This group is a lot more competitve than it might seem, all the teams have peak performances where they can match Argentina, especially due to Argentina are very suspect and can't seem to get going lately. Argentina are for sure the favorites though and rightfully so, Aguero comes into the tournament on the back of knee surgery at the end of the season which gave him a break and got him 100% match fit for the World Cup. Having him firing is key for likes of Messi to have someone to help take the burden off of him. Iceland are first up for the Argentinans and boy what a game they could get, if they somehow relive the amazing performances from Euro 2016 in France, Argentina will be in for a hell of a game. The tiny nation packs a huge punch and im sure their will be huge crowds for their games and a great atmosphere. I personally think they will not be good enough for this group and could even finish bottom. Nigeria on the other hand are a questionable side but again have a peak performance in them that can challenge even Argentina. They have some skillful, speedy players in Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi and Ahmed Musa which could hurt any team on the counter. It all does depend if they get service though and with Jon Obi Mikel as their only real creative spark they could come up short vs even Iceland. The European paradox that is Croatia are also a team which at their peaks have the likes of Ivan Rakitić, Mateo,Kovačić and Luka Modrić feeding the forward lines of Croatia make them dangerous vs anyone. However they just don't seem to do it often enough and their previous coach made them play awful, dour, defensive football. They are also known to fallout with the coach/eachother a lot and hopefully they done self implode here as if it all goes right they should take second place. Very interesting group though, for sure, for me the group to watch.
Goalkeepers Nahuel Guzmán - Franco Armani - Willy Caballero Defenders Gabriel Mercado - Nicolás Tagliafico - Cristian Ansaldi - Federico Fazio - Marcos Acuña - Javier Mascherano - Marcos Rojo - Nicolás Otamendi - Eduardo Salvio Midfielders Lucas Biglia - Éver Banega - Ángel Di María - Maximiliano Meza - Enzo Pérez - Giovani Lo Celso - Cristian Pavón Forwards Gonzalo Higuaín - Lionel Messi (captain) - Sergio Agüero - Paulo Dybala
Goalkeepers Hannes Þór Halldórsson - Frederik Schram - Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson Defenders Birkir Már Sævarsson - Sverrir Ingi Ingason - Ragnar Sigurðsson - Kári Árnason - Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson - Hörður Björgvin Magnússon - Ari Freyr Skúlason Midfielders Samúel Friðjónsson - Albert Guðmundsson - - Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson - Birkir Bjarnason - Gylfi Sigurðsson - Ólafur Ingi Skúlason - Aron Gunnarsson (captain) - Rúrik Gíslason - Emil Hallfreðsson - Arnór Ingvi Traustason Forwards Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson - Alfreð Finnbogason - Jón Daði Böðvarsson
Goalkeepers Dominik Livaković - Lovre Kalinić - Danijel Subašić Defenders Šime Vrsaljko - Ivan Strinić - Vedran Ćorluka - Dejan Lovren - Tin Jedvaj - Duje Ćaleta-Car - Domagoj Vida - Josip Pivarić Midfielders Ivan Rakitić - Mateo Kovačić - Luka Modrić (captain) - Marcelo Brozović - Filip Bradarić - Milan Badelj Forwards Ivan Perišić - Andrej Kramarić - Nikola Kalinić - Mario Mandžukić - Ante Rebić - Marko Pjaca
Goalkeepers Ikechukwu Ezenwa - Daniel Akpeyi - Francis Uzoho Defenders Brian Idowu - Elderson Echiéjilé - William Troost-Ekong - Leon Balogun - Shehu Abdullahi - Chidozie Awaziem - Tyronne Ebuehi - Kenneth Omeruo Midfielders Wilfred Ndidi - Oghenekaro Etebo - John Obi Mikel (captain) - Joel Obi - Ogenyi Onazi - John Ogu Forwards Ahmed Musa - Odion Ighalo - Victor Moses - Simeon Nwankwo - Kelechi Iheanacho - Alex Iwobi
Fixtures and Results
Saturday, Jun 16 1:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
Saturday, Jun 16 7:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
Thursday, Jun 21 6:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
Friday, Jun 22 3:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
Tuesday, Jun 26 6:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
Tuesday, Jun 26 6:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00)
CSS: FO-nTTaX Graphics: Sneirac Awesomeness: Panda
On June 16 2018 21:57 Faruko wrote: If you take out Messi, Aguero and Di Maria, MAYBE OTAMENDI (which I'm not too fond of) all the other Argentinian players are really lack luster.
Yeah I dont really understand how a team like argentina seems to have so little depth in the squad. Of course, it is inevitable that by the end of the tournament, some of the others will have made a name for themselves, but still.
On June 16 2018 21:57 Faruko wrote: If you take out Messi, Aguero and Di Maria, MAYBE OTAMENDI (which I'm not too fond of) all the other Argentinian players are really lack luster.
They got Celso, Dybala and Higuain on the bench, who should be starters in first place but whatever.
It is travesty that both Masch and Biglia are playing instead Celso lol.