Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi will begin his quest to earn an elusive World Cup trophy in of the tournament's most intriguing opening group matchups when Argentina faces Iceland.
The matchup pits Argentina, which boasts a star-studded roster that also includes Manchester City star Sergio Aguero, the Copa America runner-up, against Iceland which made a splash onto the international scene when it advanced out of group play in the 2016 Euros.
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The rest of Group D is comprised of Croatia and Nigeria, a foursom that could be among the tournament's most competitive.
World Cup schedule: Argentina vs. Iceland
When: Saturday, June 16, 9 a.m. ET
Where: Moscow, Russia, Spartak Stadium
MORE: Full World Cup schedule
Argentina vs. Iceland TV channel, live stream
Argentina vs. Iceland will be shown on FOX. It will be streamed live on fubo TV (free 7-day trial).
Argentina roster
Goalkeepers: Wilfredo Caballero, Franco Armani, Nahuel Guzman
Defenders: Gabriel Mercado, Christian Ansaldi, Eduardo Salvio, Javier Mascherano, Nicolas Otamendi, Federica Fazio, Marcos Rojo, Nicolas Tagliafico, Marcus Acuna
Midfielders: Enzo Perez, Maximiliano Meza, Lucas Biglia, Ever Banega, Giovani Lo Celso, Angel Di Maria, Christian Pavon
Forwards: Paulo Dybala, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuan
Iceland roster
Goalkeepers: Hannes Halldorsson, Runar Runarsson, Federik Schram
Defenders: Kari Arnason, Holmar Eyjolfsson, Rurik Gislason, Sverrir Ingason, Hordur Magnusson, Birkir Saevarrson, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Ari Skulason
Midfielders: Birkir Bjarnason, Samuel Fridjonsson, Johann Gudmundsson, Aron Gunnarsson, Emil Hallfredsson, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Olafur Skulason, Arnor Traustason
Forwards: Jon Bodvarsson, Alfred Finnbogason, Albert Gudmundsson, Bjorn Sigurdarson
Argentina vs. Iceland facts
- This will be the first ever encounter between Argentina and Iceland.
- Argentina have qualified for their 17th World Cup – it’s their 12th participation in a row. In fact, since 1978, only Germany (5) have reached the World Cup final on more occasions than Argentina (4).
- Argentina have gone past the first round in 11 of their last 12 World Cup appearances, the only exception coming in 2002. In fact, they have won 12 of their last 15 group games at the World Cup (D2 L1), their only defeat in that run coming against England in 2002 (0-1).
- Argentina have also topped their group in each of the last three World Cups. They have also won their opening game in each of the last six editions.
- Only Bolivia (18) scored fewer goals than Argentina (19) in the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.
- Iceland have qualified for their first World Cup and their second major tournament after Euro 2016 where they reached the quarter-finals. Slovakia were the last World Cup debutants to make it to the knockout stages of the tournament (2010).
- At 334,000 inhabitants when they qualified, Iceland are the smallest ever nation to reach the World Cup finals.
- Only Edinson Cavani (10) scored more goals than Lionel Messi (7) in the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup. Messi has scored four and assisted one of Argentina’s last seven goals at the World Cup finals.
- Gylfi Sigurdsson was top scorer (4 goals) and joint-top appearance maker (10 games) for Iceland in the qualifiers for Russia 2018.
- Jorge Sampaoli took over from Edgardo Bauza as Argentina manager with four matches to spare in qualifying. This will be Sampaoli’s second World Cup after 2014; he led Chile to the round of 16 where they were knocked out by Brazil on penalties.
- This is Heimir Hallgrímsson’s second major tournament as manager after Euro 2016 where he was joint-manager alongside Lars Lagerbäck. He took sole control after Euro 2016.