Argentina vs. Iceland
Iceland are making their World Cup debut and the opening group game on Saturday does not get any bigger.
Playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson and captain Aron Gunnarsson are both fit to face Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the group D clash at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow (2pm UK time, live on ITV).
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In fact Iceland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson has a fully-fit squad to choose from for the game he describes as the “biggest in the history of Iceland”.
Hallgrimsson told ESPN: “Everyone is ready to play and everyone wants to play. The team has been stable for the last four years. We are 20th in the FIFA list and [have] won very important games.
“We won our group in the qualifying for the World Cup. We deserve to be here, so we do not see it as a miracle that we here in the World Cup.”
In the run-up to the finals Argentina suffered a double injury blow when West Ham midfielder Manuel Lanzini and Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero were ruled out because of knee injuries.
Lanzini was replaced in the squad by River Plate midfielder Enzo Perez and Romero’s place went to Tigres’ Nahuel Guzman. Chelsea keeper Willy Caballero is likely to start, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Group D fixtures and live TV channels
- 16 June: Argentina vs. Iceland (2pm, ITV); Croatia vs. Nigeria (8pm, ITV)
- 21 June: Argentina vs. Croatia (7pm, BBC)
- 22 June: Nigeria vs. Iceland (4pm, BBC)
- 26 June: Iceland vs. Croatia (7pm, BBC); Argentina vs. Nigeria (7pm, BBC)
Messi will lead Argentina’s attack and Iceland boss Hallgrimsson says it will take a team effort to stop him. He told the BBC: “Regarding Messi, I don’t have a magic formula. Everybody has tried everything against him and he always manages to score. He is one of the best players in the world. We will play against him like everything we do, we’ll do it together. We’ll help each other and try to do it as a team.”
The other group D match on Saturday is between Croatia and Nigeria in Kaliningrad (8pm kick-off, live on ITV).
Argentina vs. Iceland starting XIs
Argentina starting XI: Willy Caballero, Eduardo Salvio, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Rojo, Nicolas Tagliafico, Lucas Biglia, Javier Mascherano, Maximiliano Meza, Lionel Messi, Angel di Maria, Sergio Aguero