World Cup Group D Preview and Best Bet

Welcome to Part 4 of my World Cup preview where I will take a look at Group D.

In this series I will go through each group and give you my quick thoughts on each team as well as my prediction of the final standings.

Once through the groups I will preview my predicted 2nd round match ups and work through to my predicted 2018 World Cup Winner.

For those of you that like a bet I will also include my cheeky 5ver best bet for each group.

So be sure to check back in on my page as we lead up the World Cup.

Group D Prediction

1st Croatia
2nd Nigeria

Argentina
Iceland

Iceland

This is a wide open group with Argentina very shaky this time around, Croatia talented but inconsistent and Nigeria a bit of wild card.
Literally any of the sides in this group could top it but someone has to finish bottom and I have some concerns about Iceland.
Iceland were brilliant at the Euro's, knocking England out on their way to a Quarter Final finish.
They proved it was no fluke in World Cup qualifying when they topped a tough Group that contained Croatia, Turkey, Ukraine and Finland.

Everton maestro Gylfi Sigurdsson is the spark in the middle of the park and is a danger with the dead ball as well but Iceland lack scoring power up front.
They compensate for this with great team football, find ways to manufacture goals and had 9 different goal scorers in qualifying.
They also work hard for each other on the defensive side and when at their best can be extremely hard to break down.
This selfless team orientated Football has been the backbone of their success of late and is what booked them their ticket to Russia.
My worry is what if that defence starts breaking down, like it concerningly has been of late?
They are not going to beat to many teams in a shootout or if they concede first.

Their last 5 games leading into Russia have involved 2 matches against Indonesia, a puzzling opponent choice for one game much less two as I am not sure what you are going to learn about the group in those matches.
They won both of those but they have since conceded 3 goals in each of their last 3 games which have resulted in losses to Mexico, Peru and the non World Cup qualified Norway.
Barring maybe Mexico they are going to meet a lot tougher opponents in this group that are all packed with scoring power.
They will need to once again band together with inspirational team Defence like they did in Europe 2016 to be any chance here but there are only so many times you can keep going back to that well before the lack of class exposes you.
I think their fairy tale bubble will burst now and I can't see Iceland winning any of their Group matches this time around.

Players to Watch

Gylfi Sigurdsson
Alfred Finnbogason
Jóhann Berg Gudmundsson

Argentina

How can I predict a team containing Messi, Aguero, Higuain and Dybala to fail to progress through the Group Stage?
Because aside from Messi they just don't score enough for their National Team and the rest of the squad is a little average at least when playing for their country.
19 goals in 18 qualifying games when you possess one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the game is just not good enough and means they are not gelling together the way they should be.
If that is not a sign something is broke, this Argentina side is lucky they are even on the plane to Russia.
When Ecuador went 1-0 up against them on the final day, they were sitting in 6th spot and out of contention.
Enter the heroics of Messi who would go on to score a hatrick and book them their ticket.

Their midfield is down on the usual talent we have come to expect of Argentina and they really need Biglia who is only just returning from injury and Banega to play at their absolute best to stand any chance.
The Di Maria of old terrorising opposition sides on the wing, delivering the deadly ball into the box would be handy to.
Their Defence is not too bad but when their midfield breaks down, centre backs Otamendi, Fazio & Rojo are no champions and the goals against start to flow.
To make matters worse, Romero is out of the World Cup squad and they will be relying upon the sparingly used veteran Caballero in goal.
This is going to end in tears for Argentina as he has not had the playing minutes at club level and probably lacks the talent of some of his peers in this group.

Spain showed recently in a 6-0 thumping what you can do to the Argentina Defence if you get on top in the Midfield.
Looking at their Group now, while they should have Iceland covered, Nigeria are an opponent that has troubled them in the past and the Super Eagles looked good in the 2nd half against England in a recent friendly.
Nigeria will have the speed and the confidence to really take the game to Argentina and will be a difficult test.
Modric & Rakitic I suspect might control the game against them to and I think Croatia's constant pressure football might break them.

Messi could well single handedly save them in this group and he will be sure to win them at least one game but overall I think this is one of the weakest Argentine sides I can remember.
Whilst it's a brave call to pick Argentina to fail in the Group Stages, I just can't see them bringing anything close to the level we saw in Brazil 4 years ago.

Players to Watch

Messi
Di Maria
Dybala

Nigeria

The Super Eagles over the last decade have possessed a lot of talent that play in some of the big leagues around the world but despite an almost golden generation, they never really made their mark on the World Stage.
Their biggest highlight was probably their progression to the 2nd Round at the last World Cup when a nil all draw against Iran followed by a 1-0 win over Bosnia were enough to get them out of a weak Group but they made a quick exit after that.
They then failed to even make the last 16 for the final tournament of the African Cup of Nations.

Nigerian still possess some very talented and experienced heads but a new breed is coming through now that has given them a nice freshen up.
A brilliant African Qualifying campaign saw them top a tough Group containing Algeria and Cameroon to book their ticket for Russia.

Taking a look at their squad now and they have a young Defence led by a young Goalkeeper, Deportivo La Coruna's Francis Uzoho who while talented has already been maligned by their fans for his performances in the lead up.
How the young Defence and Uzoho in goal stand up will go a long way to deciding how deep Nigeria can go.

While their Defence is a tad inexperienced, they do at least have a nice pair of exceptionally strong, experienced Defensive Midfielders who will be able to help out those youngsters and complement their wealth of attacking players.
Jon Obi Mikel plied his trade in the Premier League for years at Chelsea before taking the big payday to play in China.
Ndidi was Leicester City's big replacement when Kante left and while he is no Kante, he has performed well in the Premier League.
A lot will be expected from these two as they will be the anchor's in the Midfield.
Victor Moses will Captain the side and he has been a star at Chelsea in the Right Wing Back role over the last couple of seasons.
He is likely to play a more attacking Midfield role for Nigeria and you can bet he will be involved in the most meaningful Nigerian attacks.
Up Forward they have some really good options in the pacy Musa from Leicester and a couple of young stars in the making, Iwobi from Arsenal & Man City's Iheanacho.
So whilst young, they certainly have goals in them and a nice mix in the Midfield.

Their recent results have not filled me with confidence but I am going to keep the faith that they are building to something.
In the last 5 Friendlies they have lost 1-0 to Poland, 2-0 to Serbia, 1-1 Draw with Congo, a very competitive 2-1 loss to England where they were brilliant in the 2nd half but then a very flat 1-0 loss to the Czech Republic.
Not the ideal preparation heading into a World Cup so I hope they have got the rust out as their next match is their First Group match against Croatia.
Despite their unconvincing recent form I am going to back them in to bring their best out when it counts and snatch 2nd in the Group.

Players to Watch

Alex Iwobi
Victor Moses
Wilfred Ndidi

Croatia

It's time for Croatia's golden generation of talent headed by Modric, Rakitic and the exciting Perisic to deliver on the big stage.
I think Croatia are again dark horses for the Tournament and they have the weapons to go deep.
They had a tough Group for the qualifying with Iceland, Ukraine and Turkey along side them but they were still slightly disappointing in only finishing 2nd.
This pushed them into a sudden death 2 leg playoff against Greece but the class of Croatia saw them safely to Russia with a 4-1 win on aggregate.
Their big Juventus hit man up Forward, Mandzukic was good in the qualifiers scoring 5 and finishing as the 2nd highest scorer.
He will be important up front again but will be ably supported by the emerging Kramaric who scored 13 goals in the Bundesliga for Hoffenheim this season.
Kramaric has also been in good form in the lead up Friendlies and was instrumental in their recent win over Senegal, scoring the winning goal.

These attacking options along with the ever attacking Perisic of Inter Milan sets Croatia up to be more deadly in front of goal and be able to capitalise on the work in the Midfield from Modric and Rakitic.
Speaking of the Midfield, I really like the depth they have in there now.
Along with Modric (Real Madrid), Rakitic (Barcelona) they can also call on Kovacic (Real Madrid), Brozovic (Inter Milan), Rog (Napoli) and Badelj of Fiorentina.

There is class everywhere you look for Croatia and they also boast a strong Goal Keeper in Monaco's Subasic.
Their Defence while not boasting stars is also very effective and only conceded 4 goals in qualifying which was the lowest in their Group.
I expect too see Liverpools Lovren and ex Spurs, now Locomotiv Centre Back Corluka hold down the fort back there.

Looking at their recent results and they have been very good since their poor 2-0 loss to Peru late March.
They beat Mexico 1-0, were very good despite the 2-0 scoreline against Brazil and then came from behind to defeat Senegal.
I was particularly impressed with the pressure Croatia was able to put on Brazil and they had them at tipping point at times.
Quite often Brazil were caught in possession or relied on individual brilliance to get out of sticky situations.
When it came to the goal, it took the individual magic of Neymar to break the deadlock.
The 2nd came in the last minute when Croatia were more focused on attacking.
If Croatia can bring that same level of pressure and intensity I don't know that Argentina or any of their other Group opponents will hold up to it.
They do need to tidy up their finishing a little as they can certainly burn chances but all in all I think Croatia have the weapons to cause a mini upset and top this Group.

Players to Watch

Luka Modric
Ivan Perišić
Ivan Rakitić

Cheeky 5ver Best Bet

Croatia to Win the World Cup

ODDS: 34-1

Why

Because I think we could be in for a more open World Cup this time around as I do not see an out and out dominant team.
Whilst I agree with the bookmakers and think Brazil are probably the best side, Croatia are terrific value at 34-1.
I think they are a huge chance to top this Group which will give them a favourable Round of 16 opponent.
Win that, confidence will be high and they could get on a roll.
At the end of the day they have talent and depth in all positions of the ground so there is no reason why they can not have a Fair Dinkum crack at it.

That's it for Group D and thank you for reading.

Be sure to check back soon for the next group.

Dahmsy79