Argentina – Iceland Prediction & Picks (16.06.2018)

Argentina and Iceland meet at Otkrytiye Arena, in a match for this phase of the World Cup (Group Stage). This will be the first direct confrontation between these two teams, as they have never faced each other before.

Argentina:

The team had direct access to this group stage, so they will play their first match in this edition of the competition. In the last match they played, for the Friendly, won the Haiti by (4-0). In the last 10 matches Argentina has 5 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses. Their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 8 of the last 10 matches. In 15 matches, they suffered the first goal 5 times and only managed 1 comeback. In the last 20 matches for all competitions there is 1 period that stands out: they have suffered 9 of their 22 goals between the minutes (46′-60 ‘).

Argentina has in its record several conquests worldwide and continental, more properly, 2 World Cups, 14 America Cups and 1 Confederations Cup. It is important to note that in the last World Cup, played in Brazil in 2014, Argentina reached the final, however, lost against Germany 1-0. In this way, we can verify that the Argentines have a well-marked goal for this World Cup, that is, to win the title. Coach Jorge Sampaoli plays in 4-2-3-1, privileging possession of the ball and organized attacks, mainly through the flanks: Di María and Eduardo Salvio play for the flanks of the Argentine team. The star Leo Messi is one of the most important players of the Argentine tactical scheme, since he possesses great technical quality and speed. Apparently, there are no absences of weight for this game.

Iceland:

The team will make its debut in this edition of the competition, as it did not have to play any of the qualifiers prior to this group stage. In the last match they played, for the Friendlies, they tied with Ghana by (2-2). In their last 10 games Iceland has 4 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses. They have not been very strong defensively, since they have suffered goals in 7 of the last 10 matches, but their offense has scored frequently, since they have scored goals in 9 of the last 10 matches. In 15 games, they only got 1 comeback in the 7 games in which they suffered the first goal.

Iceland will play for the first time a World Cup, having won Group I, with 22 points, ahead of Croatia, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland and Kosovo. His best participation in international competitions until this moment was in Euro 2016, when he reached the quarterfinals and lost to France, by 5-2. However, it is clear that the Icelandic team has evolved in recent times. In this game against Argentina, coach Heimir Hallgrímsson must play in 4-4-2, with Sigurdarson and Finnbogason being the most offensive references of the Icelandic team. The great star of this team is the offensive midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, owner of great vision of game and competition in set pieces. However, the Icelandic team must opt ​​for a more defensive strategy, since the rival has great technical and tactical quality. For this game the coach does not have great absences.