Iran and Nigeria will look to break their losing spell when they collide on Monday at the Arena Da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil. Both teams have never won a World Cup match since the 1998 tournament in France.

Nigeria's last victory at a World Cup was when they defeated Spain and Bulgaria to top their group in 1998, while Iran's last victory was against the United States in their historic showdown 16 years ago.

Nigeria and Iran will have a good chance of redeeming themselves in this year's World Cup as they were drawn in one of the most favorable groups in the tournament.

The winner of the Iran-Nigeria match will have a good chance to advance to the next round together with Group F favorites Argentina. The winner needs to win against Bosnia, who absorbed a 2-1 loss to Argentina on Sunday, to advance to the knockout stages.

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi, who will lean on their attacking duo of Victor Moses and Ahmed Musa along with Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, said that they have no room for complacency, pointing out that Iran is a well-coached squad.

"For the Iran game we have to be focused," Keshi said via Yahoo! Sports UK. "We have to concentrate and do our job. We're not going to take Iran lightly because they're not going to take us lightly, so we have to go out with everything that we have. They have a very good coach and I'm sure they also have some quality players."

Iran, who has low expectations heading into the tournament after missing several key players during their pre-tournament buildup, vowed to play hard to earn the respect of their opponents.

Ashkan Dejagah, who scored four goals in 14 international matches for Iran, is the man to watch for Team Melli, who will also lean on goalkeeper Dan Gaspar.

Gaspar admitted that they are aware their opponents are taking them lightly, but expressed confidence that things will change after playing against Nigeria.

"We are probably the team that is the least recognized, the least known of all the other 31 teams," Gaspar said. "But the one thing that I can guarantee is that after 90 minutes we will earn the respect of the Nigerians, we will earn the respect of the football fans and the world will begin to recognize the level of play that we have on our team."

Iran and Nigeria will kick off their campaign at 3 a.m. EST. Fans can catch the action on ESPN and WatchESPN.

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