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In what could very well serve as a “play-in game” for the knockout round, Argentina and Nigeria face off Tuesday in Saint Petersburg.
In the United States, the game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on both Fox (English broadcast) and Telemundo (Spanish broadcast). If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch the game–and every other World Cup game–live on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
Fox (live in most markets) and Telemundo are both included in the “Fubo Premier” bundle, which has a channel package that is largely tailored towards international soccer fans and also has World Cup live streams available in 4K. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch any World Cup game live on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch the game live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which allows you to watch any World Cup game up to three days after it airs even if you forgot to record it.
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of live TV channels, including both Fox (live in most markets) and Telemundo. You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch every World Cup game live on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch the game live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials), allowing you to watch any game after it airs.
Fox (but not Telemundo) is included in the “Sling Blue” package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial of both, and you can then watch any World Cup game live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch a game live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
Preview
So, things could potentially get quite complicated in Group D, so lets attempt to break this down.
Croatia is as close to a lock atop the group as can be. The only way they don’t win the group is if the following events all happen: Nigeria beats Argentina; Croatia loses to Iceland; Nigeria makes up six on Croatia in goal differential (or Nigeria makes up five on Croatia in goal differential AND scores at least four more goals than Croatia). So, yeah, you can go ahead and write in Croatia’s name in that D1 spot, and you can do it in pen.
As for the runner-up in Group D, things may get more complicated. Nigeria will lock up that spot with either A) a win, or B) a draw as long as Iceland doesn’t beat Croatia by multiple goals.
If Argentina win on Tuesday, though, they’ll move to four points and hop Nigeria. Then, if Iceland loses or draws in that scenario, Argentina will advance. If Iceland also wins, then it will go to a tiebreaker, which will be determined by goal differential, then goals scored, then Fair Play points.
Phew.
In short, Nigeria wants a win but will probably be happy with a draw. Argentina must get a win, and to be safe, they’ll want to win by as many goals as possible.
Argentina is favored to get the victory, and normally they would be expected to follow through on those odds, but they’ve looked like a mess under Jorge Sampaoli this World Cup. Nigeria, meanwhile, is coming off a confidence-building win over Iceland, so you can’t just assume Argentina will get the three points on Tuesday.
Ultimately, with two talented–albeit inconsistent–teams and incredibly high stakes, this should be a highly entertaining match.