World Cup 2018: Iceland vs Croatia prediction, team news and preview as Gylfi Sigurdsson and Co. fight for their lives in Rostov
Swansea midfielder missed a penalty in Nigeria loss and his side now need a win to have a chance of progression
ICELAND must beat surprise-package Croatia to have any hope of keeping their World Cup dreams alive.
Gylfi Sigurdsson missed a penalty in the 2-0 defeat to Nigeria to leave the debutants on just one point from their two games.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side now need to win against table-toppers Croatia and hope Argentina beat the Super Eagles – but by fewer goals.
Here’s everything you need to know before the all-European showdown in Rostov…
Best bet
With Croatia already through after their 3-0 thrashing of the Argies, coach Zlatko Dalic has admitted he will rest players in this clash.
Could that leave the door open for the plucky minnows? A 2-1 win for Iceland is .
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Fact me
- This will be the seventh different meeting between Iceland and Croatia but the first in a major tournament, with all of their previous encounters coming in World Cup qualifiers.
- Iceland and Croatia met in World Cup 2018 qualifying – both sides winning their home fixtures (Croatia 2-0 and Iceland 1-0).
- Iceland's only previous victory against Croatia came in the qualifying stages for this tournament, drawing one and losing four otherwise.
- Croatia have won two World Cup games in a row for the first time since 1998 – they’ve never won three consecutively in the competition before.
- Croatia have kept a clean sheet in three of their last four World Cup games, as many as they had in their previous 12 in the competition.
- Croatia have already guaranteed their place in the World Cup knockout stages, just their second appearance. They’ve never finished top in the group stage, finishing in second place when qualifying in 1998.
- Iceland are without a win in their last eight games (D3 L5) – their longest winless run since May 2012 (9 games).
- Iceland are looking to become the first World Cup debutants to make the knockout stages of a World Cup tournament since Slovakia in 2010.
- Croatia’s Luka Modric has scored with both of his shots on target so far at the 2018 World Cup.
- Iceland midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson attempted just three shots in his last game against Nigeria, with his first two shots landing on target in the first six minutes, and his other shot missing the target from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute.