Youth plays experience in Group D

The youngest team at the World Cup will need to grow up fast.

Nigeria will rely heavily on 31-year-old captain John Obi Mikel to marshal the youngsters when the Super Eagles meet Croatia and their star-packed midfield in Kaliningrad on Saturday night.

The opening Group D match pits midfielder John Obi Mikel and the young lineup against a Croatia team powered by one of the tournament's strongest and most experienced midfields: Real Madrid' Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic, alongside Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic.

"We're a very young team and we have to play without pressure," said Mikel, the former Chelsea midfielder who now plays in China. "We have energy in this team, we want to fight, we're determined to do well and we know we can do well."

Nigeria were the first African nation to qualify for Russia, but they have sputtered in preseason matches with losses to both England and the Czech Republic.

Croatia, meanwhile, needed a playoff victory over Greece to qualify for the World Cup. After scoring just 15 goals in their qualifying campaign, questions have been raised about Croatia's attack.

Nikola Kalinic, who plays for AC Milan, believes Croatia's strikers can score.

"Problems scoring goals? I would not say there is any issue about it," he said. "We scored four goals against Greece in the playoff game. We are always at our best when we need to be."