Saturday's 2:00pm game between Croatia and Nigeria Kaliningrad Stadium in Kaliningrad, Russia, may end up being the most important game in Group D. Both Croatia and Nigeria are candidates to move on in the group, with the odds favoring Croatia by a slight margin. Since this is the first game of the group, it will set the pace for who has the better advantage going forward. Whoever wins this game will have a good shot at moving on to the round of 16, and the loser will have an uphill battle with a game vs Argentina, the overall favorite in the group, to move on. Choose your side and bet on Croatia vs Nigeria with the best World Cup odds right here at Skybook.
Croatia
While Croatia is the favorite to win, it is certainly not set in stone. While they have a strong midfield that features giants Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric, teamed with second-all time leading goal scorer Mario Manduzic at forward, they also have a history of disappointments against inferior teams in major tournaments. Recently in World Cup qualifying, they lost back to back games against Iceland and Turkey, and drew Finland, who was one of the worst teams in UEFA qualifying. Those setbacks caused a turnover in management, and the team has since been on an upswing with Zlatko Dalic as their manager. They won against Ukraine following his appointment as manager, and then went on to win their two-leg playoff against Greece to lock up their qualification, winning the first leg 4-1 and drawing the second, 0-0. They have had two friendly matches since, losing 1-0 to Peru and beating Mexico 1-0. With two more games against Brazil and Senegal on the Horizon, they will look to hone their game before getting into the thick of things at the World Cup.
Nigeria
Nigeria meanwhile are an up and coming group who possess some young talents that are eager to display their abilities on the world stage. Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, and Kelechi Iheanacho all play in the Premier League and all are under 23 years old. Add Chelsea's Victor Moses to the mix and you have yourself a dangerous offence. In qualifying, the Nigerians overcame what was considered the CAF's 'group of death' with Zambia, Cameroon, and Algeria. They went 4-1-1 to nab the top spot, automatically qualifying them for Russia 2018. This will be Nigeria's sixth appearance in the last seven World Cups. They made it to the round of 16 in 2014, which was their best showing ever. Nigeria also made it to the round of 16 in the 94 and 98 World Cup tournaments, but have never advanced past that stage.
Match Overview
Croatia's ability to contain Nigeria's attack will be the deciding factor in this game. Should the Croatians manage the midfield and limit Nigeria from entering the attacking area, it is easy to see them waiting out a 1-0 victory. On the other hand, if Nigeria catches Croatia off guard in the early going and pots a goal or two before the half, it could spell disaster for the Croatians. Odds still favor the Croatians overall, and rightly so as they have a proven group of Soccer heavyweights on their field.
