The Lowdown Rivals - Key Players, Strengths and Weaknesses

The balls have been drawn and every group opposition have been known, some familiar foes while others might be entirely new to themselves, throwing up mouthwatering clashes along the way. 

The illustrious Albiceleste are no strangers to the Super Eagles and perhaps, Nigeria are better equipped to square off competently with them now. Iceland and Croatia make up the Group D occupants in what has already been dubbed the 'Group of Death' yet again.So what are the likely strengths and weaknesses of these ones?

Argentina — Argentina has been installed as one of the pre-tournament favourites and it is little surprise they would be expected to navigate this group with little fuss. They might not have had the best of qualification series but with the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria and Paulo Dybala, Jorge Sampaoli's side boast one of the best attacking force on show come next year in Russia and would largely trouble any quality of opponents thus.Yet they might seem to be defensively suspect, with the ageing duo of Javier Mascherano and Nicholas Otamendi in their rear guard. The other group competitors, particularly Croatia and Nigeria would largely fancy their chances of getting at them at the opposite end.

Croatia: Having failed to qualify from their group stages in the last three editions of the tournaments they have played in, Zlatko Daliç undoubtedly have a load of work in his hands.With Luka Modric, Darijo Srna, Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Rakitic, there is, of course, finesse and experience aplenty in their fold. Expect some moments of magic from these top quality individuals who would less be content with playing catch up inthe competition. That said, they might as well struggle to break down well organized teams.
Iceland: Proving less to be a one-trick pony team, modest Iceland have followed up their surprise run in the Euros 2016 campaign with their first-ever appearance at the football mundial.Little experience at the grandest of stages might be their undoing when the ball gets rolling in Russia but they are no pushovers. As such, little is expected of them and they would likely be playing spoilers for most part of it but expect a defensively compact team like they are to spring one or two surprises in Group D. Of course, Aron Gunnarsson and Gylfi Sigurdsson are not your average players and would hurt any team with their lethal doses on their days.