Nigeria defender Leon Balogun is warning his teammates they need to toughen up for the World Cup if the West African giants are to make any impact.
The Super Eagles were handed a difficult draw, meeting Argentina for the fifth in the last six finals, plus taking on Croatia and Iceland, and have their work cut out to better their previous best - a Last 16 finish.
"It's one of the toughest groups in Russia and we have to prove that we are tougher than Iceland and Croatia and better also than Argentina," Balogun told KweséESPN, "but it's going to be hard, hard work.
"Seriously I think it's a nice challenge," added the German-born centre back, who plays in the Bundesliga for Mainz. "It's similar to the group we had during the qualifiers, one of the most exciting groups, I think, and very competitive.
"However, the chances of qualifying for the second stage are there. Argentina is a team that stand for themselves if you look at their players and their individual quality but they are beatable.
"I'm very optimistic."
Nigeria begin their Group D campaign in Kaliningrad against Croatia and then play Iceland in Volvograd before finishing off against Lionel Messi and company in St Petersburg.
"I think Iceland we'll have to take very seriously," Balogun continued. "They had an amazing campaign during the qualifiers and also at the European Championships, they performed very well. They have been a big surprise.
"I think you can compare them to Zambia a little bit and Croatia, probably, would be like Algeria in our qualifying group," Balogun continued. "Croatia have great individual quality and on a good day can also beat the best teams."
However, the former Darmstadt man is confident of progressing to the next round, and hopes that Nigeria can shock one or two observers along the way.
"Yes, why not? We can be a big surprise," he vowed. "The chances are there.
"We have great individual quality as well, especially in the attack, and if we can fix a few things in certain areas of our game then we have a chance to go far.
"I know that a lot of Nigerians expect us to bring home the World Cup, but at the same time you have to be realistic because there are a lot of teams with a legitimate claim to raise the trophy at the end of the tournament.
"The key will be that we perform as a team again and once that is achieved and then the players can bring in their individual quality," the 29-year-old concluded. "If we in the defence do a good job, that will be good for the rest as they won't have to focus too much on defending and more on the attacks."