Brazil 2014 - Nigeria vs Argentina
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Football Index:
World Cup Finals:
Brazil 2014: Nigeria vs Argentina.
1st Round Matches at Brazil 2014.
Wednesday, 25th June
Group Match
Nigeria
vs 
Argentina in Porto Alegre.
Match Preview
In the final Group F matches, Nigeria take on Argentina in Porto Alegre while Bosnia play Iran in Salvador.
Nigeria and Argentina have met at three previous World Cup Finals: USA 1994, Korea-Japan 2002 and South Africa 2010; with Argentina winning all three games by one goal.
The Match
With qualification assured, Argentina could comfortably treat this as an exhibition match.
0:1
It took less than three minutes for Lionel Messi to thank the travelling Argentinian fans
with a goal, after Angel di Maria's shot came back off the post.
1:1
One minute and twenty seconds after going behind, Nigeria were back in the game. A
wonderful finish inside the far past from Ahmed Musa.
Vincent Enyeama did well to save from a Lionel Messi free-kick, curling over the wall and towards the top corner.
1:2
Enyeama couldn't get anywhere near Messi's next free-kick; another curler, but landing
lower.
Half-time: Nigeria 1 - Argentina 2
Nigeria couldn't afford to let any grip on this game fade away, in case Iran scored two and beat Bosnia in Salvador.
2:2
And within three minutes of the restart, the Nigerians did just that; Ahmed Musa with
plenty of space to run through the two Argentinian central defenders.
2:3
Argentina wanted to win this for their huge support in Porto Alegre and pulled ahead
again; Marcos Rojo's goal encouraging the Argentina fans to up the volume.
Messi left the field, just after the hour; his work done for the day.
Final Score: Nigeria 2 - Argentina 3
Goalscorers:
0:1 - Lionel Messi (3 mins)
1:1 - Ahmed Musa (4 mins)
1:2 - Lionel Messi (45 mins)
2:2 - Ahmed Musa (47 mins)
2:3 - Marcos Rojo (50 mins)
Teams
Nigeria:
1-Vincent Enyeama; 5-Efe Ambrose, 2-Joseph Yobo, 22-Kenneth Omeruo, 13-Juwon Oshaniwa;
17-Ogenyi Onazi, 10-John Obi Mikel, 18-Michel Babatunde; 8-Peter Odemwingie, 9-Emmanuel
Emenike, 7-Ahmed Musa.
Argentina:
1-Sergio Romero; 4-Pablo Zabaleta, 17-Federico Fernandez, 2-Ezequiel Garay, 16-Marcos
Rojo; 5-Fernando Gago, 14-Javier Mascherano, 7-Angel di Maria; 10-Lionel Messi, 9-Gonzalo
Higuain, 20-Sergio Aguero.
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli - Italy 
2 yellow cards:
47 mins - Kenneth Omeruo (Nigeria)
50 mins - Juwon Oshaniwa (Nigeria)
The Road to Rio
2014 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
Second Round
Argentina vs Switzerland 
in Sao Paulo.
Brazil vs Chile 
in Belo Horizonte.
Colombia vs Uruguay 
in Rio de Janeiro.
Costa Rica vs Greece 
in Recife.
France vs Nigeria
in Brasilia.
Germany vs Algeria 
in Porto Alegre.
Holland vs Mexico 
in Fortaleza.
Quarter-finals
Argentina vs Belgium 
in Brasilia.
Brazil vs Colombia
in Fortaleza.
France vs Germany
in Rio de Janeiro.
Holland vs Costa Rica
in Salvador.
Semi-finals
Brazil vs Germany
in Belo Horizonte.
Holland vs Argentina
in Sao Paulo.
Third-Place Match
Brazil vs Holland
in Brasilia.
2014 World Cup Final
Germany vs Argentina
in Rio de Janeiro.
World Cup Finals
Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay trailed Argentina at half-time (1:2) but replied with three goals in the second half; to win the first ever World Cup Final (4-2)
on July 30th, 1930.
Italy 1934:
Italy were one of the countries who missed out on the vote to host the first World Cup but managed to win the prestigious golden trophy
for the home fans.
France 1938:
The third World Cup was held in Europe for a second time, although Germany had annexed Austria, and Spain was in civil turmoil.
Brazil 1950:
Although no cup-final as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game with the winner guaranteed to be champions; a draw would be enough for Brazil.
Switzerland 1954:
The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a 7:5 encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.
Sweden 1958:
Brazil presented a 17 year-old Pele to the world; who went on to claim a hat-trick in Brazil's 5:2 semi-final win over France and bag another two in the final.
Chile 1962:
Czechoslovakia overcame Hungary in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the semis, while Brazil took care of England and the host nation, Chile.
England 1966:
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, in the final against West Germany, as England triumphed in a thrilling game watched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mexico 1970:
1970 belonged to Pelé, who earned his third World Cup winners' medal when Brazil got their hands on the Jules Rimet Cup.... for keeps.
W. Germany 1974:
Johan Cruyff was the player of the tournament as total football became the buzzword of the day, even though Holland lost to West Germany in the 1974 final.
Argentina 1978:
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row. As in West Germany,
they again finished runners-up; to the hosts.
Spain 1982:
The Spain 82 World Cup finals increased to 24 teams and the format was changed to have two group stages, with four second-round groups of three.
Mexico 1986:
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup Finals for a second time; having only staged the competition sixteen years previously.
Italy 1990:
In 1990, Italy became the World Cup of stalemates. Both semi-finals were drawn out through penalty kicks. In the final itself, the only goal came from the spot.
USA 1994:
Once Team US had played a few games most of the nation began to understand they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.
France 1998:
France became the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil. Thirty-two teams competed in the 16th World Cup; better known as France 98.
Korea-Japan 2002:
The 17th World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, was the first World Cup finals to be shared by two hosts and the first to be held in Asia.
Germany 2006:
The 2006 World Cup Finals ran from 9th June to 9th July; the opening
match in Munich and the final in Berlin. Munich and Dortmund hosted the
semi-finals.
South Africa 2010:
Eighty years after the First World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the world's most prestigious football competition was finally hosted on the African continent.
Brazil 2014:
Five times World Cup Champions, Brazil, get a second chance to hold the prestigious World Cup Finals; 64 years after they last hosted the tournament.
Russia 2018:
VAR made its World Cup debut and set out to change the course of a game with some crucial rule infringement watching and vital on the spot decisions.
Qatar 2022:
When FIFA executives met in Zurich to decide on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, Qatar was probably the biggest surprise to many.
United 2026:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico
and the United States. The United Bid won the hosting rights ahead of
Morocco.
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