Best of Group D

A simplified look at Group D from a historical perspective and the current situation
Note: Country's best player Information taken from Wikipedia page. Match Report from several on-line articles


Argentina

History
World Cup Winners: Twice (1978, 1986)
Copa America Winners: 14 times (1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993)

World Cup Appearances: 16 times
1930: Runners-up
1934: First round (Straight knockout format)
1938: Did not enter
1950: Did not enter
1954: Did not enter
1958: Group stage
1962: Group stage
1966: Quarter-finals
1970: Did not qualify
1974: Quarter-finals
1978: Winners
1982: Second round
1986: Winners
1990: Runners-up
1994: Second round
1998: Quarter-finals
2002: Group stage
2006: Quarter-finals
2010: Quarter-finals
2014: Runners-up

Best World Cup Match: Argentina 6-0 Serbia and Montenegro (2006)
'Argentina are clearly in for the long haul this time. Yesterday's magnificent performance humiliated Serbia & Montenegro and produced a series of stunning goals, the second of which could prove the tournament's finest team effort.' The Guardian

'The combination of silk and steel - when required - was marvellous, and the margin of victory could have been greater. Argentina's players ended by twirling shirts above their heads in front of their celebrating fans to mark what must rank among the finest performances of any World Cup. Serbia & Montenegro are competing as a unit for the final time in Germany, and this Argentina display felt good enough to beat two countries.' The Guardian

Best player: Lionel Messi
'Often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as the greatest of all time, Messi has a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards, four of which he won consecutively, and a record five European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won 32 trophies, including nine La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, and six Copas del Rey. Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most official goals scored in La Liga (383), a La Liga season (50), a club football season in Europe (73), a calendar year (91), El Clásico (26), as well as those for most assists in La Liga (149) and the Copa América (11). He has scored over 600 senior career goals for club and country. Barcelona's all-time top scorer. His personal best campaign statistically to date was the 2011–12 season. Messi regained his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, breaking the all-time goalscoring records in both La Liga and the Champions League and led Barcelona to a historic second treble. An Argentine international, Messi is his country's all-time leading goalscorer. His style of play as a diminutive, left-footed dribbler drew comparisons with compatriot Diego Maradona, who declared the teenager his successor. Reached the final of the 2007 Copa América, where he was named young player of the tournament. As the squad's captain from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the 2014 World Cup, for which he won the Golden Ball, and the 2015 and 2016 Copas América.'

Present
World Cup Qualification: Third in CONMEBOL
Performance at Continental Championship: Runners-up
Most Notable Match in Qualification: Argentina 1-0 Uruguay (Home)
Most important player: Lionel Messi


Croatia

History (Since 1991)
World Cup Appearances: 4 times
1994: Did not enter
1998: Third
2002: Group stage
2006: Group stage
2010: Did not qualify
2014: Group stage

Best World Cup Match: Croatia 1-0 Romania (1998)
'Croatia deservedly won through to the quarter-finals of France 98 following this 1-0 triumph over a deeply disappointing Romanian side in the Parc Lescure, Bordeaux, this afternoon, thanks to a twice-taken penalty from Davor Suker after 45 minutes.' Takis-on-Line

'Croatia were by far the more creative and inventive of the two side.' Takis-on-Line

Best player: Bernard Vukas
'Vukas played as a left winger/forward and is mostly remembered for his extraordinary dribbling ability. In 2000, he was voted by the Croatian Football Federation as the best Croatian player of all Time, and in a poll by Večernji List, he was voted the best Croatian athlete of the 20th century. Moving to Hajduk Split in 1947. He stayed in Hajduk until 1957, playing 202 games and scoring 89 goals. With Hajduk, Vukas won the Yugoslav First League title on three occasions, in 1950, 1952 and 1955, and he was the league's top scorer in the 1954–55 season with 20 goals. In 1950, Vukas helped Hajduk win the Yugoslav First League undefeated, a record which has never been broken. He moved to Bologna, he returned to Hajduk in 1959 and remained until 1963, playing 65 games and scoring 5 goals. He spent his last days as a football player in Austria. With Yugoslavia he won 2 silver medals in the Olympic games. He played 59 games between 1948 and 1957 for the Yugoslav national team and scored 22 goals. He was also a part of the Yugoslavian team in the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cups.'

Present
World Cup Qualification: Play-offs Winners
Performance at Continental Championship: Second round
Most Notable Match in Qualification: Croatia 2-0 Ukraine (Away)
Most important player: Luka Modrić


Nigeria

History
African Cup Winners: 3 times (1980, 1994, 2013)

World Cup Appearances: 5 times
National team formed in 1949
1950: Did not enter
1954: Did not enter
1958: Did not enter
1962: Did not qualify
1966: Did not enter
1970: Did not qualify
1974: Did not qualify
1978: Did not qualify
1982: Did not qualify
1986: Did not qualify
1990: Did not qualify
1994: Second round
1998: Second round
2002: Group stage
2006: Did not qualify
2010: Group stage
2014: Second round

Best World Cup Match: Nigeria 3-0 Bulgaria (1994)
'Goals from Rasheed Yekini, Daniel Amokachi and Emmanuel Amuneke helped Clemens Westerhof’s side tear apart Dimitar Penev’s team that paraded legendary Hristo Stoichkov and Yordan Letchkov.' Goal.com

'The Super Eagles had come ever so close to following the footsteps of Cameroon by becoming the second African team to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup. The more remarkable aspect of it all was that Bulgaria that Nigeria had beaten 3-0 eventually got to the semi-finals of the competition while Italy that only managed to survive Nigerian humiliation ended up losing to Brazil via the lottery of penalty shootout in the final match. The World Cup could well have been won by the Super Eagles. In the end, Nigeria was adjudged the most entertaining team of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.' AllAfrica.com

Best player: Jay-Jay Okocha
'A quick and skillful playmaker, who is widely regarded as the best Nigerian player of his generation and one of the greatest African players of all time, Okocha was known for his confidence, technique, creativity, and dribbling skills, as well as his use of feints, in particular the stepover. Due to his skill, he was described as being 'so good that they named him twice'. Okocha joined Eintracht Frankfurt in December 1991. He continued to shine for the German side. While at Fenerbahçe, he also became a Turkish citizen. He has also served as a mentor, at the time, for young Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho during his time in Paris. Okocha joined Bolton Wanderers after leaving PSG in the summer of 2002. His debut season, made him a favourite with the Bolton fans. He was a member of both the victorious 1994 African Cup of Nations squad and the World Cup squad who made it to the second round before they lost in a dramatic match against eventual runners-up Italy. In 1996, Okocha became a key member of an arguably more successful Nigerian side, their Olympic gold winning side at the Atlanta Games. In the 1998 FIFA World Cup hosted by France, Okocha played for a disappointing Super Eagles side who failed to live up to expectations again reaching the round of 16, this did not destroy interest in Okocha, who had entertained fans with his trademark skills and dribbles and went on to be named in the squad of the tournament. In March 2004, he was named one of the top 125 living footballers by Pelé.'

Present
World Cup Qualification: Group Winners
Performance at Continental Championship: Did not qualify
Most Notable Match in Qualification: Nigeria 4-0 Cameroon (Home)
Most important player: John Obi Mikel


Iceland

History
National team formed in 1930 (officially 1946)
World Cup
1950: Did not enter
1954: Entry not accepted by FIFA
1958: Did not qualify
1962: Did not enter
1966: Did not enter
1970: Did not enter
1974: Did not qualify
1978: Did not qualify
1982: Did not qualify
1986: Did not qualify
1990: Did not qualify
1994: Did not qualify
1998: Did not qualify
2002: Did not qualify
2006: Did not qualify
2010: Did not qualify
2014: Did not qualify

Best player: Ásgeir Sigurvinsson
'He spent most of his career in Germany. One of the first Icelandic footballers to play in a foreign country, moving to Belgian club Standard Liège in 1973. He stayed there for eight seasons. Ásgeir then joined fellow Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart, where he figured prominently until his retirement. In his second year he scored a career-best – in Germany – 12 goals, being instrumental in a league conquest after a 32-year wait. Ásgeir gained 45 caps for Iceland and scored five goals. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's 50 anniversary, the Icelandic FA selected Ásgeir as its Golden Player, the most outstanding Icelandic player of the last 50 years.'

Present
World Cup Qualification: Group Winners
Performance at Continental Championship: Quarter-finals
Most Notable Match in Qualification: Iceland 1-0 Croatia (Home)
Most important player: Gylfi Sigurðsson