Nigeria will be eliminated from the World Cup if they lose their second game of the tournament against Iceland on Friday.

The Super Eagles went down to Croatia first time out, and a second loss to Iceland will see their hopes disappear.

And coach Gernot Rohr admits that nothing but victory against Iceland will do, saying: “We have to win against Iceland. If we win the next game, all is possible for qualification.”

Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson takes Nigeria very seriously and is paying them huge respect.

“We are not of the opinion that we are at all better than Nigeria. We know our strengths, and need to make the best of them,” Hallgrimsson said.

See below for a preview on the games, including predictions from former England and Tottenham midfielder Andy Gray and our own Football Insider Graeme Bailey and bet365’s Steve Freeth.

Nigeria 16:00 Iceland
Volgograd Arena, Volgograd
Live on BBC

Volgograd Arena bouncing tomorrow night pic.twitter.com/Y2JwMMGpL3

— Paul Wilson (@senior2831) June 17, 2018

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS:
Nigeria: Francis Uzoho; Abdullahi Shehu, William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Brian Idowu; Wilfred Ndidi, John Obi Mikel, Oghenekaro Etebo; Victor Moses, Odion Ighalo, Alex Iwobi.

Iceland: Hannes Halldorsson; Birkir Saevarsson, Kari Arnason, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Hordor Magnusson; Emil Hallfredsson, Aron Gunnarsson; Gylfi Sigurdsson, Birkir Bjarnason, Rurik Gislason; Alfred Finnbogason.

KEY FACT: Senegal were the last World Cup debutants to remain unbeaten in their first two games at the competition in 2002. Iceland have a chance to match that feat
Match odds from bet365: NIGERIA 19/10 DRAW 11/5 ICELAND 17/10
bet365 Pick: Under 2.5 goals @8/15
ANDY SAYS: Close game but I see Iceland coming out on top and ending Nigeria’s hopes…0-1
GRAEME SAYS: Won’t be much in this, and can see them playing out a draw…1-1
FOOTBALLIndex – One to follow: Gylfi Sigurdsson – Top player on show here and still plenty of value on the Index.

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