Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal during the 2014 World Cup
Argentina's Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring a goal during the 2014 World Cup Group F soccer match between Argentina and Iran at the the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte June 21, 2014. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

Final Results

Nigeria 2 Argentina 3

Overview

The forty third match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 is going to be held between Nigeria and Argentina. The Group F match should be quite an interesting contest between the two as this will be Nigeria's last chance to try for a berth in the "group of 16." Argentina, on the other hand, will try to finish the group stage with 9 points.

Teams

Nigeria: Nigeria will go to the next round even if it manages to end this match in a draw. It may still go to the next round even if it suffers a loss but a lot will depend on the match between Iran and Bosnia- Herzegovina. If Iran wins that match, Nigeria's chance of going to the next round may suffer a setback. Moreover, it will face a team like Argentina which will continue to attack. Nigeria is more comfortable in attacking the opposition's goal than defending its own. It is important that it stays positive and tries to win this match to ensure its berth in the next round. A defensive strategy against Argentina may turn out to be catastrophic.

Argentina: Argentina came to the tournament as one of the favourites to win it. However, it is probably the most underperformed team which somehow manages to win. When most of the South American teams are faring extremely well, Argentina has failed to impress as a team. Lionel Messi, on the other hand, looks pretty impressive with every match. He scored the winning goal in both the matches Argentina won. He happens to be the magic man to rescue his country. However, other major players like Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero have simply failed to perform. If Argentina fancies a chance in the tournament, it has to play well as a team. This match may be its chance to find the rhythm it needs for the next round.

Head to Head

These two teams played 6 times against each other before. One of those ended in a draw. Argentina won 4 and Nigeria 1. There were 14 goals scored. Nigeria scored 6 and Argentina 8.

Key Players

Nigeria: Peter Odemwingie

Argentina: Lionel Messi and Sergio Romero

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 1 pm (local time) on June 25, which means it is 2 am on June 26 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre.

Prediction

Nigeria will score in this match but Argentina will score more. Messi will score twice to lead his team to a 3-1 victory.

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