The odds favour the Super Eagles to move into the quarter-finals at the expense of the French national team when they file out at the Brazilian National Stadium on Monday.
The venue of the clash between the African Champions and the Les Blues, as the French team is called, is Estadio Nacional Mane Garrincha, Brasilia, the serene capital city of Brazil.
There has been only one meeting between both teams, a friendly game in which Nigeria prevailed 1-0.
And this was courtesy of Joseph Akpala in Paris, France on June 2, 2009.
However, at the ongoing World Cup, Nigeria are the apparent underdogs in this Round of 16 battle.
In terms of ranking, France ranks higher and were World Champions in 1998 when they hosted the Mundial.
In addition, they finished top of their Group E with seven points, following wins over Honduras and Switzerland and a draw with Ecuador.
The team has an array of stars in virtually all the positions.
On the other hand, the Eagles had finished second in Group F, with four points after drawing 0-0 against Iran and outplaying Bosnia Herzegovina 1-0.
They lost 2-3 to Argentina but had garnered enough points to see them through to the Round of 16.
Nigeria promises a collection of rising stars who have yet to reach their potential and wishing to make names.
In the Eagles squad is Joseph Yobo, the captain of the side and the first Nigerian to hit the 100 caps, making him the most capped player in the country.
Together with his colleagues, they will strive to upstage the French, who by now had become used to being bundled out at the big stage.
No fewer than six of Nigeria’s leading names play in the English Premiership alongside nine of France’s best.
These include Osaze Odemwingie (Stoke City), John Mikel Obi and Kenneth Omeruo (Chelsea), Victor Moses (Liverpool) and Shola Ameobi (Newcastle),
At the Korea/Japan World Cup, Senegal humiliated France 1-0 in their first match as World Champions.
They never recovered from that defeat and were subsequently eliminated from the competition.
France were again eliminated from the last FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa at the group stage.
Although there had been re-organisation in the team under Coach Didier Deschamps, the memories of the humiliation to an African side will linger as they file out against Nigeria on Monday.
According to the Head of Communications of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ademola Olajire, the impressive showing of Nigeria against Argentina at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre could be a morale booster for Eagles.
Olajire said: “Their feel of the tournament and will to get further in the tournament will certainly make life difficult for the Les Bleus.”
Olajire quoted the Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, as saying before the tournament: “Our mentality must be strong.
“Our approach to every match has always been the same: to win.
“Whether we are playing against Spain at the FIFA Confederation Cup or playing against Liberia in a friendly match, I always tell the boys that victory is non-negotiable.
“For us, we will go into Monday’s match aiming to win.
“But as I also said before the competition, we take it one match at a time.
“We don’t even want to think of who may be lurking in the quarter finals if we win.
“We are not bothered.
“All we know is that we must win on Monday.”
Keshi spoke as the team arrived in Brasilia on Friday.
Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, is rated one of the best in the tournament so far.
It is expected that the Super Eagles would put behind them the bickering with the NFF over appearance fees and be fired up for Monday’s encounter.
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