Croatia – Nigeria

The teams of Croatia and Nigeria are going to face each other in a match from Group D of the FIFA World Cup 2018. Let’s have a look at this clash in our vip soccer bets.

The Croatian team is really impressive at this moment. Stacked with stars like Luca Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic, the Balkan country have players who play for the best clubs in the world. This is giving them enough confidence to think that they can do something really big at the World Cup in Russia. Just like they did it in 1998, when Croatia reached the 1/2-finals in France. Now this country have another golden generation, which is ready to leave its mark in the history of the nation.

The qualifying campaign in Europe brought us a big surprise – Croatia didn’t win their group, despite of being a huge favourite of doing so. They were beaten for the first place in Group I by Iceland, which made them participate in the playoffs. There they met another Balkan team – Greece, against whom Croatia prevailed and enjoyed a terrific 4-1 win in Zagreb.

The 51-years old Zlatko Dalic is the manager of the Croatian national team. Former manager of the U-21 national team, Dalic was managing Al-Ain, before being appointed by the Croatian Federation. As a player he was unable to participate at the World Cup, but now he will make it as a manager.

For Nigeria we can say that they are usually among the top teams in Africa. The Super Eagles reached the World Cup for a sixth time in their history. Their best performance is reaching the 1/8-finals, which they made three times – in 1994,1998 and 2014.

This country usually provides a lot of good talents to the game. The current squad of Nigeria is not an exception. We can see some well known players in it. It’s enough to mention the names of John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses, Joel Obi and Ahmed Musa. Another interesting name is the young striker of Leicester City Kelechi Iheanacho, who is a product of the academy of Manchester City.

Nigeria qualified for the World Cup after winning its group alongside Zambia, Cameroon and Algeria. The Super Eagles won the group with 14 points, having a record of 4 wins and 2 draws. They remained unbeaten.

In the same time Nigeria performed very good in the African Cup of Nations, reaching the final of the tournament. But there things got really messy, because the Super Eagles were beaten with 0-4 by Morocco.

The German tactician Gernot Rohr is the current manager of Nigeria. In his career he has managed other African teams like Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso. Now – for a first time in his career, he’d have the chance to lead a team at the World Cup.

For sure, Croatia are favourites in this game. They have a lot of quality in their team and they are ready to do some great things in Russia this summer. Based on potential and individual ability, Croatia are among the best teams in the world. But can they fullfil this potential as a team?

Nigeria on the other side will rely on the energy and the enthusiasm, which the African teams always show on tournaments like this one. These teams shall never be underrestimated, because they know how to punish every mistake.

These are our vip soccer bets for the World Cup 2018 game from Group D between Croatia and Nigeria. We wish you a good luck!