Ivory Coast were brutally dumped out of the tournament on Tuesday night. Whereas they needed only a draw to go through, the Elephants conceded a controversial stoppage time penalty to offer Greece a miraculous triumph in Group C.
This Wednesday in Porto Alegre, all eyes will be on the Super Eagles and the Messi factor makes this clash even more interesting. Argentina have relied heavily on their captain to secure tickets into the Last 16. Will the Albiceleste’s other players also step up to join a goal fest against Nigeria?
For Bosnia-Herzegovina, the World Cup dream is dead; a crucial error by the linesman deprived Edin Dzeko’s first-half goal to stand in a match that finally ended 1-0 in favour of the Nigerians. The latter are a touching distance from becoming the first African side to survive the group stage hurdle. However, they face the resilience of the Iranians with whom they drew goalless on the opening day of their World Cup campaign.
Group F facts:
• Argentina only need a draw to secure the top spot.
• Nigeria will win Group F if they beat Argentina.
• Nigeria only need a draw to join Argentina in the Last 16 of the World Cup.
• Nigeria can lose to Argentina and still qualify for the Last 16, provided Iran lose or draw to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
• If Iran beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0, Nigeria will still progress with defeat as long as they score and do not concede anything bigger than a 1-goal margin defeat.
• Iran’s only option to qualify is to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina by a goal margin that will place them higher than Nigeria in the table, should the latter lose.
Group F standings ahead of Matchday 3 (Graphic by Wikipedia)
Team sheets for Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Iran
Bosnia-Herzegovina’s First XI: Begovic, Vrsajevic, Spahic (c), Kolasinac, Besic, Pjanic, Ibisevic, Dzeko, Susic, Sunjic, Hadzic
Iran’s First XI: Haghighi, Haji Safi, Hosseini, Sadeghi, Nekounam (c), Shojaei, Timotian, Montarezi, Ghoochannejad, Dejagah, Pooladi
Team sheets for Nigeria vs Argentina
Nigeria’s First XI: Enyeama; Omeruo, Yobo, Ambrose, Oshaniwa; Mikel, Onazi; Babatunde, Musa, Odemwingie; Emenike
Argentina’s First XI: Romero; Zabaleta, F.Fernández, Garay, Rojo; Gago, Mascherano, Di María; Messi, Agüero; Higuaín
