The Super Eagles need to book a place in the knockout phase but must avoid defeat against the striker and his Argentine mates
Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr says his side will show no mercy to misfiring Lionel Messi and Argentina at the Saint Petersburg Stadium on Tuesday.
Prior to the crunch tie, the Barcelona star failed to impress for the South American giants as he missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw with Iceland and was silenced in their 3-0 loss to Croatia.
The 31-year-old looks destined for his last World Cup outing with his Albiceleste side on the brink of an early exit from the tournament, except they fight hard and subdue the three-time African champions.
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However, the German insists his side are poised to get their first World Cup win over the South Americans giants.
Messi PS
“We love this great player Messi, everybody loves him,” Rohr told media at the press conference in Saint Petersburg on Monday.
“But the question for us is not if it’s the last World Cup for him. We are not here to watch him play. We’re here to get a result.
“We are professionals and we have to defend the colours of Nigeria. In football, there is no mercy, no pity. Everybody wants to win.”
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World Cup 2018 last 16: Who could England, Brazil, Mexico & more face in knockouts?
WORLD CUP
World Cup 2018 last 16: Who could England, Brazil, Mexico & more face in knockouts?
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Goal takes a look at the possible match-ups in the knockout stage as the group stage heats up in matchday two
The World Cup is past the halfway point, with the group stage having served up some exciting games, with a few surprising results.
The final round of fixtures are being played out and we will soon know which teams will progress to the last 16 of the tournament.
The knockout stage fixture schedule is already laid out, but as yet we can only project the potential match-ups.
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So, who could the likes of England, Brazil and Mexico face in the last 16? Goal brings you the permutations.
World Cup last-16 permutations
Group stage games will be wrapped up on June 28. Some groups have already been decided while others are dependent on results on matchday three.
The knockout stage kicks off with the last 16 and the first of those eight matches take place on June 30, with the others following on July 1, 2 and 3.
First up on June 30, the winners of Group C take on the runners-up in Group D, with the winners of Group A playing the runners-up from Group B later that day.
On July 1, the winners of Group B play the runners-up from Group A in the first game, with the winners of Group D facing the runners-up from Group C in the second game of the day.
The winners of Group E take on the runners-up from Group F in the first game on July 2 and the Group G winners play the Group H runners-up that evening.
The final round of last 16 games takes place on July 3, with Group F's winners playing Group E's runners-up in the first game and the winners of Group H playing Group G's runners-up.
You can see the projected last 16 ties in the table below, which will be updated accordingly.
Date Team Result Team
June 30 France - Nigeria
June 30 Uruguay - Portugal
July 1 Spain - Russia
July 1 Croatia - Denmark
July 2 Brazil - Germany
July 2 England - Senegal
July 3 Mexico - Switzerland
July 3 Japan - Belgium
Bold denotes qualified and position assured.
Bold and italics denotes qualified but position not assured.
Italics denotes position but no qualification assured.
(Last updated: Monday June 25)
Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal World Cup
France could well find themselves up against Nigeria in the last 16, if the Super Eagles are able to beat Lionel Messi's Argentina in the last group stage fixture. However, if the Super Eagles lose to Argentina and Iceland lose to Croatia, the South American side will face up against France in the next round.
Elsewhere, tournament hosts Russia will face off against 2010 winners Spain, which represents a difficult task indeed.
From Group G, England or Belgium will face either Senegal, Colombia or Japan, while Brazil could find themselves up against Germany, Mexico or Sweden.
Defending champions Germany looked to be crashing out at the group stage after they fell behind to Sweden in their second game, but managed to equalise and then net an injury-time free-kick through Toni Kroos to remain second in Group F.
World Cup quarter-final permutations
Once the last 16 ties are decided, there will be a break of two days before the action resumes with the quarter-finals on July 6 and 7.
The quarter-final games will see the teams that emerge from from either Group A or B and Group C or D go head-to-head, while teams that get out of Group E or F will play those from either G or H.
You can see the potential quarter-final match-ups in the table below.
Date Team Result Team
July 6 France/Nigeria - Uruguay/Portugal
July 6 Spain/Russia - Croatia/Denmark
July 7 Brazil/Germany - England/Senegal
July 7 Mexico/Switzerland - Japan/Belgium
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