Our prediction for this match:
Russia
Match Time & Date:
06/06/2025
19:00
Prediction: 2-2
Nigeria
Russia and Nigeria go head to head at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in what will be their first ever meeting on the international stage. Russia remain suspended from both FIFA and UEFA competitions, but they have won each of their last eight warm-up games. Both Yaroslav Gladyshev (Dynamo Moscow) and Kirill Shchetinin (Rostov) have received their first call-ups and the duo is widely expected to make their Russia debuts against Nigeria.
The Super Eagles, on the other hand, were scoring goals for fun in May friendlies and given Russia’s attacking potential at home, there is a big value in betting on both teams to score. A man to watch in the away team will be Bayer Leverkusen attacker Victor Boniface, with Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbahce), and Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge) making the cut as well. Fulham ace Alex Iwobi, though, has been omitted.
Highlighted Player (Alex Iwobi):
Alex Iwobi is one of the most talented African footballers. The Nigerian football player was born in Lagos on May 3, 1996, but he moved to Arsenal at the age of 8. In 2015 he made his first-team debut for the Gunners, starting in a 3-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup.
Speaking of his Premier League debut, Alex Iwobi played his first game for Arsenal in a 3-0 victory over Swansea City in October, 2015. The pacey winger played for England at youth level, but he eventually went on to play for Nigeria. Iwobi made his senior debut with the Super Eagles on October 8, 2015, coming as a substitute for Ahmed Musa in a 2-0 loss to DR Congo.
On October 7, 2017 the Arsenal footballer scored the winner for Nigeria against Zambia (1-0) which helped the Super Eagles book their place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals. Speaking of his individual trophies, Alex Iwobi was named CAF Young Player of the Year 2016.
Highlighted Team (Russia):
While they won the 1960 European Championship, while losing in the final in 1964, 1972 and 1988 as Soviet Union, Russia have enjoyed little success since starting to compete as an independent country in 1992.
Their best result up to date is the third-placed finish at the Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, while the team failed to get past the group stage at the World Cup finals in three attempts. However, with Russian Premier League getting stronger by the day, the national team have started to improve as well, and they now finally seem capable of matching the world’s top sides.
The new generation includes high-quality footballers such as Alan Dzagoev, Aleksandr Kokorin, Artyom Dzyuba and Oleg Shatov, while the likes of Igor Akinfeev, Sergei Ignashevich, Roman Shirokov and Yuri Zhirkov are nearing the closing stages of their careers. But, with plenty of exciting talent coming through the ranks, future definitely looks bright for the Russia national team.
Spain
France
Ecuador
Brazil
Chile
Argentina
Norway
Italy
Colombia
Peru
Bosnia Herzegovina
San Marino
