The following is a match centre with betting tips for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group B fixture between Iran and Spain. The game kicks off on the 21st of June at 4:00 AM AEST. It will be broadcast live by SBS, who now have the rights to all remaining group stage matches.
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Iran
- FIFA World Rank: 37
- Elo Rating: 21
- Qualifying: Winner of Group A with a 6-4-0 record in the AFC Third Round.
Squad:
- Coach: Carlos Queiroz (Portugal)
- Goalkeepers: Alireza Beiranvand (Persepolis), Rashid Mazaheri (Zob Ahan), Amir Abedzadeh (Maritimo)
- Defenders: Ali Gholizadeh (Saipa), Majid Hosseini (Esteghlal), Milad Mohammadi (Akhmat Grozny), Mohammad Khanzadeh (Padideh), Morteza Pouraliganji (Alsaad), Pejman Montazeri (Esteghlal), Ramin Rezaeian (Ostende), Roozbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal)
- Midfielders: Ehsan Haji Safi (Olympiacos), Karim Ansarifard (Olympiacos), Masoud Shojaei (AEK Athens), Mahdi Torabi (Saipa), Omid Ebrahimi (Esteghlal), Saeid Ezatolahi (Amkar Perm)
- Forwards: Alireza Jahanbakhsh (AZ Alkmaar), Ashkan Dejageh (Nottingham Forest), Mahdi Taremi (Al-Gharafa), Reza Ghoochannejhad (Heerenveen), Saman Ghoddos (Ostersunds), Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan), Vahid Amiri (Persepolis)
Recent results:
- Morocco 0 – 1 Iran
15/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - Lithuania 0 – 1 Iran
08/06/2018
Friendly, played in Russia - Turkey 2 – 1 Iran
28/05/2018
Friendly, played in Turkey - Iran 1 – 0 Uzbekistan
19/05/2018
Friendly, played in Iran - Algeria 1 – 2 Iran
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in Austria - Tunisia 1 – 0 Iran
23/03/2018
Friendly, played in Tunisia - Iran 4 – 0 Sierra Leone
17/03/2018
Friendly, played in Iran - Iran 1 – 0 Venezuela
13/11/2017
Friendly, played in Netherlands - Iran 2 – 1 Panama
09/11/2017
Friendly, played in Austria - Russia 1 – 1 Iran
10/10/2017
Friendly, played in Russia - Iran 2 – 0 Togo
05/10/2017
Friendly, played in Iran - Iran 2 – 2 Syria
05/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Iran
Statistics: (last four years):
- H2H Record: 31-9-6
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 43-3
- O/U 1.5 record: 27-19
- O/U 2.5 record: 17-29
- O/U 3.5 record: 12-34
- O/U 4.5 record: 5-41
- O/U 5.5 record: 5-41
- Wins
- Total wins: 31
- Won by 1 goal: 16
- Won by 2 goals: 8
- Won by 3 goals: 1
- Won by 4 goals: 2
- Won by 5 goals: 0
- Won by 5+ goals: 4
- Won to nil 25
- Losses
- Total losses: 6
- Lost by 1 goal: 4
- Lost by 2 goals: 2
- Lost by 3 goals: 0
- Lost by 4 goals: 0
- Lost by 5 goals: 0
- Lost by 5+ goals: 0
- Lost to nil 3
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 46
- Clean Sheets: 28
- Held Scoreless: 6
- Both Teams Scored: 15
Spain
- FIFA World Rank: 10
- Elo Rating: 3
- Qualifying: Won Group G with a 9-1-0 record in the UEFA Confederation qualification.
Squad:
- Coach: Fernando Hierro
- Goalkeepers: David de Gea (Manchester United), Pepe Reina (Napoli), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao)
- Defenders: Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Nacho (Real Madrid), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Nacho Monreal (Arsenal)
- Midfielders: Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Alcantara (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City).
- Forwards: Isco (Real Madrid), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Lucas Vazquez (Real Madrid), Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Rodrigo (Valencia), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid)
Recent results:
- Portugal 3 – 3 Spain
15/06/2018
FIFA World Cup, played in Russia - Tunisia 0 – 1 Spain
09/06/2018
Friendly, played in Russia - Spain 1 – 1 Switzerland
03/06/2018
Friendly, played in Spain - Spain 6 – 1 Argentina
27/03/2018
Friendly, played in Spain - Germany 1 – 1 Spain
23/03/2018
Friendly, played in Germany - Russia 3 – 3 Spain
14/11/2017
Friendly, played in Russia - Spain 5 – 0 Costa Rica
11/11/2017
Friendly, played in Spain - Israel 0 – 1 Spain
09/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Israel - Spain 3 – 0 Albania
06/10/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Spain - Liechtenstein 0 – 8 Spain
05/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Liechtenstein - Spain 3 – 0 Italy
02/09/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Spain - Macedonia 1 – 2 Spain
11/06/2017
WC qualifiers, played in Macedonia
Statistics: (last four years):
- H2H Record: 30-9-7
- O/U record
- O/U 0.5 record: 45-1
- O/U 1.5 record: 35-11
- O/U 2.5 record: 24-22
- O/U 3.5 record: 15-31
- O/U 4.5 record: 9-37
- O/U 5.5 record: 7-39
- Wins
- Total wins: 30
- Won by 1 goal: 9
- Won by 2 goals: 6
- Won by 3 goals: 6
- Won by 4 goals: 4
- Won by 5 goals: 3
- Won by 5+ goals: 2
- Won to nil 23
- Losses
- Total losses: 7
- Lost by 1 goal: 5
- Lost by 2 goals: 2
- Lost by 3 goals: 0
- Lost by 4 goals: 0
- Lost by 5 goals: 0
- Lost by 5+ goals: 0
- Lost to nil 5
- Clean Sheets and BTTS
- Total Games: 46
- Clean Sheets: 24
- Held Scoreless: 6
- Both Teams Scored: 17
Commentary
Iran’s dream of upsetting Spain and Portugal for a Round of 16 spot, which would be a first for Iran, remains alive after they beat Morocco 1-0 in their opening fixture. There was a touch of good fortune in the result, it has to be said. Iran had only 32% of possession and they failed to achieve a single shot in the second half until Morocco conceded a 95th minute own goal. Nevertheless it was Iran’s 5th clean sheet in eight games and their 7th win in their last nine games. This is on top of their strong qualifying performance in which they went 12-6-0 on aggregate between the 2nd and 3rd rounds. The caveats to these stats, however, is those fixtures didn’t involve a team of Spain’s calibre. The last time Iran faced a side ranked 25 or better was against Sweden in 2015, which they lost 3-1. In World Cup tournaments Iran has a 0-1-5 record against European teams. In team news, defender Rouzbeh Cheshmi has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament after suffering an injury in training. Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh is expected to take his spot.
Spain started their campaign with a 3-3 draw against Portugal. The result was no disaster, especially given Spain had sacked manager Julen Lopetegui just two days prior, but they will be frustrated that they couldn’t convert their match dominance into 3 points. They weren’t helped by David De Gea’s goalkeeping howler or the decision try and close out the game up 3-2 in the second half, but what will frustrate Spain the most is they conceded three goals in one match after a supreme qualifying performance in which they conceded just three goals in ten games. In team news, Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal is available for selection after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Betting
bet365 odds (subject to change):
Compare the latest bookmaker odds for Iran vs. Spain
I expect Spain will keep the ball in hand and starve Iran of possession. If the Iranians could only manage 32% of possession against Morocco, what will they achieve against Spain? Iran will focus on keeping things tight defensively, but they will be hard pressed to keep out a Spanish side that scored 3.6 goals per game during qualifying. Over the last four years, 23 of Spain’s 30 wins were to nil, so the 1.78 win to nil odds hold much more appeal than the 1.22 head-to-head odds.
Betting tip: back Spain to win to nil at 1.78 (Mad Bookie)
Notes
- FIFA World rankings are from the 7th of June and sourced from https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/index.html
- The World Football Elo Ratings are from the 11th of June and are based on the Elo rating system, developed by Dr. Arpad Elo. This system is used by the international chess federation to rate chess players and is considered by many to be a superior rating tool to the one used by FIFA. The ratings have been sourced from https://www.eloratings.net/.
- Squad lists sourced from http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12098/11374464/every-world-cup-squad-listed-argentina-brazil-russia-and-more