Two of the weaker team of this World Cup meet. For the loser this is almost certainly the end to all reasonable chances to qualify to the knock-out stage. Nigeria is expected to win, but the forecast is weak due to bad data availability.
Iran
| Player | Goalimpact | Peak GI | Age | Team | No. Games | No. Minutes |
| Alireza Haghighi | 84.9 | 84.9 | 26.1 | Sporting Covilha | 19 | 1663 |
| Jalal Hosseini | 105.6 | 130.0 | 32.3 | Sepahan FC | 74 | 6914 |
| Amir-Hossein Sadeghi | 92.3 | 118.6 | 32.8 | Esteghlal | 32 | 2837 |
| Mehrdad Pouladi | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 0 | 0 | |
| Ehsan Hajsafi | 102.4 | 108.3 | 24.3 | Sepahan FC | 58 | 4573 |
| Javad Nekounam | 96.2 | 127.1 | 33.8 | Esteghlal | 236 | 20467 |
| Andranik Teymourian | 92.4 | 109.0 | 31.3 | Esteghlal | 89 | 6606 |
| Pejman Montazeri | 102.8 | 115.1 | 30.8 | Esteghlal | 49 | 4533 |
| Khosro Heydari | 108.7 | 120.9 | 30.8 | Esteghlal | 67 | 5820 |
| Reza Ghoochannejhad | 96.9 | 98.7 | 26.7 | Charlton Athletic | 84 | 5771 |
| Ashkan Dejagah | 104.3 | 109.1 | 27.9 | Fulham FC | 315 | 19855 |
| Average | 98.7 | 112.2 | 29.7 | |||
| Bench | ||||||
| Rahman Ahmadi | 98.4 | 98.4 | 33.8 | Sepahan FC | 31 | 2883 |
| Daniel Davari | 98.0 | 98.0 | 26.4 | Eintracht Braunschweig | 134 | 12329 |
| Hossain Mahini | 103.3 | 107.6 | 27.7 | FC Zob Ahan | 25 | 1897 |
| Ahmad Alenemeh | 93.0 | 112.7 | 31.6 | Sepahan FC | 4 | 241 |
| Reza Haghighi | 101.7 | 103.9 | 25.3 | 1 | 93 | |
| Ghasem Hadadifar | 99.2 | 112.8 | 30.9 | FC Zob Ahan | 22 | 1925 |
| Bakhtiar Rahmani | 103.5 | 115.9 | 22.7 | Foolad FC | 8 | 723 |
| Hashem Beikzadeh | 101.3 | 110.5 | 30.3 | Esteghlal | 35 | 2705 |
| Mehrdad Beitashour | 109.1 | 112.4 | 27.3 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 103 | 9309 |
| Masoud Shojaei | 100.4 | 106.6 | 30.0 | UD Las Palmas | 168 | 10560 |
| Alireza Jahanbakhsh | 95.4 | 121.4 | 20.7 | NEC Nijmegen | 36 | 1915 |
| Karim Ansarifard | 98.4 | 104.7 | 24.2 | Tractor Sazi | 29 | 1738 |
| Average | 100.1 | 108.7 | 27.6 | |||
Nigeria
| Player | Goalimpact | Peak GI | Age | Team | No. Games | No. Minutes |
| Vincent Enyeama | 112.2 | 112.2 | 31.8 | Lille OSC | 136 | 12741 |
| Efe Ambrose | 128.3 | 129.6 | 25.6 | Celtic FC | 105 | 9337 |
| Juwon Oshaniwa | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 0 | 0 | |
| Godfrey Oboabona | 104.0 | 111.7 | 23.8 | Caykur Rizespor | 36 | 3348 |
| Kenneth Omeruo | 100.7 | 126.9 | 20.6 | Middlesbrough FC | 70 | 6070 |
| John Mikel | 120.7 | 123.4 | 27.1 | Chelsea FC | 349 | 25472 |
| Ramon Azeez | 97.0 | 116.5 | 21.5 | UD Almeria | 41 | 2905 |
| Ogenyi Onazi | 100.0 | 119.8 | 21.4 | Lazio Roma | 80 | 5195 |
| Ahmed Musa | 94.1 | 112.4 | 21.7 | CSKA Moskva | 137 | 10780 |
| Emmanuel Emenike | 111.9 | 114.6 | 27.1 | Fenerbahce | 110 | 8490 |
| Victor Moses | 102.9 | 112.0 | 23.5 | Liverpool FC | 227 | 13570 |
| Average | 107.2 | 117.9 | 24.4 | |||
| Bench | ||||||
| Austin Ejide | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 0 | 0 | |
| Chigozie Agbim | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 0 | 0 | |
| Joseph Yobo | 91.1 | 122.0 | 33.8 | Norwich City | 450 | 39478 |
| Azubuike Egwueke | 108.7 | 110.4 | 25.5 | 7 | 499 | |
| Ebenezer Kunle | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 0 | 0 | |
| Ejike Uzoenyi | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 0 | 0 | |
| Reuben Shalu Gabriel | 101.6 | 109.8 | 23.7 | Waasland-Beveren | 9 | 470 |
| Peter Odemwingie | 92.4 | 119.4 | 32.9 | Stoke City | 401 | 28661 |
| Michel Babatunde | 90.3 | 110.0 | 21.4 | Volyn Lutsk | 67 | 3754 |
| Uche Nwofor | 93.4 | 105.7 | 22.7 | sc Heerenveen | 69 | 3722 |
| Michael Uchebo | 85.6 | 93.8 | 23.7 | Cercle Brugge | 132 | 7749 |
| Shola Ameobi | 85.4 | 111.2 | 32.7 | Newcastle United | 390 | 21401 |
| Average | 93.6 | 110.3 | 27.1 | |||