Wednesday , 30 September 2026

Nigeria vs Argentina, Worldcup 2018 GROUP STAGE

FIFA World Cup · 2018
Nigeria
1 – 2
Full Time
Argentina
Tue 26 Jun 2018 · 18:00 UTC HT 45' · FT 45'
Leon Balogun 32' Y
Y 49' Javier Mascherano
Y 64' Ever Banega
John Obi Mikel 90' Y
Y 90' Lionel Messi

Overview

Match Preview

Nigeria vs Argentina — Worldcup .

Match Details

  • Referee Daniele Orsato
  • Referee Massimiliano Irrati
  • Referee Pawel Sokolnicki
  • Referee Bjorn Kuipers
  • Referee Sander van Roekel
  • Referee Cuneyt Cakιr
  • Referee Bahattin Duran
  • Referee Tarik Ongun
  • Referee Pawel Gil
4 games this season 🟨 4.3/game ⚽ 15.5 goals/game 🟥 1 total

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
Nigeria 1 games · Avg 3.0 goals Argentina
Last 5 meetings
2018-06-26 Nigeria 1–2 Argentina

Recent Form

Nigeria
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
26 Jun Argentina H 1–2 L
22 Jun Iceland H 2–0 W
16 Jun Croatia A 0–2 L
21 Aug SV Drochtersen/Assel H 1–2 L
Argentina
DateOpponentH/A ScoreResult
26 Jun Nigeria A 2–1 W
21 Jun Croatia H 0–3 L
16 Jun Iceland H 1–1 D
20 Aug Karlsruher SC H 0–7 L

Key Stats

100% Both Teams to Score
H2H (1 games)
100% Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
25% Clean Sheets
Argentina this season

Goal Timing (This Season)

Argentina
0-15
1/1
16-30
3/–
31-45
2/–
46-60
1/3
61-75
–/2
76+
12/2
■ Scored ■ Conceded

Top Scorers (This Season)

Argentina
Lionel Messi 8 G 4 A
Lautaro Martinez 3 G 1 A

Events

Match Events

  • 0' The game is set. Argentina kicks off things out of here…
  • 5' Argentina are happy to let the opposition have the ball in their own half. The trap is set.
  • 10' While players are taking a pause, let’s have a look at their stats. The teams met 0 times this season with winning -% of all matches.
  • 14' Clinical. Composed. Brilliant. Lionel Messi makes it 0-1.
  • 19' The teams are not in a rush to score plenty of goals. It might look strange considering Nigeria that had 4 games and scored 4 goals.
  • 24' The referee has had an easy afternoon — neither side has been overly physical in the tackle.
  • 29' Nigeria currently sit in the Array table. A result here could be decisive in the race for the top positions.
  • 32' Leon Balogun picks up a Yellow card and will need to be extremely careful for the remainder of this match.
  • 37' Argentina is defending very well tonight not leaving a chance for their rivals to get through for a goal.
  • 42' It’s high time Jorge Sampaoli made some changes to put the his team’s game back to action.
  • 46' Nigeria manager makes another effort to make the tables turned. Odion Ighalo is hanging Kelechi Iheanacho on the field on 46 minute.
  • 49' A meaty challenge results in booking for Javier Mascherano on 49.
  • 51' What a strike from Victor Moses! The score is 1-1.
  • 56' Over 56 minutes have gone by without a meaningful attack. The supporters want more.
  • 61' Time for substitution for Argentina. Enzo Perez is replaced by Cristian Pavon.
  • 64' The referee has no hesitation. Ever Banega is booked for Argentina — Yellow card on 64.
  • 69' With 0 assists to his name this season, Kenneth Omeruo is clearly more than just a goal scorer for Nigeria.
  • 72' The whistle greets Angel di Maria as he departs to be replaced by Maximiliano Meza.
  • 77' The tempo has dropped considerably in the last few minutes. Jorge Sampaoli will be considering his options from the bench.
  • 80' Fresh legs for Argentina! Sergio Aguero comes on to replace Nicolas Tagliafico.
  • 85' Argentina started playing very sharply right from the kick off. However, it slowed down the tempo rapidly by 85.
  • 86' A goal from the Argentina international Marcos Rojo! He fires home on 86 to make it 1-2!
  • 90' Nigeria receives a Yellow card for a hard tackle on 90.
  • 90' Another substitution for Nigeria to replace Kenneth Omeruo by Alex Iwobi on 90 minute.
  • Hope, you loved the show. Another epic battle is over with the score 1-2.

Lineups

Nigeria Lineups

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Gernot Rohr

Argentina Lineups

Starting XI

Bench

Coach Jorge Sampaoli

Predictions

Prediction accuracy
2 / 4
1.22 Nigeria xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
1.46 Argentina xG
I would bet for: Nigeria or Argentina 71%

Match Result

✓ Correct
Nigeria32% Draw29% Argentina39%
Actual: Argentina win

Both Teams to Score

✓ Correct
Yes55% 0% No45%
Avg goals/match: 2.68
Actual: Yes — both scored

Over / Under Goals

✗ O/U 2.5
Line Over Under
± 0.5 91%
9%
± 1.5 75%
25%
± 2.5 50%
50%
± 3.5 28%
72%
± 4.5 14%
86%

Double Chance

Nigeria or Draw
61%
Draw or Argentina
68%
Nigeria or Argentina
71%

Half-Time Result

✗ Wrong
Nigeria23% Draw47% Argentina30%
Actual: Argentina win at HT

Correct Score

✓ In top 12
1 – 1
13.1%
0 – 1
9%
0 – 0
8.8%
1 – 2
Actual
1 – 0
7.4%
2 – 1
7.2%
0 – 2
7.1%
2 – 2
5.3%
2 – 0
5%
1 – 3
4.2%
0 – 3
3.4%
3 – 1
2.9%

Asian Handicap — Nigeria

Handicap Nigeria covers Push Argentina covers
-2.5 4% — 96%
-2 4% 9% 87%
-1.5 13% — 87%
-1 13% 17% 70%
-0.5 30% — 70%
+0.5 59% — 41%
+1 59% 21% 20%
+1.5 80% — 20%
+2 80% 12% 8%
+2.5 92% — 8%

Clean Sheet

Nigeria keeps clean sheet
24% ✓
Argentina keeps clean sheet
30% ✓

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