Croatia vs Nigeria, World Cup 2018 - as it happened: Luka Modric and Co up and running in Russia

4 mins: Early Croatia pressure has Nigeria living on the edge, relying on some last-ditch defending to divert away a quickly-taken free-kick and a left wing cross from Ivan Perisic.

8 mins: Croatia win the first corner of the game. Luka Modric strolls over to take it which gives commentator Jon Champion plenty of time to talk about the perjury charges awaiting the midfielder back home.

Keep it light hearted, Jon.

11 mins: Oghenekaro Etebo summons the ghost of Finidi George by expertly taking control of a dropping ball before tricking his way past his marker. The midfielder's run is only halted by Brazilian referee Sandro Ricci, who blows up for a tug on Etebo's shirt by an opponent. What's the Brazilian for 'play the advantage!'?

14 mins: Ivan Perisic strikes the game's first shot in anger over the top of Francis Uzoho's goal. I'd say the anguished look on his face tells the story of how close it was but I've bought enough Panini stickers over the years to know he always looks like that.

16 mins: The atmosphere inside the Kaliningrad Stadium has nothing on that served up by the Peruvians earlier this evening. Although the 60,000 fans that had travelled from South America to Russia did not have Ally McCoist's co-commentary to drown out.

22 mins: Better from Nigeria at the halfway point of this first half. Bright play by Ighalo wins a corner from which they test the Croatian defence with some testing crosses into the six-yard box. Eventually, the ball drops to the new Stoke signing, Etebo, who miscues his volley wide.

25 mins: The game is really flat. If that's bad enough, the lull in play has meant that Jon Champion and Ally McCoist have begun to engage in awkward small talk reminiscent of a first (and last) Tinder date.

28 mins: McCoist tells an anecdote about how Rangers once looked at the possibility of signing Modric from Dinamo Zagreb but the club couldn't afford it. It's very tempting to point out that never stopped them before, but I won't.

30 mins: The first yellow card of the game is shown to Ivan Rakitic for a really nasty tackle on Victor Moses. The Barcelona midfielder caught the winger on the ankle with a studs up challenge, and you've seen more severe punishments handed out for such challenges - especially at World Cups.

32 mins: GOAL! CROATIA 1 NIGERIA 0:

Croatia open the scoring in the most fortuitous circumstances. Luka Modric's corner, this time from the right, was met by the diving head of Mario Mandzukic. The Juventus striker did well to meet the cross but his effort was off target, travelling two foot wide of Francis Uzoho's far post before the flicking off the ankle of Oghenekaro Etebo and nestling in the bottom corner for an own-goal.