Croatia vs. Nigeria: Team News, Live Stream, TV Info for World Cup 2018

Croatia and Nigeria meet in the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage on Saturday as they bid to get their campaigns off to the right start.

The pair are realistically battling for second place in Group D behind Argentina, but kicking off with a win will keep their slim hopes alive of finishing top and avoiding a likely meeting with France in the round of 16.

Les Bleus knocked Nigeria out at that stage in the 2014 World Cup, and they'll be eager to avoid a repeat this time around.

Date: Saturday, June 16

Time: 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET

TV: ITV (UK), FS1 (U.S.)

Live Stream: ITV Hub (UK), Fox Soccer 2GO (U.S.)

Team News

Per ESPN's Colin Udoh, Super Eagles defender Leon Balogun did not train with the team on Thursday as he was undergoing a scan, and as a result he is a "major doubt" for the clash.

According to Transfermarkt, Croatia have no injuries and should therefore have a full complement of players to choose from.

Preview

Croatia have brought a strong side to Russia, and on paper, they're the strongest team in Group D after Argentina.

In attack, they'll have Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic—who scored 11 goals and produced as many assists last season—feeding Mario Mandzukic up top. The striker has netted 30 times for his country, and between the pair, they have scored nine goals at international tournaments with Croatia.

Meanwhile, they have some exceptional options in midfield, as noted by Bleacher Report's Alex McGovern:

Real Madrid star Luka Modric will be particularly key, and Croatia will look to control the tempo of this match through him.

Nigeria are not to be taken lightly, though, particularly after they beat Poland 1-0 in March, which demonstrated their ability to punch above their weight.

The Super Eagles have reached the round of 16 at the World Cup on three occasions, so they'll be hoping to do so again despite their tricky group.

As BBC Sport's Oluwashina Okeleji noted, Nigeria are the most experienced African side when it comes to the World Cup:

The likes of Ahmed Musa and Victor Moses will give them plenty of pace on the counter-attack, while Leicester City star Wilfred Ndidi will prove a formidable opponent to Modric and Ivan Rakitic in midfield, as FourFourTwo demonstrated:

Where Nigeria could struggle is scoring goals, particularly in this match.

Musa is the top-scoring player in their squad with 13 goals from 72 appearances, and Croatia shipped just five goals in 12 qualifying matches to get here, so breaching their defence will be a big ask for the Super Eagles.