Bosnia's Dzeko is fouled by Argentina's Fernandez as Mascherano looks on during their 2014 World Cup Group F soccer match at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro
Bosnia's Edin Dzeko (C) is fouled by Argentina's Federico Fernandez as Javier Mascherano (R) looks on during their 2014 World Cup Group F soccer match at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro June 15, 2014. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

Overview

The twenty eighth match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 is going to be held between Nigeria and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Group F match should be interesting as it is a must-win match for both to secure a place in the "group of 16."

Teams

Nigeria: Nigeria could not surpass Iran's defence even once in its opening match and had to be satisfied with only one point. Even though it had 70 per cent ball possession, it could not do the obvious. Coach Stephen Keshi asked his players not to keep thinking about the disappointing draw any more. The main question is whether Nigeria will be able to outdo the defence of Bosnia-Herzegovina which restricted a team like Argentina to 2 goals only. Even Lionel Messi found it difficult to hit the penalty box more than once or twice. Nigeria will miss defender Elderson Echiejile who is out of the tournament due to injury.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Bosnia-Herzegovina should be happy about the way it performed against Argentina. A 1-2 defeat against one of the top contenders of the world cup was impressive. Vedad Ibisevic scored against Argentina and made it interestingly close in the last few minutes. Coach Safet Susic seems to be pretty hopeful about his team's chances in the Nigeria match. He believes that his players have it in them to take the team to the next round. Not every time a Messi-Magic can deprive them of the glory they deserve. The team has enough potential to trouble any team in the world.

Head to Head

These two teams never played against each other.

Key Players

Nigeria: Emmanuel Emenike

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Edin Dzeko and Vedad Ibisevic

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 6 pm (local time) on June 21, which means it is 8 am on June 22 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba.

Prediction

Nigeria will find it extremely difficult to score against Bosnia-Herzegovina but will fail to defend well. Bosnia-Herzegovina will win it 2-0.

Group Predictions

Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G & Group H

Reference: FIFA

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au