2018 World Cup: Nigeria World Cup Fixtures, Squad, Group, Team Guide

As African teams at the World Cup go, Nigeria is a regular, and the Joy Sports lens will be firmly fixed on their progress.

Nigeria romped through the toughest of Africa’s 2018 World Cup qualifying groups with such ease that it is difficult to offer a convincing argument against their credentials.

However, this current crop of Super Eagles remains a side in need of improvement. It is a young squad, much changed from the team that reached the second round at the last World Cup in Brazil. Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi are yet to deliver on the impact that has been expected of them, although Iwobi did get the goal that ensured World Cup qualification when they beat Zambia 1-0.

Key Moments in Qualifying
Oct 2016
After the embarrassment of missing out on qualifying for the 2017 African Nations Cup finals, Nigeria go to Zambia for the opening game of their World Cup group and come away with an unexpected 2-1 win, courtesy of first-half goals from Iwobi and Iheanacho.

Jun 2017
After losing at home to South Africa at the start of the 2019 Nations Cup qualifiers, coach Gernot Rohr only just manages to hold onto his job.

Sep 2017
The key group game against the African champions Cameroon has weeks of pre-match hype but what is expected to be a tightly fought affair turns into a 4-0 rout for Nigeria.

Oct 2017
Needing only to draw at home to Zambia, Iwobi scores the only goal of the game.

Nigeria World Cup Group
Nigeria are in a tough group alongside Argentina, Iceland, and a tough to beat Croatia.

Nigeria World Cup Friendlies
On the 23rd of March Nigeria lost to Poland, and then did the same four days later against Serbia. A draw and then 2-1 loss to the DR Congo and England respectively followed. In their final game they lost 1-0 to the Czech Republic.

23rd March – Poland (lost 1-0)
27th March – Serbia (lost 2-0)
28th May – DR Congo (drew 1-1)
2nd June – England (lost 2-1)
6th June – Czech Republic (lost 1-0)
Nigeria World Cup Fixtures
Nigeria open their World Cup account against Ivan Rakitic‘s Croatia on the 16th of June. Six days later on June 22nd they play Iceland. And finally they play Argentina on the 26th in Saint Petersburg.

16th June – Croatia
22nd June – Iceland
26th June – Argentina
The Coach
Gernot Rohr, age 64 (28.6.53)
Appointed in August 2016 on a two-year contract, the former Bayern Munich player spent 12 years at Bordeaux, going on to coach the club and take them to the 1996 UEFA Cup Final, where they lost to Bayern. Began his African coaching career at Etoile Sahel and led the national teams of Gabon, Niger and Burkina Faso before his surprise appointment by Nigeria.

The Players
Stars
Victor Moses proved in the campaign that Nigeria are one level up on their ability when he plays. John Obi Mikel is still the orchestrator in midfield, playing a more advanced midfield role than he did at club level.

Stalwarts
Leon Balogun has not been around long but he already captains the side and is the defensive bulwark in a relatively inexperienced back four.

Missing
First-choice goalkeeper Carl Ikeme has not played since announcing in July that he had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia.

Debuts
Nigeria failed to get Tammy Abraham to give up his England career.

Nigeria World Cup Squad
Final 23-man squad
GOALKEEPERS: Francis Uzoho (Deportivo La Coruna), Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Enyimba), Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa United).

DEFENDERS: William Troost-Ekong and Abdullahi Shehu (Bursaspor), Tyronne Ebuehi (Ado Den Haag), Elderson Echiejile (Cercle Brugge KSV), Bryan Idowu (Amkar Perm), Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes FC), Leon Balogun (Brighton), Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa).

MIDFIELDERS: Mikel John Obi (Tianjin Teda), Ogenyi Onazi (Trabzonspor), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City), Oghenekaro Etebo (Las Palmas), John Ogu (Hapoel Be’er Sheva), Joel Obi (Torino, Italy).

FORWARDS: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow), Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Odion Ighalo (Changchun Yatai), Alex Iwobi (Arsenal), Simeon Nwankwo (Crotone).

Nigeria World Cup Injuries
None to report
The Unanswered Questions
Could Nigeria go further than any other African country has gone before at finals?

No African team has made the last four at a World Cup and it has always been supposed that Nigeria, with its population of some 190 million, would be the first. This squad, however, might not be the one to do so.

Are they properly prepared?
For the first time, Nigeria looks to have a proactive administration. They have already had a friendly in Russia, where they beat Argentina, and they also managed to persuade CAF to postpone their 2019 African Nations Cup qualifier in Seychelles in March so that they can get themselves some more testing preparation before the World Cup finals.