Russia 2018: Iceland threat for Eagles

Nigeria’s Group opponents at Russia 2018 World Cup, Iceland, have received a boost ahead the summer hostilities when on Thursday they were ranked 18th best team in the world.

Iceland made the historic leap from to World’s number 18 in the latest ranking by world football body, FIFA, on Thursday.

This is the highest ranking the team has ever achieved.

The team rose from 22nd to 20th place on the ranking in January, and has now overtaken Wales and Sweden to reach the 18th spot.

Iceland are preparing for their first ever FIFA World Cup this summer, where they have been placed in a group with Argentina, Croatia, and Nigeria, who are in 4th, 15th, and 52nd place on the ranking respectively.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles were downgraded from January’s 51st to 52nd, a development that gave the Icelanders a major psychological boost ahead of June when both teams clash at Volgograd Arena on 22 June in a second group D game.

Before this fixture, Nigeria would have settled scores with Croatia while Iceland play their first game against the Albiceleste of Argentina led by the FC Barcelona virtuoso, Lionel Messi on  16 June Spartak Stadium Moscow.

Iceland sent warning signals as far back as the 2016 European championship when they ousted England in the second round only to lose to the hosts France in the semifinal.