Argentina World Cup scenarios: What Messi and company must do to advance to knockout stage

Argentina still has a chance to finish second in Group D at the World Cup despite a draw to Iceland and a terrible loss to Croatia on Thursday.

Nigeria's 2-0 win over Iceland on Friday gives the South Americans a lifeline and a pretty straightforward path to the round of 16. The scenarios aren't overly complicated like they would have been had Iceland won, and this news has to inject some excitement into the team, which has been very poor in its first two matches.

Lionel Messi and company have to beat Nigeria. They will be through if they win and Iceland fails to win. They can also go through with a victory even if Iceland wins, as long as they make up the goal differential. For example, if Argentina wins 3-0 and Iceland wins 2-1, they would be level on points but Argentina's goal differential would be zero, while Iceland's would be minus-one. So it's simple for Argentina: win and try to win big.