"He is, in my view, the best player in the world."— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2018
Ragnar Sigurdsson knows what #ISL are facing in @TeamMessi and #ARG today, but they are ready for the challenge. pic.twitter.com/oI9696FxYZ
4' Messi takes but it evades everyone in the box and runs out for a corner.
3' Argentina win a freekick in a good position after Tagliafico was brought down. Messi is standing over this one, what can he do with this?
1' Iceland get the game underway playing from right to left.
Argentina starting XI against Iceland: Caballero; Tagliafico, Otamendi, Rojo, Salvio; Mascherano, Biglia; Meza, Messi, Di María; Agüero.
Iceland starting XI vs Argentina: Halldórsson; Árnason, Saevarsson, R.Sigurdsson, Magnusson; Gudmundsson, Gunnarsson, Hallfredsson; Bjarnason, Finnbogason, G.Sigurdsson.
Read our preview below:
Argentina kickoff their World Cup campaign with a tricky tie against debutants Iceland. This is the first ever meeting between both nations. Lionel Messi is set to play in his fourth World Cup and has scored six goals for his country at the mundial since making his debut in 2006
Russia's capital Moscow will be the centre of attraction in day three of the FIFA World Cup as one of the greatest players Lionel Messi leads his Argentine teammates against one of the tournament’s latest debutants Iceland.
Argentina making their 17th appearance at the World Cup will entertain an Iceland nation who will also be making history as the smallest nation ever to play at a World Cup.
With a population of 335,000, the European nation will have to stop one man Lionel Messi who has not had a good love affair with the World Cup in his three previous tournaments. They ended with losses in two quarterfinals and the 2014 final, all against Germany.
According to their coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, this is the biggest game in the history of Icelandic football.
He added: "Regarding Messi, I don't have a magic formula. Everybody has tried everything against him and he always manages to score. "I've said it would be unfair to give a player the role of marking Messi.
He is one of the best players in the world. We will play against him like everything we do, we will do it together. We will help each other and try to do it as a team." However, Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli wasted no time in naming his line-up a day before the match, handing starts to Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero.
Iceland were arguably the team of the tournament at Euro 2016 as they played a 1-1 draw against Portugal in the group stage and dispatched England on their road to the quarterfinal.
But now they are up against Lionel Messi, a man who is on a mission to win his first trophy with the Argentine senior team. This encounter will be the first between both teams but they still have two other teams in Group D to contend with as Nigeria and Croatia face-off in the late kick off set to be played in Kaliningrad.
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.
Star player for Argentina: Lionel Messi
Iceland potential XI: Halldorsson; R. Sigurdsson, A. Skulason, Eyjolfsson, Arnason; Bjarnason, G. Sigurdsson, Hallfredsson, J. Gudmundsson; Sigurdarson, Finnbogason.
Star player for Iceland: Gylfi Sigurdsson
Venue: Spartak Stadium in Moscow
Time: 2pm Nigeria time
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