Guardian report: Nigeria 2-0 Iceland
Nick Ames reports on a match in which Gylfi Sigurdsson missed a penalty for Iceland, while Ahmed Musa won the points for Nigeria with an inspired second half brace.
Group D standings ...
Croatia are through to the knockout stages, but the second qualifying spot remains very much up for grabs.
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19y 237d - Francis Uzoho is the second youngest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in World Cup history, older only than Li Chan-Myong (19y 198d) who famously shut-out Italy in 1966. Trusted.#NGAISL #NGA #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/SUDPjztlgT
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 22, 2018
Belgium take on Tunisia tomorrow and their striker Romelu Lukaku is as unselfish ans he is pumped. Read on ...
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Fill in your player ratings. Ahmed Musa gets my man of the match award, while I was also impressed by Nigeria’s centre-back Kenneth Omero, Oghenekaro Etebo and John Obi Mikel.
Match report: Nigeria 2-0 Iceland
Here’s a snap report from the news wires until our man Nick Ames files his pristine prose from the press box at Volgograd.
Full time in Volgograd: Nigeria 2-0 Iceland
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over and Nigeria have taken the points courtesy of a fine second half brace from Ahmed Musa. They go second in Group D, blowing it wide open. With Croatia already through, any two from Iceland, Nigertia and Argentina can still qualify for the knockout stages. Argentina face Nigeria next, while Iceland take on Luka Modric and chums.
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90+6 min: Ighalo holds the ball up well in the Nigeria penalty area with Ingason tight on his back. He tees up Iwobi for a shot, but his effort is deflected wide for a corner. There’s no time to take it – the ref blows for full time.
90+5 min: Mikel is helped to the sideline, holding his wrist and grimacing with pain. He comes back on the pitch, but is still holding his wrist and grimacing with pain.
90+4 min: John Obi Mikel is flat on his back and seems to have injured his hand while trying to tackle Hordur Magnusson. He looks in real distress here - as if he might have broken his wrist.
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90+3 min: Iceland refuse to give up and Savarsson eschews a shooting opportunity to square the ball. Nigeria clear.
90+1 min: Nigeria get forward again, keeping possession as the clock ticks down.
90 min: Nigeria substitution: Alex Iwobi on for Etebo, who’s had a good game in Nigeria’s engine room.
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89 min: Nigeira get forward again with Ndidi on the ball. Sverrir Ingasson tackles him, but Nigeria retain possession. We’ll have a fair amount of injury time here, as it took four or five minutes for Ragnar Sigurdsson to get patched up straight after Nigeria’s opener.
86 min: Igalo turns well and gets in behind Sverrir Ingason, but is dispossessed. Iceland substitution: Aron Gunnarsson off, Ari Skulason on. Gylfi Sigurdsson takes the captain’s armband.
85 min: Nigeria substitution: Odion Ighalo on for Kelechi Iheanacho.
84 min: Iheanacho fires wide of the upright after good work from Musa and Etebo.
SIGURDSSON MISSES!!!
83 min: Gylfi sends the goalkeeper the wrong way, but also sends the ball the wrong side of the cross-bar. Aiming for the top right-hand corner, he sends the ball over the bar.
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Penalty for Iceland!!!
VAR!!! Ebuehi appears to bring down Finnbodvarsson in the Nigeria penalty area. Referee Matthew Conger takes it to the TV ref. While he’s consulting the TV, Gylfi Sigurdsson places the ball on the spot. The penalty is given!!!
79 min: Of course it’s also worth noting - the more Iceland lose by, the more Argentina’s chances improve of making it into the knocking stages. Of course they’d need to beat Nigeria first and on last night’s evidence, that’s far from a foregone conclusion.
76 min: That’s a splendid goal from Musa. He took and controlled a long ball from the back without breaking stride and galloped towards goal, beating Kari Arnason in the process. Having drawn Halldorsson from his goal and seen the Icelandic keeper commit himself, he shimmied a couple of steps right and then blasted the ball past two covering defenders from about 10 yards out. He did all that at full speed - fantastic stuff.
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GOAL!!! Nigeria 2-0 Iceland (Musa)
Musa doubles Iceland’s lead with a fine solo goal.
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73 min: Nigeria attack, with Moses looking a constant menace as he cuts in from the right. Musa picks up the ball on the edge of the Iceland penalty area and rattles the bar with a curling shot.
73 min: Iceland substitution from a couple of minutes ago: Jon Bodvarsson off to be replaced by Bjorn Sigurdarson.
71 min: Another Nigeria corner. Balogun leaps highest and sends a header a couple of feet over the bar.
70 min: Nigeria take a corner, but Etebo’s delivery is cleared. The ball is crossed into the penalty area, where Balogun stoops to head well wide.
68 min: Victor Moses glides up the right flank, with Musa and Iheanacho in support. He attempts to drill the ball into the penalty area, but his effort is blocked. Iceland clear their lines.
66 min: A poor first touch for Jon Bodvarsson sees the Icelandic forward run the ball out of play on the far touchline as he tries to take it around a defender. He waves an apology in the direction of Gylfi Sigurdsson, who was hoping for a cross.
64 min: Iceland substitution: Ragnar Sigurdsson succumbs to the head injury he sustained as Ahmed Musa scored for Nigeria and is replaced by Sverrir Ingason.
63 min: Free-kick for Iceland about 35 yards from the Nigeria goal. Gylfi Sigurdsson floats the ball straight into the hands of Nigeria’s 19-year-old goalkeeper Francis Uzoho.
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60 min: This is match No25 of this World Cup and Ahmed Musa’s goal means we still haven’t had a goalless draw. That’s quite remarkable ... particularly as I think I read somewhere that in terms of goals per game, this is lowest scoring World Cup of all time ... so far.
59 min: Iceland corner. Gylfi Sigurdsson sends the ball into the Nigeria penalty area, where Victor Moses hacks it clear.
58 min: Saevarsson crosses from the right touchline, but his delivery is cleared. Moments later, Iceland get another delivery into the Nigeria penalty area, but Leon Balogun clears well. In the stands, the Iceland fans begin another thunderclap in a bid to rally their team.
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56 min: It’s all Nigeria at the moment and Halldorsson is forced to tip a speculative Wilf Ndidi shot from distance over the bar for a corner. That was dipping in.
55 min: Argentina’s players will have been cheered up by that Nigerian goal. A win for Iceland in this match would leave them in even more bother than they find themselves already.
53 min: Sigurdsson is patched up by Iceland’s medics and will resume playing in a clean shirt, with an arresting pink bandage wrapped Terry Butcher-style around his head.
51 min: Ragnar Sigurdsson took an accidental knee to the back of the head as he attempted to block that shot from Musa and is currently receiving treatment. He seems to be bleeding quite heavily from the wound on the back of his head.
49 min: That was a terrific goal from Ahmed Musa. From an Iceland long-throw at the far end of the pitch, Nigeria cleared and galloped upfield on the break. Victor Moses sprinted up the inside right, before curling a cross towards the near post. Up in support, Musa controlled the ball with a wonderful first touch and slammed it past Halldorsson on the half volley.
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GOAL! Nigeria 1-0 Iceland (Musa)
Nigeria break on the counter and Ahmed Musa fires them into the lead on the half-volley.
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47 min: A long diagonal from Iceland and Bodvarsson tries to head the ball down for Gylfi Sigurdsson. Oh, hold on ...
Second half: Nigeria 0-0 Iceland
46 min: Iceland get the second half started. Nigeria have made a change. Brian Idowu has been replaced by attacking right-back Tyronne Ebuehi. Nigeria begin the first half at a tremendous lick, with Oghenekaro Etebo brimnging a smart save out of Halldorsson with a low drive.
Correction: Nigeria 0-0 Iceland
Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Apologies! Twenty-five matches in and I’m now imagining goals. It’s scoreless, not 1-1 as I incorrectly stated.
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Half-time: Nigeria 0-0 Iceland
Peeeep!!! After another couple of Icelandic crosses into the Nigeria penalty area, the ref blows for the interval. It hasn’\t been a classic by any standards, but it’s entertaining enough. Iceland began and ended the half brightly, but Nigeria were impressive in between. Both teams are looking toothless up front and with better finishing, Iceland should be a goal or two ahead.
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45+1 min: Brian Idowu was booked for that challenge, incidentally. And it was on Bodvarsson, not Sigurdsson. We got there in the end.
44 min: Iceland win a free-kick wide on the right for a Brian Idowu foul on – I think – Gylfi Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson curls a wonderful cross in and Alfred Finnbogason looks certain to score. He’s not able to make meaty enough contact and the ball flashes wide of the far post.
43 min: Nigeria corner. Iheanacho curls it towards the far post and out of play. I wonder if the Leicester City striker’s role as corner-taker is as contentious in Nigeria as Harry Kane’s used to be in England during Euro 2016 ...
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40 min: Both managers will, probably be happy enough with how their teams are playing, although both seem to be lacking quality in the final third. A case in point: Bjarnason finds himself in space in the inside left channel and drills a cross into the penalty area, but fails to pick out Bodvarsson in a good position.
39 min: Wilf Ndidi picks up the ball from Victor Moses about 10 yards outside the Iceland penalty area. He curls in a cross but there’s nobody in a Nigeria shirt in range. Moses castigates his team-mate for not playing the ball back to him.
38 min: Nigeria free-kick, down near the corner flag. Kelechi Iheanacho curls the ball towards the near post but it’s headed out for a throw-in. Mikel chucks the ball to the edge of the penalty area, but Musa is unable to flick it on. The ball eventually goes out for a goal kick.
35 min: Saevarsson curls a wonderful diagonal cross into the Nigeria penalty and a header from Leon Balogan puts the ball out for a corner. Jon Bodvarsson and Birkir Bjarnason were lurking with intent at the far post and one of them would surely have steered the ball goalwards but for the interception of the Nigeria defender. Nothing comes of the ensuing corner.
33 min: Iceland win a throw-in halfway inside the Nigeria hal, but don’t throw it long. Instead, Birkir Saevarsson takes the ball past two men and sprints to the edge of the penalty area, where he’s dispossessed.
32 min: Nigeria continue to dominate possession, albeit without doing anything with it. There’s not a lot going on here at the moment. Iceland win a free-kick deep in their own half for an Ahmed Musa foul.
28 min: The camera cuts to Iceland coach Heimer Hallgrimsson, who is spending most of the match hunkered down on the edge of his technical area constantly communicating with his players. He has them very well drilled – their defenders and midfielders are moving from side to side of the pitch in two lines of four that wouldn’t look out of place on a foosball table.
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25 min: The ball barely leaves them iddle third of the field for three minutes, but eventually ends up back in the hands of Nigeria goalkeeper Francis Uzoho.
23 min: With a quarter of the game gone, it’s fairly nip and tuck. Iceland dominated the early stages of the game, but Nigeria have grown into it. Interestingly, John Obi Mikel is playing a lot deeper today than he did against Croatia. He’s playing just in front of the defence, rather than as a No10, which seems to make a lot more sense. It’s clearly a position in which he’s more comfortable.
19 min: Sigurdsson and Gislason combine down the right flank for Iceland and Jon Bodvarsson wins them a throw-in. The ball’s crossed into the penalty area, where Uzoho punches it clear. Bjarnason tries to shoot goalwards and wins a corner off Victor Moses, who was flattened by the power of the shot. Nothing comes of the Icelandic corner.
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19 min: As the game goes on, Nigeria are looking more and more comfortable, having found their rhythm.
17 min: Nigeria win a throw-in in line with the edge of the Iceland penalty area. Wilfred Ndidi takes it long. Iceland eventually hoof the ball clear, with Ragnar Sigurdsson booting it as far as he can.
16 min: Victor Moses kicks it long down the right channel for Kelechi Iheanacho to chase. He crosses deep to Brian Idowu, who attempts to tee up Ahmed Musa for a header. Iceland clear.
14 min: Iceland win another throw-in halfway inside the Nigeria half. Gunnarsson hurls it long again, but they fail to win the first header and Nigeria clear their lines.
12 min: Aron Gunnarsson goes down injured after shipping an elbow to the ribs. He’s OK to carry on. The Mexican wave over, Iceland’s fans are now entertaining themselves with one of their trademark thunderclap chants.
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10 min: A Mexican wave rolls around and around the Volgograd Stadium after 10 minutes of action that have been dominated by Iceland. Nigeria are currently on the ball, pinging it around midfield as they continue to settle. They’re certainly looking more energetic than they did against Croatia, although that particular bar is low.
7 min: Nigeria get a corner, which Kelechi Iheanacho takes. His delivery is good and the ball’s cleared for a throw-in. Nigeria take it long and Kenneth Omero gets his head to it. He’s unable to get any power on his header and Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson makes his first contribution of note.
6 min: Gylfi Sigurdsson has another shot on goal, but it’s saved comfortably by Uzoho, who is being kept very busy.
4 min: Iceland attack down the left flank with Rurik Gislason on the ball. He goes shoulder to shoulder with Leon Balogun as he tries to get around the Nigeria centre-back, only to go down appealing for a free-kick. None is forthcoming.
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3 min: The ball’s floated into the penalty area, where Nigeria goalkeeper Uzoho claims comfortably despite the sun shining in his eyes.
2 min: Iceland get an early throw-in deep in Nigeria territory and Aaron Gunnarsson takes it long, Delapping it into the penalty area. Nigeria can only half-clear and concede a free-kick just outside their own penalty area. It’s in a great position for Gylfi Sigurdsson, who whips it over the wall and on target. Francis Uzoho saves for Nigeria, but concedes a corner.
Nigeria v Iceland is GO!!!
1 min: After the last of the pre-match niceties, Nigeria get the ball rolling, They play in that nice kit everyone’s been raving about, with their greeny-grey-white shirts, white shorts and mint-green socks. Iceland’s players wear blue shirts, blue shorts and blue socks.
Some pre-match listening: We’re recording a World Cup episode of our iTunes-topping, multiple award-winning podcast after each day’s final game and here’s the latest. If you’re not already a subscriber, sign up for free in all the usual pod-places.
The teams are out: It’s a sweltering day in Volgograd and it’s time for the national anthems.
On BBC television: “Ighalo got isolated in the first game, so he’s decided to go with two up front today,” says punditry’s Danny Murphy, who is sitting alongside Didier Drogba and Jermaine Jenas, with Dan Walker in the presenting role. He fancies Nigeria to win today and says they were lucky to draw with Argentina. I wouldn\’t necessarily agree with Danny on that final point. Iceland are a very well-organised side with some good players.
One change for Iceland
Reading striker Jon Bodvarsson comes in for Emil Hallfredsson as Heimir Hallgrimsson switches from a 4-5-1 formation to a 4-4-2.
Nigeria make three changes
Out go Odion Ighalo, Abdullahi Shehu and Alex Iwobi, who are replaced by Ahmed Musa, Kelechi Iheanacho and Kenneth Omeruo in a Nigeria team that were curiously lethargic and onderous in their opening match against Croatia.
An email: “We Icelanders aren’t used to having success on the world stage,” writes Kári Tulinius . “It’s therefore discombobulating to sit down and watch an Iceland game at the World Cup with genuine hope. But this confident generation of players seems unfazed by the big stage, so they’re unlikely to be affected. If anything their Achilles heel in recent years has been overconfidence, such as against France at the Euros. So while I mentally prepare for a crushing of hopes, I’ll be loudly cheering for my team as they step onto the biggest of world stages.” You might be, Kari. But over 40 million Argentinians won’t.
Nigeria v Iceland line-ups
Nigeria: Uzoho, Omeruo, Troost-Ekong, Balogun, Moses, Etebo, Mikel, Ndidi, Idowu, Musa, Iheanacho.
Subs: Ezenwa, Echiejile, Ighalo, Abdullahi, Simy, Obi, Onazi, Iwobi, Ogu, Awaziem, Ebuehi, Akpeyi.
Iceland: Halldorsson, Saevarsson, Arnason, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Magnusson, Gislason, Gunnarsson, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Bjarnason, Bodvarsson, Finnbogason.
Subs: Schram, Fridjonsson, Albert Gudmundsson, Ingason, Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Sigurdarson, Eyjolfsson, Olafur Ingi Skulason, Hallfredsson, Traustason, Ari Freyr Skulason, Runarsson.
Referee: Matthew Conger (New Zealand)
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Find out more about today’s teams ...
Group D: Nigeria v Iceland
Forty-four million citizens of Argentina will be joining 186 million Nigerians in roaring on the Super Eagles against Iceland (population: 334,000 and a dog). After their disastrous performance against Croatia last night, Argentina are on the brink of elimination and a win or draw for Iceland today would increase the stickiness of the wicket on which they find themselves ahead of next Tuesday’s match against Nigeria.
Defeat for Nigeria today will end their hopes of qualifying for the group stages and they will need significant improvement on their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Croatia to beat an Iceland team that showed no sign of World Cup jitters in their opening 1-1 draw with Argentina. Kick-off in Volgograd is at 4pm (BST), but stay tuned for team news and build-up in the meantime.
