Iceland vs Croatia FIFA World Cup 2018 – Lineups, Predictions & Stats Preview 26 June 2018
Iceland and Croatia will face each other in the final match of Group D. Croatia are already assured of a last 16 place and only need a point to finish as group winners. Iceland, on the other hand, need to beat Croatia by a 2-goal margin and also have at least a goal more than Nigeria to qualify for the last 16.
Iceland Probable Lineups and Stats
This is the first time Iceland is participating in a World Cup. They drew 1-1 in their first game with Argentina. However, they lost to Nigeria 2-0, which means they need to win against Croatia and hope the other result goes their way. Iceland will be attempting to become only the second debutant team after Slovakia in 2010 to advance to the knockout stages. Centre back Ragnar Sigurdsson was forced out of the Nigeria game after suffering a head injury and so will be a doubt for this game. Iceland will also need to assess the condition of Winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who missed the Nigeria defeat due to a muscle problem. Some of those expected to start for Iceland are Haldorsson, R Sigurdsson, Arnason, Saevarsson, Magnusson, Bjarnason, Gudmundsson, Halfredosson, G Sigurdsson, Gunnarsson and Finnbogason. [/showmore]Croatia Probable Lineups and Stats
Croatia have already qualified for the last 16 round and only need a point in this game to be group winners. The started the tournament by defeating Nigeria 2-0 and also won 3-0 against Argentina. Croatia will be hoping to emulate or better the results achieved by the 1998 group, which reached the semi-finals in France. Their manager may make changes to the team to avoid injuries or possible suspensions. Forward Andrej Kramaric, who did not feature in the Argentina game could earn a recall for this one. Marcelo Brozovic is suspended and will therefore not feature in this game. Vedran Corluka, Ivan Rakitic, Marcelo Brozovic, Sime Vrsaljko and Ante Rabic are unlikely to play since they are all one booking away from a suspension. Their manager could also decide to rest the star midfielder Luca Modric, to ensure he will be fresh to guide them in the knockout stages. Some of those expected to start for Croatia are Subasic, Strinic, Vida, Corluka, Lovren, Kovacic, Pjaca, Bradaric, Badelj, Perisic and Kramaric.
Iceland v Croatia – Head to Head
Iceland and Croatia have met six times, with Iceland winning one, drawing one and losing four times. Both nations were drawn together in the qualifying campaign. Croatia beat Iceland 2-0 when they met Zagreb on November 2016. In the return, Iceland beat Croatia 1-0 when they played each other on June 2017 in Reykjavik. Iceland secured automatic qualification for the World Cup, while Croatia finished second and had to take part in a playoff to secure their qualification to the 2018 World Cup.
Expert Tip
If Croatia beat Iceland, Argentina gets a small chance to qualify for the 1/8 Finals. Against each other, both sides have played six competitive games, as Croats lead with 1-1-4. We expect few goals in this match, the Croats have a very good midfield line, which will be very difficult to overcome by a team like Iceland. We will provide you two tips for this match – Croatia to keep a clean sheet and the second one is Under 2.5 goals in the game. If you are feeling lucky, you can combine both predictions on one slip.Interesting Facts and Information
- Iceland haven’t won in their last 6 games.
- Croatia have a winning streak of 3 matches.
- Iceland wins 1st half in 35% of their games, Croatia in 16% of their games.
- Croatia’s recent performance is better than Iceland’s.
- Croatia have lost just 1 of their last 5 games against Iceland (in all competitions).
- In the last 5 meetings Iceland won 1, Croatia won 3, 1 draw.
- The winner of their last meeting was Iceland.
- Iceland scores 0.4 goals in a match against Croatia and Croatia scores 1.4 goals against Iceland (on average).
- Average number of goals in meetings between Iceland and Croatia is 1.8.
- When Iceland leads 1-0 at home, they win in 66% of their games.
- When Croatia leads 0-1 away, they win in 100% of their games.
- When Iceland is down 0-1 home, they win 0% of their games.
- When Croatia is down 1-0 away, they win 0% of their games.
- Average number of goals in the first half in meetings between Iceland and Croatia is 0.6.
- Iceland have conceded a goal in each of their last 7 games.
- During the last 6 meetings, Iceland have won 1 times, there have been 1 draws while Croatia have won 4 times. The goal difference is 11-2 in favour of Croatia.
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