World Cup: A look at Tuesday’s World Cup schedule
A look at the matchups for World Cup games Tuesday:
GROUP C
AUSTRALIA VS. PERU
Where: Sochi
Time: 7 a.m. PDT.
TV: FS1, Telemundo.
The buzz: Winless Peru is the only team in the group that has already been eliminated, while Australia is in a precarious position and needs help to go through. To keep their World Cup alive, the Socceroos must beat Peru, hope Denmark loses to France and then make up a two-goal differential to the Danes. That could be tough since Australia’s only two scores in the tournament have come on penalty kicks and both of Peru’s losses have been by 1-0 scores.
DENMARK VS. FRANCE
Where: Moscow
Time: 7 a.m. PDT.
TV: Fox, Universo.
The buzz: Unbeaten France has already qualified for the second round but needs at least a draw here to win the group and get an easier path through the knockout stages. Denmark, meanwhile, advances with either a point against France or an Australia loss or draw to Peru. Denmark wins the group with a victory over France.
GROUP D
ICELAND VS. CROATIA
Where: Rostov
Time: 11 a.m. PDT.
TV: FS1, Universo.
The buzz: Croatia has confirmed a berth in the second round but needs at least a draw with Iceland to win the group. Given a superior goal differential — plus-5 — over second-place Nigeria, Croatia is almost certain to finish first even with a loss. But Iceland’s situation is far more complicated. It needs a win over Croatia and a Nigeria loss to Argentina to move on. If Nigeria and Argentina draw, then Iceland must win and overcome a two-score goal difference since Nigeria holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
NIGERIA VS. ARGENTINA
Where: St. Petersburg
Time: 11 a.m. PDT.
TV: Fox, Telemundo.
The buzz: Who would have thought it would come to this? Lionel Messi & Co. need a win and some help on the final day of group play to avoid elimination in the first round of a World Cup for the first time since 2002. The clearest path through has Argentina beating Nigeria and Iceland losing or drawing against Croatia. If Argentina and Iceland both win, the South Americans must win by a greater margin to make up the goal differential. If the teams, who played to a draw in their own matchup, finish with identical scores the tie will be broken by disciplinary records, where Iceland has the advantage since Argentina has three yellow cards and Iceland none through two games. For Nigeria, the scenario is far simpler: A win and it goes on, a draw and it advances if Iceland does not win.
kevin.baxter@latimes.com | Twitter: @kbaxter11
