Argentina are fifth, while Nigeria are 48 on the latest FIFA ranking.
Nigeria have faced off against Argentina in each of their last four appearances at the Mundial (2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018). They also came face to face in 1994.
The Super Eagles have lost all their four previous World Cup clashes against the Albiceleste of Argentina, with all those games ending by single-goal margins (1-0 in 2002 and 2010, 2-1 in 1994, 3-2 in 2014).
Nigeria have also lost all their five past meetings against South American oppositions- Aside the four defeat against Argentina, suffered a group stage loss against, another South American country, Paraguay in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
In all competitions Nigeria have eight meetings against Argentina, having lost five, won two and drawn one.
The last time Argentina failed to qualify from the group stage was in 2002 Mundial and coincidentally they were in the same group with Nigeria. They beat Nigeria though, they exited the group stage. However, a win against Nigeria will see them through to the knockout stage this time round.
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Argentina are in danger of failing to win a game at the World Cup for the very first time since 1934. Even that was the era when the competition was by way of knockout from start to finish and a 3-2 defeat against Sweden was the end of the road for the South Americans in their first attempt.
The only previous time the Super Eagles won back-to-back World Cup games was in 1998, when they defeated Spain and Bulgaria in their first two matches, while, Argentina last lost back-to-back World Cup games in 1994 (against Bulgaria and Romania). They have never lost consecutive games in the opening group stage.
The Argentines are enduring their longest winless run in World Cup history (D2, L2), although that four-match streak includes the 2014 semi-final against the Dutch, which they won on penalties.
Ahmed Musa, who bagged a brace against Iceland is Nigerian all-time top scorer in the FIFA World Cup, with four goals, whereas, Lionel Messi has failed to score with his last 22 shots in matches at World Cup finals.