World Cup Class of 2018: Nigeria

Population: 186.0 million

Capital: Abuja

Team Colors: Green and White

How Qualified: Won CAF Third Round Group B

Nickname: Super Eagles

6th World Cup

Head Coach: Gernot Rohr (GER)

Key Players: John Obi Mikel (Tianjin Teda), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow)

Best Performance: Round of 16 (1994, 1998, 2014)

Can they wow beyond their kits? Nigeria’s kits have been the talk from a fashion sense, but can they fashion themselves a trip beyond the group stage? They have done it three times before, but have never been beyond the Round of 16.

This World Cup will give Nigeria a chance to shine over their absent arch-rivals Ghana. It will also give them a chance, again, to defeat Argentina. The Super Eagles and Albiceleste have been drawn together for the fifth time in six World Cups. Argentina have won the previous four meetings, all by the odd goal. Nigeria did beat Argentina in a friendly in Krasnodar earlier in the year in Krasnodar.

Nigeria qualified with relative ease with a match to spare despite their group being dubbed the “Group of Death” with Zambia, Algeria, and Cameroon. They were the first team from Africa to qualify for Russia.

A familiar face to Premier League fans and a current face will look to anchor the attack. The familiar face is John Obi Mikel who is now plays professionally in China while Victor Moses is at Chelsea. They also have Ahmed Musa who plies his trade at CSKA Moscow.

Once again, it’s all about getting to the quarterfinals for the first time and once again it’s all about seeing if they can break their duck against Argentina at the World Cup. They do have a chance to do both, but should not forget about Croatia and Iceland, either. Otherwise, people can forget about seeing the Super Eagles’ kits beyond the group stage.

Schedule:

June 16: vs. Croatia in Kaliningrad (2pm CT on FS1/Telemundo)

June 22: vs. Iceland in Volgograd (10am CT on FOX/Telemundo)

June 26: vs. Argentina in St. Petersburg (1pm CT on FS1/Telemundo)