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Match Preview: Argentina vs Iceland, Group D, June 16

Argentina will be heading into its World Cup opener with more pressure than probably any other team in the field when they take on Iceland at 9am Eastern on Saturday June 16 in Spartak Stadium in Moscow. La Selección is coming off a disappointing qualifying campaign, and to make matters interesting, they will be playing against Iceland, who were the upset darlings of the 2016 Euro Cup. During that tournament, Iceland drew with Portugal (the eventual champs) and made it out of the group stage to beat England 2-1 in the round of 16 before losing to France in the quarter-finals. Bet on Argentina vs Iceland by registering today.

Argentina

Argentina comes into this tournament as runners up at the World Cup in 2014, and have since finished as runners up in two consecutive Copa America Tournaments. They have been through four different managers in that time, with Jorge Sampaoli having taken over in May of last year. Since then the team has gone 5-3-2, but hit some rough patches during qualifying, drawing must-win games versus Peru and Venezuela. They needed an outright win in their final qualifying game against Ecuador for a World Cup berth, and in that game the Ecuadorians took a 1-0 lead in the opening minute. As the soccer world stood horrified at the idea of a World Cup without Leo Messi, La Pulga delivered - scoring a hat trick in Argentina's 3-1 victory. Things have not been rosy since then, however. In a March 27th friendly match against Spain, Argentina was forced to play without Messi due to an injury, and the Spanish side dissected the Argentines 6-1. Recently an injury sidelined starting goaltender Sergio Romero. To add to the drama, Messi has expressed his frustrations on several occasions and most recently has said that he will retire from international soccer if things do not go well in Russia 2018. For a generational talent from a soccer-mad country, this is an extremely bold statement and it only adds to the immense pressure that Argentines put on this team.

Iceland

Iceland meanwhile is living a fairly tale of a run in the last 3 years. Having never made an appearance in any major soccer tournament before 2016, they reached the quarterfinals of the Euro Cup and secured a berth for the World Cup this year, becoming the smallest nation in history to do so. They have tremendous support from their fan base, who traveled in droves to watch them play in France at the Euro Cup. An estimated 8.6 percent of the population of Iceland reportedly traveled to France in 2016 to cheer on their team. While they may not be a serious contender for the Word Cup, and probably will not even advance past the group stage, they still have a number of capable players in the Midfield and should not be taken lightly.

Match Overview

This will probably be an easy win for Argentina, who will no doubt come with all its guns blazing. The personnel on the Albiceleste is among the best of any team at the World Cup, and success for them should be just a matter of them getting their act together. They are heavy odds-on favorites to win, check the odds at our sportsbook. Messi's supporting cast is spectacular in their own right, especially from the midfield up. Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala and Angel Di Maria are all established superstars on their club teams, and despite their inability to win a championship game, they are ripe with experience. The only setback is the Romero injury, which leaves open an outside chance for an Icelandic miracle to occur. With nothing to lose in this game, Aron Gunnarsson, Johann Gudmundsson and Gylfi Sigurdsson will be eager to pull off another upset.

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Group Phase