27 June 2018
What a night it was in St. Petersburg as Argentina battled Nigeria with the second spot in the group up for grabs.
Gonzalo Higuain started for the Albiceleste as Lionel Messi scored his first goal of the World Cup with a brilliant individual effort taking a long ball down with two perfect touches before smashing home the opener in the 14th minute.
In the second half, Nigeria pulled level in the 51st minute as Javier Mascherano was whistled for a foul in the box with Victor Moses equalizing from the penalty spot.
With time ticking down and Nigeria in the driver's seat to advance, Argentina pulled it out as Marcos Rojo cooly slotted home a cross in the 86th minute to spark wild celebrations.
In the other group match, Marko Pjaca saw his first action of the World Cup playing 70 minutes as Croatia defeated Iceland 2-1 due to a late Ivan Perisic goal to finish the group with a perfect nine points.
In group C, Blaise Matuidi did not feature as a 0-0 draw for France vs Denmark saw Les Blues secure top spot.
That means another Bianconeri derby in the round of 16 as Argentina will face France on Saturday in Kazan.
In today's action, Sami Khedira's Germany faces Korea Republic in Kazan at 16.00 CEST with everything on the line. If Germany can better Sweden's result against Meixco, they will advance to the round of 16.
In the late matches, Brazil faces Serbia needing a draw to ensure passage to the knockout round, though Douglas Costa has been ruled out for the match due to injury.
