Iceland and Croatia will go head to head on Tuesday, June 26th at 2pm Eastern time in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. It is the final game of group play, and everything except for first place is up for grabs; Iceland, along with Argentina and Nigeria still have a shot at second place and a ticket to the Round of 16. According to our World Cup Betting, Croatia is the favorite, but as Iceland has proven time and again, it is not a side to be taken lightly. They fought their way out of the group stage and into the quarter finals at the Euro 2016 tournament, and surprised the world again by qualifying for the World Cup ahead of countries like Italy and the Netherlands. They also pulled off one of the bigger surprises at this tournament, tying Argentina in their first World Cup game. During qualifying, Croatia and Iceland played each other twice, splitting the two contests. Croatia won the first match 2-0, and Iceland came back and won the second, 1-0.
Iceland
Iceland has been experiencing an incredible story over 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 then tied their first ever World Cup game against Leo Messi's Argentina. They have tremendous support from their fan base, who have filled the stadiums and plazas in Russia to watch them play. Back home, it was estimated that over 99% of the population watched the team's first World Cup game against Argentina. Even with that kind of karma and support on their side, Iceland is still not a serious contender for the Word Cup, and barring a stupendous performance in this game will not advance past the group stage. Still, they have a number of capable players in the Midfield and should not be taken lightly. Captain Aron Gunnarsson leads a team that plays an exceptionally tight game, and star scorer Gylfi Sigurdsson has been known to score timely goals.
Croatia
It's not totally surprising that Croatia have found themselves locked in to the #1 spot in this group. After all, this is a team with two of the world's greatest midfielders in Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric, as well as second all time leading Croatian goal scorer Mario Manduzic. At some point they were bound to come together and start winning, which is something that has eluded them in past tournaments.
This year, with convincing wins over speedy Nigeria and experienced Argentina, Croatia has sealed the number one spot in Group D and will advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup for only the second time in the nation's history and the first time since 1998. Modric and Rakitic have been front and center in the effort, leading a poised, determined team past some tough competition.
Match Overview
Since these two squads played each other during qualifying, it is easy to say how they match up. Croatia's possession numbers were much higher that Iceland's over the course of those two games, as were their shots. That plays well into the narrative that Iceland is an opportunistic team that may not have the talent of a team like Croatia, but between the unity and drive of these players, they find a way to win. While Croatia is a stronger, more talented squad, historically they have lacked the very component that has made Iceland successful: spirit.
