Iceland is certainly well poised as the ultimate underdog at World Cup 2018. Not only is this their first World Cup ever, but they are also the smallest nation to qualify. With their astonishing 1-1 draw against powerhouse Argentina in the Group D opener, the squad made soccer fans world wide take note, but then brought home a disappointing loss against Nigeria (2-0). With group leader Croatia being a sure thing for the next round, do the Icelanders have a chance at the #2 spot, beating out both Nigeria and Argentina? Let’s take a look!
Ajith Kumar.flickr
Croatia 6 pts (2-0 v Nigeria, 3-0 v Argentina)
Nigeria 3 pts (2-0 vs Iceland)
Argentina 1 pt (1-1 v Iceland)
Iceland 1 pt
Iceland has to beat Croatia tomorrow, or they will definitely be going home. If they can manage this, they may be able to slip into the next round past Nigeria or Argentina via goal differential. For this to happen a few other scenarios will have to play out. In the first, Argentina defeats the Nigerians by only a goal or two. In the case of a 1-0 win over Croatia and an Argentine win 1-0, Iceland will be through. Though of course a high scoring win by Argentina could give the South Americans the goal-difference edge. A second, though more unlikely scenario would entail a Nigerian draw tomorrow, though it would need to be low scoring. For a 0-0 draw, Iceland would need to outscore Croatia by 2; for a 1-1 Nigerian tie, they would need to win by 3…
Nigerian Ahmed Musa, Ткачук Павел. Wikimedia Commons
However if either Nigeria or Croatia win tomorrow, it’s the end of the line for Iceland. This is certainly possible, as both teams are quite solid. To keep their country’s World Cup dreams alive, Messi and the Argentines have to beat Nigeria tomorrow. If they do, they could advance even in the face of an Icelandic win if they can score enough goals. But the Nigerian Super Eagles are going to be coming strong off their last win via Ahmed Musa’s well placed strikes on goal.
You can check out both Group D final games tomorrow, 6-26-2018!
It was a good debut for Iceland in the World Cups, and also had a magnificent participation in the Euros. If they continue to increase their level someday they will be able to stop placing amateur players to the World Cup and try to get better results.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit