FIFA World Cup 2018: How Messi's Argentina can qualify for knockout stage after Nigeria beat Iceland

Argentina are in tough position in the FIFA World Cup 2018 right now. They face Nigeria in their final match of the group stage on Tuesday. They must win and hope for others result in the group to be in their favour to qualify for the Round of 16 in FIFA World Cup 2018.

After drawing their first game against Iceland, Lionel Messi and his team were beaten 3-0 by Croatia in their second match. The loss put them in danger of crashing out of World Cup at the group stage. However, Nigeria's win against Iceland has given them some hope.

Ahmed Musa scored twice for Nigeria to help them resuscitate their World Cup hopes in a 2-0 win over Iceland. Musa's double not only gave Nigeria a lifeline but also enhanced Argentina's chances of making it to the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup 2018.

If Iceland had won the match it would have almost all over for Lionel Messi's Argentina. However, Nigeria's win (and a two-goal margin) has given them a fresh lease of life.

Here's how the Group D points table looks:

Group D
Pos	Team	M	W	D	L	F	A	GD	P
1	Croatia	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5	6
2	Nigeria	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
3	Iceland	2	0	1	1	1	3	-2	1
4	Argentina	2	0	1	1	1	4	-3	1

As the FIFA World Cup 2018 Group D points table shows, Argentina are number 4 in the group right now. They have only one point from their two games and a negative goal difference of -3. However, they can turn the tide if they win big in their last gropu match and the other results of the group goes in their favour. 

Argentina face Nigeria in their final group match while Iceland take on Croatia in the other match.   

Here's how Argentina can make it to the knockout stage:

# Argentina will need to beat Nigeria by a very good margin. 

# They also need Iceland to lose or tie their match against against Croatia.

# If Iceland beat Croatia then Argentina must score a big against Nigeria so they have a better goal difference than Iceland.

If Argentina beats Nigeria and Iceland beats Croatia, both Argentina and Iceland would be on four points, and goal difference would decide it at that point. If goal difference is the same, then it will go to all the other tiebreakers.

Here is all you need to know about the FIFA tiebreakers:

FIFA Tiebreakers 1,2 and 3

The first three levels are fairly simple. The first is, of course, the points scored by the teams. The second is the goal difference, followed by goals scored. 

FIFA Tiebreakers 4,5 and 6

FIFA then examines the results between the teams. If one side in a two-way tie won the match against the other than it moves on.

FIFA looks at the points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned, goal difference in those matches and Number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned.

FIFA Tiebreaker 7: Fair Play

If team are still tied after all that FIFA Fair Play rules come into account. FIFA looks at their disciplinary records in the tournament to separate the teams. 

"Greater number of points obtained regarding fair play conduct (yellow cards = -1, indirect red card (as a result of a second yellow card) = -3, direct red card = -4, yellow card and direct red = -5, with only one of the deductions applied to a player in a single game)," FIFA explains the Fair Play rule.

It means a yellow card takes one point off your total, an indirect red (the result of being shown a second yellow card) is three points off, a straight red is four points off, and if you get a yellow and a direct red it’s worth five points off your total. The team with the highest total points remaining is the one that advances.

FIFA Tiebreaker 8: Random Draw

If, somehow, things are still tied by some bizarre happenstance after even that, there’s only one thing left to do- the drawing of lots. Team names are printed out and put into balls, which are in turn put into a bowl, just like the group stage draw. The lucky one goes through.