Why you should watch every team at the 2018 World Cup

Nigeria

With fire jerseys and a smooth run through African qualifying — which, as we’ve gone over, was not something that can be said for other top African nations — Nigeria enter this World Cup with potential to replicate or even go beyond their round of 16 run four years ago.

The Super Eagles (African national teams have the best nicknames by far) went 4-1-1 in their six qualification matches, including a 3-0 forfeit win after Algeria fielded ineligible player Shehu Abdullahi. Algeria, who had been sensations in Brazil, and Cameroon were eliminated from what had looked like a difficult Group B until Nigeria cruised through it without trouble. Zambia finished second, five points behind the leaders.

In 2014, Nigeria finished second behind Argentina in Group F. They played the eventual runner-ups tight, losing 3-2 on a Lionel Messi brace. A win against Bosnia and a scoreless draw against Iran proved to be enough to send them through to the knockout round, where they fell 2-0 to France. But it was a quality run, and talent is only growing in the west African nation.

Coach Gernot Rohr (an African soccer extraordinaire, having previously managed Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon) will send squad consisting of players from all sorts of places, none of which seem to be the domestic league. Only three players on the preliminary roster play in their native country.

But with talents like Arsenal’s Alex Iwobe, Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho and Chelsea’s Victor Moses, Nigeria have produced enough talent to be a regular feature in multiple European leagues. Historically and currently, they have led the growth of African soccer. The World Cup in Russia will be their opportunity to put it all together.