Croatia midfielder Luka Modric has said that all of the pressure will be on Argentina when the two teams meet in their second Group D clash at the 2018 World Cup.

Croatia opened their tournament with a 2-0 win over Nigeria on Saturday night, but Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw by Iceland, with Lionel Messi missing a penalty for the South Americans.

Argentina and Croatia will lock horns in a key match on Thursday, and Modric is eyeing the victory which would take his nation into the knockout round of the competition.

"We'll play a good game against Argentina. I hope we will take some points but it's going to be tough. They have to play for a win because of [Saturday's] score, which was unexpected for them, but it's an important game for us and we will try to play our best," Modric told reporters.

The two nations have locked horns on four previous occasions, and it is Argentina that lead the head-to-head two wins to Croatia's one.