World Cup
Group F
Teams: Iran v Nigeria
Date: June 16
Venue: Arena de Baixada
The Champions of Africa, Nigeria, begin their World Cup campaign against Iran at Estádio Joaquim Américo Guimarães.
The reigning African Cup of Nations champions will be participating in their fifth World Cup, however, they failed to qualify 2010 edition in Africa.
Coach Stephen Keshi ruffled a few feathers with his squad selection, leaving out the likes of Sunday Mba, Obafemi Martins, Victor Obinna and most notably Villareal's Ikechukwu Uche, who was the highest scoring Nigerian in Europe.
The Super Eagles form in preparation for the World Cup has not been up to par, having failed to win any of their three warm up matches.
This will be Iran's fourth World Cup, while the last time they qualified for tournament was back in 2006 in Germany.
Carlos Queiroz men endured a mixed bag of results in their preparation for the tournament, having beaten Trinidad and Tobago 2-0, while drawing with Angola and Montenegro.
While, they've only won one of their nine World Cup matches, defeating USA in 1998.
The two sides have only met on occasion in the past, with the Super Eagles recording a 1-0 win in 1998.
Here is how they line up:
Iran: Haghighi, Heydari, Haji, Safi, Hosseini, Sadeghi, Nekounam, Timotian, Montazeri, Ghoochanejad, Dejagah, Pooladi
Nigeria: Enyeama; Ambrose, Omeruo, Oboabona, Oshaniwa; Azeez, Onazi, Mikel; Musa, Emenike, Moses
