Croatia – Nigeria Prediction & Picks (16.06.2018)

Croatia and Nigeria are meeting, in a match for this phase of the World Cup (Group Stage). These two teams have never faced each other before, so this will be their first direct confrontation.

Croatia:

The team had direct access to this group stage, so they will play their first match in this edition of the competition. The team comes to this match after a victory with Senegal by (2-1). In the last 10 matches played for all competitions, Croatia won 5, drew 2 and lost 3. In 15 games, they only had 1 comeback in the 6 games in which they suffered the first goal. There is 1 period that stands out in the last 20 matches for all competitions: they have suffered 6 of their 14 goals between minutes (76′-90 ‘).

The Croatian national team has never won the World Cup in its history, with the third-most important campaign in the 1998 World Cup in France. In the qualifiers for the World Cup, the team was in second place in Group I, leaving behind the Iceland team. In the ten matches that they played for the European qualifiers for the World Cup, the Croatian team was defeated only twice, being one in front of the also qualified Iceland, getting six more victories and two draws. We believe that in this game the Croatian national team, which needs to beat to get ahead of the rivals of Group D of the World Cup, since it is superior to Nigeria, because it has a higher quality staff, mainly in the midfield, with Rakitic and Modric. In addition, he has shown in qualifying that he is capable of dominating weaker rivals.

Nigeria:

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. The team comes to this match after a defeat with the Czech Republic by (0-1). In the last 10 matches played for all competitions, Nigeria won 5, drew 1 and lost 4. The team allowed goals in 7 of the last 10 matches for the opponent, so his defense needs to improve, but his attack has scored regularity, as he scored goals in 7 of the last 10 matches. In 15 games, he suffered the first goal 7 times, but got the comeback in 3.

The Nigeria team never won a World Cup. It has in its history three conquests of the African Nations Cup, the last conquered in 2013. It has as its coach the German coach Gernot Rohr, 64, who guides this selection nineteen games, in which he won eleven victories, three draws and five losses. However, their opponents were not so strong, because they are selections such as Zambia, Cameroon and Algeria, all African teams that do not have a great tradition in world football. Now, in the World Cup, the Nigerian team will have many difficulties, as in this upcoming match with Croatia, as it will face a better structured and accustomed selection to play with great European teams.