Lovetsky[/caption] Croatia are already through to the Round of 16 with victories over Argentina and Nigeria while Iceland played a draw with Argentina before losing to Nigeria.
Australia vs Peru and Denmark vs France will start at 7.30 pm while Nigeria vs Argentina and Iceland vs Croatia will start at 11.30 pm on Tuesday
Iceland’s fate does not only lie in their own hands as a win on Tuesday may not be enough for them but will also hope that Nigeria lose to Argentina. On the other hand, Lionel Messi’s Argentina, languishing at the bottom of their group, will know that anything less than a win against Nigeria will knock them out of the FIFA World Cup. A win against Argentina will guarantee Nigeria a place in the second round. A draw may also be enough even if Iceland beat already-qualified Croatia, depending on goal difference. For Argentina, they must beat Nigeria and also hope Iceland do not win against Croatia, as that could send them home again depending on goal difference. With inputs from Agencies Click here for full coverage of FIFA World Cup 2018
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Highlights, Argentina vs Nigeria, FIFA World Cup 2018, Match 39 at St Petersburg: Argentina qualify for last-16
Catch all the latest updates from the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group D matches between Nigeria vs Argentina and Iceland vs Croatia.
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And that brings us to the end of Day 14 at the FIFA World Cup 2018. Argentina and Croatia are through to the last-16 of the tournament.
Hope you enjoyed our coverage. Thanks for tuning in, we’ll see you tomorrow. Bye!
After the final whistle…
Sampaoli didn’t shake hands with Rohr (as far as I saw). That’s in bad taste. This was again not a high-quality game, but it delivered on drama in the plenitude of the word. Argentina remain a poor team, but they offer emotion and Messi gets to play another World Cup match, on Saturday against France. Every Argentine is on his feet in the stadium. They can begin planning for the journey to Kazan and Tartarstan this weekend.
FULL-TIME!
Iceland 1-2 Croatia
FULL-TIME!
Nigeria 1-2 Argentina
Utter mayhem. Total pandemonium. No, this is not the end of the world, but Argentina have progressed to the round of sixteen of the World Cup, against, in the end, all odds. Mascherano’s face was covered in blood for most of the second half. Messi was booked for time-wasting, but Argentina got them in the end.
91’ Iceland 1-2 Croatia
Perisic charged down the left flank and unleashed a shot off his left foot which Halldorsson only managed to push further into his own net
IVAN PERISIC SCORES A STUNNER!
Iceland 1-2 Croatia
From Russia…
GOOOOL! Earthquake in St Petersburg. Argentina looked clueless, but Rojo, Argentina’s very own Toni Kroos, nets. Poor defending by Nigeria.
86’ Iceland 1-1 Croatia
Iceland do have goalscoring opportunities coming their way, especially in set-piece situations but they lack the teeth to cause any real damage
MARCOS ROJO RESTORES THE LEAD!
Nigeria 1-2 Argentina
83’ Iceland 1-1 Croatia
Iceland are still trying to get that elusive winner, but going forward, they are not simply good enough. Strong willpower is no substitute for world-class footballing abilities, somewhere Croatia clearly excel at.
82’ Nigeria 1-1 Argentina
It’s box to box, a frantic and maddening pace. Very chaotic, but football at times is organised chaos if that makes sense? Nigeria are sitting back and inviting pressure. A very dangerous strategy.
78’ Nigeria 1-1 Argentina
Extraordinary scenes in St Petersburg. Confusion and chaos. The Turkish referee Cakir runs to the side of the pitch for an on-field review. He stuck to his decision: no penalty. Questionable and Nigeria are livid. And oh yes, where is Sergio Aguero? Oh, there he is! Baffling that Sampaoli didn’t bring him earlier.
TIME FOR VAR?
Marcos Rojo heads down the ball but it hits his hand on the way. The referee checks it on the small screen. What is it then? Nigerian players crowd near the referee. And the referee sticks to his decision. NO PENALTY!
72’ Nigeria 1-1 Argentina
Instead, it’s Nigeria who pose a threat, and in neat style. Musa nutmegs his opponent, plays it inside and Odion Ighalo lets it go through his legs, but Ndidi blasts over the top. Good, good attack.
Gylfi Sigurdsson equalises for Iceland!
Iceland 1-1 Croatia
And Iceland equalize. Sigurddson calmly buries it with a classic technique right into the roof of the net.
71’ Nigeria 1-1 Argentina
Shall I be blunt, though sticking to the facts? Since Nigeria’s goal Argentina haven’t created a single chance. They are imprecise in the final third, but also lack creativity. It’s as if the whole team is saying: “Lionel, over to you.”
69’ Iceland 0-1 Croatia
Croatia do not seem too concerned about the fact that Iceland have had 14 shots, 8 of them on target. Perhaps they are confident that Iceland will continue to be wasteful in front of the goal. Either way, the Vikings are not giving up and continue to pile on the shots even when Croatia are playing out of the back with sheer aplomb.
What a waste! Iceland let their biggest chance of the game pass by as <span class=“scayt-misspell-word” data-scayt-word=“Finnbogason” data-wsc-lang=“en_US” style=“background-image:url(” data:image="" gif;="" background-position:center="" bottom;="" background-repeat:repeat-x;="" display:inline;="" padding-bottom:0px"="">Finnbogason picks up <span class=“scayt-misspell-word” data-scayt-word=“Bjarnason” data-wsc-lang=“en_US” style=“background-image:url(” data:image="" gif;="" background-position:center="" bottom;="" background-repeat:repeat-x;="" display:inline;="" padding-bottom:0px"="">Bjarnason with a gem of a cross only for the latter to place his shot wide.
65’ Nigeria 1-1 Argentina
Mascherano is struggling greatly. He was one of the outstanding players at the last World Cup, but in Russia, he has been atrocious. Is he simply too old? The men in blue and white, meanwhile, are trying desperately to regain control again, but with 25 minutes left they need a spark. Leo?
59’ Iceland 0-1 Croatia
Now Iceland almost equalise as Ingason’s header was barely tipped over the bar. The Croats are holding firm and Iceland need to come up with an answer soon or else this magical adventure of the Vikings would soon be over.
59’ Nigeria 1-1 Argentina
Argentina fans merit much admiration. The roof is about to collapse here. They are urging their team on as never before. Argentina tough might want to involve Messi a bit more again. He has been peripheral so far in the second half.
Pavon on and Argentina seemingly switch to a 4-3-3 formation.
57’ Iceland 0-1 Croatia
Croatia got lucky as the goal really came against the turn of play. Iceland were putting sustained pressure on the Croats defence but Modric and co. caught a lucky break as the ball bounced around the Iceland half before falling upon Badelj who finished beautifully.
57’ Nigeria 1-1 Argentina
Argentina have themselves to blame. The penalty followed from a corner three Argentina players contrived to concede in the first place. Mascherano clearly did not watch England – Panama last Sunday, when all the wrestling was eventually punished. Sampaoli’s team have combined the decent with the silly in this game. Tagliafico, Banega and Di Maria on the left have been excellent. They will need to step it up once more.
Iceland 0-1 Croatia
One blow after another for Iceland. Nigeria converting their penalty in the other game had already titled the odds against the Vikings. Now Croatia score with a beautiful volley from Milan Badelj.
BADLEJ GIVES CROATIA THE LEAD!
Iceland 0-1 Croatia
52’ Nigeria 1-1 Argentina
The penalty World Cup rolls on. There have been worse incidents that have gone unpunished, but Mascherano was holding inside the box and it was not a very clever thing to do. Moses took it and scored. He waited for Armani to move to his right and then rolled it past him. Nerves of steel Moses has!
VICTOR MOSES SCORES FROM THE SPOT!
Nigeria 1-1 Argentina
50’ Nigeria 0-1 Argentina
Nigeria huddled. They made a substitution, with their number 14 making way for Ighalo. A draw is enough for them. Can they muster a fight?
Disaster strikes for Argentina. Turkish referee Cakir points to the spot. Mascherano is culpable.
Half-time stats!
The drought ends
Messi magic
Let us not complain. Messi delivered a moment of magic, a moment of unfettered genius. At the moment, his superlative goal suffices to see Argentina progress to the round of sixteen. Sampaoli’s team – in as far as it is still his team – controlled the first half, with Banega orchestrating the midfield and link-up play. One does expect something more from Nigeria after the break.
HALF-TIME!
Nigeria 0-1 Argentina (Messi 14')
Iceland 0-0 Croatia
45’ Nigeria 0-1 Argentina
VAR? The technology is haunted. Inside his own box, Rojo karate kicks the ball away and then he catches, be it inadvertently, Iheanacho’s head with his leg. Was that reviewed by Orsato, the VAR in Moscow? Was it not? It’s going way above our heads, but that could have been a penalty for Nigeria.
44’ Iceland 0-0 Croatia
Iceland have taken control of the game as the Croats are becoming increasingly sloppy in possession. Luka Modric has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bland Croatian performance.