Wednesday , 30 September 2026

Croatia vs Nigeria, Worldcup 2018 GROUP STAGE

FIFA World Cup · 2018
Croatia
2 – 0
Full Time
Nigeria
Sat 16 Jun 2018 · 19:00 UTC HT 45' · FT 45'
Ivan Rakitic 30' Y
Y 70' William Troost-Ekong
Marcelo Brozovic 89' Y

Overview

Match Preview

Croatia vs Nigeria — Worldcup .

  • Croatia 3 games · 6 pts (2026/26)
  • Nigeria 0 games · 0 pts (2026/26)

Match Details

  • Referee Hernan Maidana
  • Referee Wilton Pereira Sampaio
  • Referee Emerson Augusto De Carvalho
  • Referee Marcelo Carvalho Van Gasse
  • Referee Daniele Orsato
  • Referee Antonio Mateu
  • Referee Pau Cebrian
  • Referee Artur Soares Dias
  • Referee Sandro Ricci

Standings

# Team P Pts
1 Mexico 3 9
2 South Africa 3 4
3 South Korea 3 3
4 Czechia 3 1
5 Switzerland 3 7
6 Canada 3 4
7 Bosnia-Herzegovina 3 4
8 Qatar 3 1
9 Brazil 3 7
10 Morocco 3 7
11 Scotland 3 3
12 Haiti 3 0
13 United States 3 6
14 Australia 3 4
15 Paraguay 3 4
16 Turkey 3 3
17 Germany 3 6
18 Ivory Coast 3 6
19 Ecuador 3 4
20 Curacao 3 1
21 Netherlands 3 7
22 Japan 3 5
23 Sweden 3 4
24 Tunisia 3 0
25 Belgium 3 5
26 Egypt 3 5
27 Iran 3 3
28 New Zealand 3 1
29 Spain 3 7
30 Cape Verde Islands 3 3
31 Uruguay 3 2
32 Saudi Arabia 3 2
33 France 3 9
34 Norway 3 6
35 Senegal 3 3
36 Iraq 3 0
37 Argentina 3 9
38 Austria 3 4
39 Algeria 3 4
40 Jordan 3 0
41 Colombia 3 7
42 Portugal 3 5
43 Congo DR 3 4
44 Uzbekistan 3 0
45 England 3 7
46 Croatia 3 6
47 Ghana 3 4
48 Panama 3 0

Head-to-Head

1
Croatia 1 games · Avg 2.0 goals Nigeria
Last 5 meetings
2018-06-16 Croatia 2–0 Nigeria

Recent Form

Croatia
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
16 Jun Nigeria H 2–0 W
05 May Belgium A 0–3 L
28 Apr Slovakia H 1–2 L
21 Apr Sweden A 1–4 L
17 Apr Czechia A 1–2 L
14 Apr Spain H 0–1 L
Nigeria
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
16 Jun Croatia A 0–2 L
21 Aug SV Drochtersen/Assel H 1–2 L

Key Stats

0% Both Teams to Score
H2H (1 games)
0% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
25% Clean Sheets
Croatia this season

Goal Timing (This Season)

Croatia
0-15
–/1
16-30
–/–
31-45
3/1
46-60
2/1
61-75
–/2
76+
1/2
■ Scored ■ Conceded

Events

Match Events

  • 0' It’s Showtime! The match between Croatia and Nigeria is underway.
  • 5' Domagoj Vida has been disciplined this evening — perhaps mindful of those 0 cards already picked up this season.
  • 10' While there is no rush on the pitch, let’s have a look at some stats. Ivan Perisic made 491 appearances and scored 68 goals. He is very likely to score a goal today.
  • 15' It looks like no one’s ball. Nigeria is used to counterattacking playing. None of the sides are ready to take the lead.
  • 20' The Array continues to deliver drama. Both Croatia and Nigeria are desperate not to drop points on matchday .
  • 25' Over 25 minutes have gone by without a meaningful attack. The supporters want more.
  • 30' Ivan Rakitic picks up a Yellow card and will need to be extremely careful for the remainder of this match.
  • 32' The deadlock is broken! Oghenekaro Etebo gets on the scoresheet on 32 minutes.
  • 37' Leon Balogun is a natural and has been asked to do a very specific job for Croatia tonight.
  • 42' The 33-year-old Abdullahi Shehu has been sensational this season — 0 goals and 0 assists is a remarkable return.
  • 47' named a earlier, and opted for a in response. A fascinating tactical duel is developing.
  • 52' Neither side is committing men forward. This has all the hallmarks of a tense, tactical contest.
  • 57' A quiet spell here at . Croatia seem content sitting deep and soaking up pressure.
  • 60' Fresh legs for Croatia! Marcelo Brozovic comes on to replace Andrej Kramaric.
  • 62' Another substitution for Nigeria to replace Alex Iwobi by Ahmed Musa on 62 minute.
  • 67' It looks surprising Nigeria does not make any changes. Dejan Lovren has some obvious troubles when approaching to the goal.
  • 70' William Troost-Ekong catches the referee's attention in entirely the wrong way. Yellow card on 70.
  • 71' with the perfectly-timed delivery and Luka Modric makes no mistake. 1-1!
  • 72' Kelechi Iheanacho has so much to prove this time. He replaces Odion Ighalo on 72 minute.
  • 77' Victor Moses has been one of the livelier players on the pitch with 0 goals to his name this season.
  • 78' Mateo Kovacic is replacing Ante Rebic for the Croatia side.
  • 83' The home supporters are growing impatient. Croatia must find a spark to ignite this game.
  • 86' Marko Pjaca gets the nod from Croatia. He replaces Mario Mandzukic and will look to change the dynamic.
  • 88' A tactical swap from Nigeria — Simeon Nwankwo on, John Obi Mikel off on 88 minutes.
  • 89' A moment of madness from Marcelo Brozovic on 89 minutes earns him a Yellow card. Croatia will be frustrated.
  • The final whistle goes. A composed, disciplined performance from Croatia to claim maximum points.

Lineups

Croatia Lineups

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Zlatko Dalić

Nigeria Lineups

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Gernot Rohr

Predictions

Prediction accuracy
3 / 4
1.57 Croatia xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
0.67 Nigeria xG
I would bet for: Under 2.5 goals 62% + Under — clean sheet likely 60%

Match Result

✓ Correct
Croatia56% Draw27% Nigeria17%
Actual: Croatia win

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct
Yes40% 0% No60%
Avg goals/match: 2.24
Actual: No — clean sheet

Over / Under Goals

✓ O/U 2.5
Line Over Under
± 0.5 87%
13%
± 1.5 65%
35%
± 2.5 38%
62%
± 3.5 19%
81%
± 4.5 8%
92%

Double Chance

Croatia or Draw
82%
Draw or Nigeria
44%
Croatia or Nigeria
73%

Half-Time Result

✗ Wrong
Croatia39% Draw50% Nigeria11%
Actual: Croatia win at HT

Correct Score

✓ In top 12
1 – 0
15.8%
0 – 0
12.8%
2 – 0
Actual
1 – 1
12%
2 – 1
8.5%
3 – 0
6.5%
0 – 1
6.1%
3 – 1
4.6%
1 – 2
3.6%
2 – 2
2.9%
4 – 0
2.6%
0 – 2
2.3%

Asian Handicap — Croatia

Handicap Croatia covers Push Nigeria covers
-2.5 13% — 87%
-2 13% 18% 69%
-1.5 31% — 69%
-1 31% 26% 43%
-0.5 57% — 43%
+0.5 86% — 14%
+1 86% 10% 4%
+1.5 96% — 4%
+2 96% 3% 1%
+2.5 99% — 1%

Clean Sheet

Croatia keeps clean sheet
52% ✓
Nigeria keeps clean sheet
22% ✓

Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.