Odion Ighalo is expecting a ‘war’ when Nigeria take on Argentina in a decisive World Cup clash this evening.

Both sides can still progress from the group stages, with Argentina needing a win and a draw being enough for the Super Eagles should Croatia beat Iceland in the group’s other game.

Ighalo, who spent two-and-a-half years at Watford before heading to the Chinese Super League in January 2017, is under no illusions as to how testing the game will be.

“It is going to be a war and a final of finals because they need to win,” the 29-year-old said. “They are going to come out and use every tactic they know to win the game.

“I am expecting it to be a very tough game but I think we are capable of qualifying.”

Having started Nigeria’s World Cup campaign in attack in a 2-0 loss to Croatia, Ighalo was dropped to the bench for the pivotal meeting with Iceland in his country’s second game in Russia.

His replacement, Ahmad Musa, scored both goals to inspire a 2-0 win in that game, which saw Nigeria climb to second in the table and set up the decider with an Argentina side led by Lionel Messi.

Ighalo says the squad echoed the mood of the nation in being disappointed by the way they started the World Cup, but insists they are in high spirits heading into tonight’s game.

"After the first game, Nigerians were disappointed. They were not happy and saying a lot of things about the team but now they have the confidence back," he said.

“We were also not happy. We were a little bit angry because we knew we had to step up our game and do better.

“The mood is so high in the dressing room now because when you win games, everybody is happy. We want to keep that until our next game.”