World Cup warm-up: The permutations ahead of Group D’s conclusion on Tuesday

Group D at the 2018 World Cup has arguably thrown up the biggest surprises. Argentina are on the brink of crashing out at the group stages for the first time since 2002 but were thrown a lifeline after Nigeria stunned Iceland.

Croatia are the only side from the group that have already qualified for the knock off phase and Zlatko Dalic’s side have arguably been one of the most impressive sides at Russia this summer.

The Vatreni only need a point from their final game against Iceland to secure top spot and are expected to rotate heavily on Wednesday evening, which is bad news for Argentina.

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In order for Jorge Sampaoli’s side to finish second, they must beat Nigeria and hope Iceland fail to beat Croatia. Iceland are the underdogs in their match but their chances of winning would increase if Croatia field a second string XI.

Argentina can also qualify if Iceland win, but they would need to do so by a bigger margin as Iceland have a superior goal difference over the South Americans.

Even though Argentina have one of the best group of attacking players at the 2018 World Cup, they have shown in their opening two matches that it means nothing if you don't have a system that gets the best out of them.

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In order for Iceland to qualify they must beat Croatia and hope Nigeria lose against Argentina. If Nigeria draw, then Iceland would have to win by at least three goals as they would miss out on head-to-head if their records are identical, as the Super Eagles beat them earlier in the campaign.

It would be humiliation for Lionel Messi and Argentina if they crash out of the group stages but it would be justified based on their performances so far. Tuesday evening was incredibly dramatic but Group D could easily top that.

Writer Predictions:

Martin Laurence - Nigeria 2-3 Argentina & Iceland 0-1 Croatia

Ben McAleer - Nigeria 2-2 Argentina & Iceland 1-2 Croatia

Josh Wright - Nigeria 2-1 Argentina & Iceland 1-1 Croatia