One of Croatia's top stars, Barcelona's Ivan Rakitić, is wary of the Nigeria team ahead of their World Cup opener in Kaliningrad on Saturday evening.

For comparison sake, Croatia are in the same situation as the Super Eagles as they have not won an opening game at the World Cup since 1998, but the Barcelona midfielder is hoping they improve on their opening day fixtures when they face the three-time African champions.

''We know how important it is to have a good tournament, and we have to do everything to beat Nigeria, even though nothing has been resolved,'' Rakitic told Croatian reporters including Sportske Novosti.