5 Minnows who could qualify for the World Cup knockout stages

#3 Nigeria

The Super Eagles will be looking to make a return to relevance

Nigeria have recently been World Cup regulars, having qualified for six of the last seven tournaments, but in the overall context of the game, they are still minnows. A FIFA ranking of 41 at the time of the Russia 2018 draw and their failure to qualify for either of the last two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations supports that assignation.

The Super Eagles have been drawn in Group D, alongside Argentina, Croatia and Iceland. Argentina will be expected to win the group, but Croatia were the lowest-ranked of the second seeds and are a side whose collective output rarely matches their underlying individual talent. Iceland are a well-structured team who have done incredibly well in recent years but are still an opponent that Nigeria will feel they have a decent chance of defeating.

A recent 4-2 friendly win over Argentina, in which Alex Iwobi and Kelechi Iheanacho shone brightest, showed that Nigeria even have enough firepower to potentially overcome the group’s top seeds - a side they have been drawn against in the group stage for a third consecutive tournament and a fifth occasion overall.

And so Nigeria have a solid chance of making it through to the round of 16 for the third time in their history.