World Cup 2018: Group D Preview

As the domestic season comes to a close attention is quickly turning to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

In order to get you ready for the month-long festival of football Marking The Spot will provide you with in-depth previews of each group highlighting the players to watch in Russia this summer.

Lets take a look at Group D – the group of death.

ARGENTINA

Argentina are one of the great football powers, twice champions of the world and runners-up on three occasions. The country has produced some of the game’s finest players including current superstar Lionel Messi.

The roll of honour for the Albiceleste also includes 14 victories in the Copa América, Olympic gold medals on two occasions plus a further triumph at the 1992 Confederations Cup.

Argentina’s football history is not only a proud one but a long one. The British brought football to the country in the 1860s and the Argentine Football Association was founded in 1893 by an English schoolteacher, Alexander Hutton. A league was set up the same year, and in 1901 the national side met Uruguay in the first international match to be staged outside Great Britain.

Professionalism was adopted in the early 1930s, when the Buenos Aires giants River Plate and Boca Juniors emerged as dominant forces of the domestic club game.

Argentina were runners-up to Uruguay in the 1928 Olympics, then lost 4-2 to their neighbours in the 1930 World Cup final (the first ever). Great players headed by the likes of Alfredo di Stéfano and Omar Sívori were attracted to clubs in Spain and Italy in the ensuring decades.

Argentina returned to the World Cup finals in 1958, 1962 and 1966 while the country’s club teams recorded a series of success in their own South American international competitions. World Cup success eluded Argentina until 1978, when as hosts, they defeated the Netherlands 3-1 in the final in Buenos Aires. Striker Mario Kempes was the top scorer with six goals, including two in the final. They enjoyed World Cup glory again eight years later, when captain Diego Maradona inspired them to victory in Mexico in 1986.

The Albiceleste were runners-up in 1990 and then again in Brazil four years ago when Lionel Messi won the Golden Ball as player of the tournament. They were also runners-up to Chile in both the Copa América in 2015 and the Copa América Centenario in the United States in 2016.

In the qualifying campaign, Messi and his team-mates enjoyed a winning start by defeating Uruguay 1-0, but then drew with Venezuela and Peru before losing to Paraguay and Brazil. A new manager, Jorge Sampaoli was appointed last June. He got off to a flying start in two friendlies, Argentina scoring a 1-0 success against Brazil and then a 6-0 victory over Singapore. But the last stages of the World Cup qualifying campaign proved much more awkward.

Argentina were held to draws by Uruguay, Venezuela and Peru and thus reached the last round of matches sitting outside the four guaranteed qualifying places. Their prospects of a place in the finals in Russia hung in the balance.

The concluding match, which they had to win, was away to Ecuador, who took the lead in the first minute. Argentina recovered, however, to win 3-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Messi in what many hailed as one of the greatest individual performances in international football history. He finished as Argentina’s leading scorer, with seven goals, in the qualifying campaign.

Argentina have been dealt a blow in the run up to the finals losing experienced goalkeeper Sergio Romero through knee injury. They can however call upon the experience of central defenders, Javier Mascherano and Nicolás Otamendi, midfielders Lucas Biglia and Éver Banega plus forwards Ángel di María and Gonzalo Higuain. Juventus superstar Paulo Dybala has also been included in Sampaoli’s squad for Russia.

The Albiceleste have a strong core of players but the frequent managerial changes have forced the players to adapt to three different systems. Without Lionel Messi the side seemed rudderless but the Barcelona hotshot managed his minutes as the domestic season came to a close and appears to be in top shape for the finals. This group is incredibly close but if Sampaoli can get his team playing his attacking style of football they should be able to navigate out of it safely. With Messi in the side the sky is the limit for Argentina but if they are to go one better than 2014 his team-mates will have to support the mercurial genius.

The Coach -Jorge Sampaoli

Jorge Sampaoli, 58, turned Argentina’s fortunes around after a stuttering start to their qualifying campaign. He was appointed to succeed Edgardo Bauza last June after one season in charge of Spanish club Sevilla. He already has World Cup experience, having led Chile to the last 16 in 2014 losing out on a penalty shoot-out to hosts Brazil. The following year he led Chile to their first-ever Copa América success – defeating Argentina in the final. Sampaoli’s club career has included not only spells in Chile and Spain but also in Argentina, Ecuador and Peru. His intense, high press, attacking game was a great success with Chile and Sevilla, but does he have the players to make it work with his home nation? We’ll find out in Russia.

Record at previous tournaments:

• 1930 Runners-up
• 1934 1st round
• 1938 Did not enter
• 1950 Did not enter
• 1954 Did not enter
• 1958 1st round
• 1962 1st round
• 1966 Quarter-finals
• 1970 Did not qualify
• 1974 2nd round
• 1978 Champions 
• 1982 2nd round
• 1986 Champions
• 1990 Runners-up
• 1994 Last 16
• 1998 Quarter-finals
• 2002 Group stages
• 2006 Quarter-finals
• 2010 Quarter-finals
• 2014 Runners-up 

ICELAND

Iceland are approaching the World Cup finals for the first time, but no one will dare underestimate them after their headline-grabbing progress to the quarter-finals of EURO 2016.

Their fans’ “Viking war chant” caught the imagination of supporters around the world. Any suspicions that Iceland’s performance in France was a brief encounter were quashed by their World Cup qualifying success, some 124 years since football “arrived” in the country.

James Ferguson, a Scottish printer and bookseller. was the pioneer whose enthusiasm led to the creation of an Athletic Union championship in 1912. The first winners were KR Reykjavik, who have the most league titles to their name with 26. In 1964 KR also became the first Icelandic club to test the competitive waters in Europe.

By that time, a national team had long been in existence. Iceland made their international debut on 17 July 1946, with a 3-0 home defeat by Denmark, from whom Iceland had secured independence only two years earlier. Iceland’s first victory came in 1947 with a 2-0 win over Finland in Reykjavik.

Their first World Cup qualifying attempt was for the 1958 tournament with a team including their original star forward in Albert Gudmundsson, who later played for Arsenal, AC Milan and AS Nancy-Lorraine.

Other Icelandic footballers to have made their mark abroad have included defender and later national coach Atli Edvaldsson at Celtic, striker Pétur Pétursson at Feyenoord, and midfield general Ásgeir Sigurvinsson in Belgium with Standard Liege and then in Germany with Stuttgart. Eidur Gudjohnsen, the country’s top scorer with a record 26 goals, further underlined Iceland’s potential, bu finding success at Chelsea and FC Barcelona.

Such was the progress within the domestic game that Iceland had been managed by home-grown coaches for two decades until Sweden’s Lars Lagerback joined Heimir Hallgrímsson for the EURO 2016 campaign. Hallgrímsson then took up sole charge for the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey provided opposition with finals pedigree, but Iceland were buoyed by their achievements in France as well as memories of the 2014 World Cup campaign, when they were denied a place in the finals in Brazil only after a play-off against Croatia.

Iceland opened by gaining a 1-1 draw in Ukraine. Aldred Finnbogasson, leading marksman in the Dutch league in 2013-14, struck, the opening goal after six minutes. He was on target in the subsequent 3-2 home win over Finland when Iceland in front of their own fans, turned the match on its head with two goals in second-half stoppage time.

Finnbogasson struck for the third successive time in a 2-0 home win over Turkey before Iceland suffered their first defeat, 2-0 in Croatia. They lost only one more game, 1-0 in Finland last September. Hence Hallgrímsson’s men went into their concluding tie, at home to Kosovo, knowing that victory would ensure historic qualification.

Gylfi Sigurdsson and Johann Gudmundsson struck either side of half-time to seal Iceland’s place in Russia and make history as the smallest nation (population 335,000) to do so. Hallgrímsson was almost lost for words, saying: “This is really odd, I don’t know what to say. I mean: Pelé, Maradona…. and Aron Einar Gunnarsson.”

Iceland have shown how strong they are, nobody will forget their performance that dumped England out of EURO 2016. They will not be seen as pushovers in Russia and you certainly can’t rule them out making it to the last 16. The only thing that could hamper their progress is the presence of Croatia who are familiar with this side thanks to the qualifying campaign. Iceland will no doubt play with courage and pride but anything beyond the last 16 is incredibly hard to envisage – but then again that was said before EURO 2016.

The Coach – Heimir Hallgrímsson

Heimir Hallgrímsson, 50, built on the work accomplished with predecessor Lars Lagerback during EURO 2016. He took over as sole national team coach before the World Cup qualifying campaign. Halgrímsson spent most of his playing career with IBV Vestmannaeyjar before turning to coaching. He had separate spells managing the IBV men and women’s teams before joining the Icelandic FA coaching staff as assistant to Lagerback in 2011. Before EURO 2016, the two were appointed as join managers. Hallgrímsson is a qualified dentist who still runs a clinic in is native Westmann Islands.

Record at previous tournaments:

• 1930 Did not enter
• 1934 Did not enter
• 1938 Did not enter
• 1950 Did not enter
• 1954 Entry application rejected
• 1958 Did not qualify
• 1962 Did not enter 
• 1966 Did not enter
• 1970 Did not enter
• 1974 Did not qualify
• 1978 Did not qualify
• 1982 Did not qualify
• 1986 Did not qualify
• 1990 Did not qualify
• 1994 Did not qualify
• 1998 Did not qualify
• 2002 Did not qualify
• 2006 Did not qualify 
• 2010 Did not qualify
• 2014 Did not qualify 

CROATIA

Croatia finished third on their World Cup finals debut in 1998 and have never come close to matching that achievement. Their eagerness to rekindle their old glory was evident in their decisive progress through the play-offs.

Greece stood in the Croats’ way at the end of the European qualifying process. But not for long. The first leg, on home soil in Zagreb, saw Croatia rush to a two goal lead inside the first 20 minutes courtesy of goals from playmaker Luka Modric (penalty) and Nikola Kalinic. Croatia celebrated a 4-1 success at the final whistle and went on to hold out for a goalless draw in Piraeus.

The squad heading to Russia includes a wealth of international experience at both country and club levels. In midfield, captain Modric from Real Madrid and Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic have set aside their Spanish Clasico rivalry in the national cause, supported by Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic, from Italy’s Internazionale, who create the openings for two more Italian Serie A stalwarts in Juventus’ Mario Mandzukic and Milan’s Kalinic.

In defence, resistance to whatever the opposition may offer has been led by Domagoj Vida from Dynamo Kiev, Sampdoria’s Ivan Strinic and Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren playing in front of goalkeeper Danijel Subasic from Champions League regulars Monaco.

Remarkably, for a nation that boasts a consistently high profile in the international arena, Croatia emerged as an independent nation only at the start of the 1990s after the fragmentation of Yugoslavia. They quickly made an impact.

They reached the quarter-finals of the European Championships in 1996, beating Italy on the way, and then stormed to third place in France at the 1998 World Cup. Key players included Zvonimir Boban, Davor Suker and Robert Prosinecki (all FIFA World Youth champions with Yugoslavia in 1987). Suker, who is now the president of the Croatian FA, scored six goals in France to win the Golden Boot as the tournament’s leading scorer.

Since then, Croatia have been regular contenders in both the World Cup and European Championships, missing out only once on each finals tournament. Third place remains their best finish at the World Cup while they reached the EURO quarter-finals twice and progressed to the last 16 in France in 2016.

Two months later, Croatia launched their World Cup qualifying campaign in Group I of the European section with a 1-1 draw at home to Turkey. Midfielder Rakitic opened their account from a penalty shortly before half-time. They followed that up by seizing early command of the group with victories over Kosovo, Finland, Iceland and Ukraine. Defeats away to Iceland and Turkey and a home draw against Finland, however, threw their hopes into doubt.

The Croatian FA decided that a new approach was needed ahead of the decisive last game in Ukraine and replaced coach Ante Cacic with Zlatko Dalic. The prize at stake for both teams was second place behind Iceland, but it was Croatia who took the play-off spot by winning 2-0 in Kiev with a second-half double from Andrej Kramaric.

Victory over Greece in the play-offs then duly set Modric, Mandzukic and their team-mates on the road to the finals for the fifth time in six World Cups.

This Croatian side has experience on its side with many players having experienced the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. Their performances at EURO 2016 also turned heads and show this side should not be underestimated. Croatia will not prove easy opposition in this group and would be slight favourites to finish second above Iceland. Its unlikely they’ll progress further than the last 16 should they squeak out of this group.

The Coach – Zlatko Dalic

Zlatko Dalic, 51, succeeded Ante Cacic as manager of Croatia after their penultimate qualifying tie against Finland ended in a 1-1 draw. Previously Dalic had led the U-21s between 2006 and 2011. At club level, he coached Varteks, Rijeka, Slaven Belupo and Albania’s Dinamo Tirana before heading for the Middle East, where he coached Al-Faisaly and Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, then Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates. That team won the Arabian Gulf League and the UAE Super Cup in 2015 and were then runners-up in the AFC Champions League in 2016.

Record at previous tournaments:

• 1930 Did not exist
• 1934 Did not exist
• 1938 Did not exist
• 1950 Did not exist
• 1954 Did not exist
• 1958 Did not exist
• 1962 Did not exist
• 1966 Did not exist
• 1970 Did not exist
• 1974 Did not exist
• 1978 Did not exist
• 1982 Did not exist
• 1986 Did not exist
• 1990 Did not exist
• 1994 Unable to enter
• 1998 3rd place
• 2002 Group stages
• 2006 Group stages
• 2010 Did not qualify
• 2014 Group stages  

NIGERIA 

Nigeria, three times African Champions, have now reached the World Cup finals six times in seven editions and, under veteran coach Gernot Rohr, want to go beyond the last 16 for the first time in their proud history.

The Super Eagles have the pedigree and the talent, which their youth teams have displayed consistently. The Golden Eagles have won the FIFA U-17 World Cup five times and, in 1996, they became the first African nation to win Olympic gold in what is, predominately, a U-23 competition.

A football association was founded in Nigeria in 1945, which is Africa’s most populous country (300m). A national team had played unofficial matches against neighbours since the early 1930s, but it did not “take off” until after the country achieved independence in 1960. The NFA had already taken the necessary steps to join FIFA and the Confederation of African Football and entered the World Cup qualifying competition for the first time in 1961.

Progress was marked by qualification for the final stages of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1963 and then an appearance in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. The next year they lost out to Morocco on the toss of a coin in pursuit of a place in the World Cup finals. In 1980, they won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time.

Finally in the 1990s, Nigeria fulfilled their promise on the world stage by twice reaching the last 16 at the World Cup – in the United States in 1994 and the again in France in 1998.

In 1994 Nigeria, newly crowned African champions for a second time, nearly sprang one of the greatest surprises. They topped their first round group – ahead of Argentina, Bulgaria and Greece – and were eliminated 2-1 by Italy only after extra-time. In 1998, a team starring goalkeeper Peter Rufai, midfielder Jay-Jay Okocha and winger Finidi George, beat Spain 3-2 in their opening game, before being knocked out 4-1 by Denmark.

Between 2000 and 2010, Nigeria were regular contenders in the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations. In 2002 and 2010, they lost in the first round of the World Cup finals an in 2014 as African Champions, reached the last 16 in Brazil, when a team now lead by star keeper Vincent Enyeama, Joseph Yobo, Ahmed Musa, John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses lost 2-0 to France.

Musa was promoted to captain by the time Nigeria launched their qualification bid for Russia 2018 in the African second round in a 2-0 aggregate win over Swaziland. That took them into the third round comprising five groups of four teams, with the winners advancing to the finals.

Nigeria were grouped with Zambia, Cameroon and Algeria. On paper, it appeared a difficult group, but the Super Eagles took immediate command by winning 2-1 in Zambia, 3-1 at home to Algeria and 4-0 at home to Cameroon. A 1-0 home win over Zambia on the 7th of October last year saw coach Rohr’s men become the first African nation to reach Russia 2018. Arsenal’s LAex Iwobi, nephew of three-time World Cup veteran Jay-Jay Okocha, scored the goal that sent Nigeria to their sixth finals.

Their qualification survived the alteration by FIFA of a 1-1 draw away to Algeria on the last matchday into a 3-0 defeat because Nigeria had fielded suspended and thus ineligible  Abdullahi Shehu.

Nigeria’s progress through a difficult qualifying group was impressive but they face three tough tests in Russia. They are familiar with Argentina having been in the Albiceleste’s group in 2014. They certainly won’t be a push over but face a battle if they are to make it to the last 16. If they do it’s unlikely they’ll make history by progressing any further.

The Coach – Gernot Rohr

Gernot Rohr, 64, was born in Mannheim, Germany, and has been a French citizen since 1982. He played in defence and midfield for Bayern Munich and Waldhof Mannheim before winning the French league three times in the 1980s with Bordeaux. He played five times for West Germany at amateur level. Rohr worked as a club coach in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Tunisia before 2010, when he began specialising in African national teams. He coached Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso before taking up his current appointment with Nigeria in August 2016.

Record at previous tournaments:

• 1930  Did not enter
• 1934 Did not enter
• 1938 Did not enter
• 1950 Did not enter
• 1954 Did not enter
• 1958 Did not enter
• 1962 Did not qualify
• 1966 Withdrew
• 1970 Did not qualify
• 1974 Did not qualify
• 1978 Did not qualify
• 1982 Did not qualify
• 1986 Did not qualify
• 1990 Did not qualify
• 1994 Last 16
• 1998 Last 16
• 2002 Group stages
• 2006 Did not qualify
• 2010 Group stages
• 2014 Last 16