Croatia to remain perfect in Group D

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26/06/18

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Croatia and Iceland head into their last match of the group stage on Tuesday. The two European nations will play in Rostov with an important three points on the line. Croatia have exceeded many expectations.

The team has secured six points from two matches and qualified for the round of 16. Croatia will top Group D regardless of their result against Iceland, the team should qualify as the top team. They will then play the second-place team from Group C.

Iceland will go into the fixture thinking about what could have been. The Nordic side earned a hard-fought point against Argentina in match one. However, Iceland were unable to stop Nigeria in game two and missed a penalty that could have changed the outcome of the match. For the most part, Heimir Hallgrimsson's team were completely outplayed by the Nigerians. Now, Iceland need a win and Nigeria loss to have any hope of going through to the next round.

Hallgrimsson's team must first put their disappointing loss to Nigeria behind them. The Nordic team must win against Croatia with a strong scoreline in its favour. To qualify and keep Argentina from overtaking them in the table (if Argentina beat Nigeria), Iceland must have a similar scoreline to the South Americans. Iceland have a –2 goal difference; meanwhile Argentina are –3 in goal difference. If Iceland can win and stay above Argentina, they will go through.

Iceland's biggest problem is Croatia's fantastic World Cup form. Croatia are +5 in scoring. After dispatching Nigeria 2-0, the Croatians destroyed Lionel Messi's Argentina team 3-0. Not only have Croatia been scoring goals, but the team's defence has kept two clean sheets.

Hallgrimsson has more headaches going into the final fixture than just breaking down Croatia's perfect defence. The manager will be without winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who is out with an injury. Hallgrimsson will most likely stick with the 4-4-2 formation that worked so well for the team in match one. It could prove difficult for Croatia to breakdown.

There is the chance Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic will make several changes to his team for game three. Dalic kept much of his starting XI intact for the team's first two matches. He could choose to rest key players like Luka Modric and Ante Rebic ahead of a round of 16 match against the likes of Denmark or Australia. Dalic has favoured a 4-1-4-1 formation which has kept teams from finding the back of goalkeeper Danijel Subasic's net.

nterestingly, these two nations played in the same group during UEFA World Cup qualifying. Iceland won the group by two points over Croatia, forcing Dalic's team to qualify through the playoffs. The teams split the two matches during qualification with the home team winning the tie.

Now on neutral ground at the World Cup, Croatia will continue their dominance and defeat Iceland. Dalic's side has been one of the World Cup's most impressive and the team will continue to dominate in Group D.