| Group B | # | W | D | L | Goals | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iran | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1-0 | 3 |
| Portugal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3-3 | 1 |
| Spain | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3-3 | 1 |
| Morocco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-1 | 0 |
Group B Highlight
You can observe on the table, the current standing of Group B before the 2nd group matches.
For more info regarding the first match click here: Group B Highlight 1st Matches of Group Stage – FIFA World Cup 2018.
Portugal 2 1
V
Morocco 1 0
Portugal vs Morocco
Pre-match commentary and tipping
Portugal
- Portugal should and will win. The question is by how many goal.
- But Portugal needs to work on their defensive measure. That long ball in 23′ putting Costa in 1 vs 5 defenders, and yet he can still score. That 3rd goal from Spain also showing how “lazy” the defender is as No 6 Jose Fonte just standing around waiting for the opponent to attack while covering his genitals. Shouldn’t he pursue the ball, maybe?
Morocco
- Morocco is in a do-or-die situation and they will throw everything they got to Portugal.
Their defence, championed by Juventus’ Mehdi Benatia, is proven to be a solid one. But can it stop Ronaldo with his momentum? Remember in 1986, Morocco beat Portugal 3-1 in the group stage to become top of that group (followed by England and Poland. Portugal become last). Can the history be repeated? - Midfielder Faycal Fajr says that the morale of the team is still high. “Even after the defeat (to Iran) the atmosphere in the squad is still excellent,” he said. And added, “I always say, if there’s a will, there’s a way.”
- It has been not very good days for Morocco, not only Iran defeat them, their bid to become host in 2026 was also got beaten. So, can all of that fuel a massive determination for the Moroccan?
Tipping
- I am tipping that Portugal still will win 2-1 against Morocco
Post-match commentary:
- Ronaldo did it again. An early goal at 4′.
- Morocco threw all they have. Dominating ball possession (54%) Morocco was just cannot make a goal.
- Morocco becomes the first country drop of World Cup 2018. 32 becomes 31.
Iran 0
V
Spain 4 1
Iran vs Spain
Pre-match commentary and tipping
Iran
- If anything, become the top of the ladder will ease Iran from the pressure a bit. I mean, even they lost to Spain, they still have a chance to go through the group stage at the moment. But this ease of pressure will make Iran better or “lazy”?
- The “secret weapon” of Iran is their goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand (Persepolis). Standing 194cm tall, he surely wins a mid-air struggle. And his performance against Morocco was excellent. He will become one aspect that makes Portugal producing less goal.
Spain
- With the new coach in the help, Spain needs to maintain momentum and do little change of the team that performs quite well against Portugal.
- Spain has plenty of very good player. While Diego Costa was the star against Portugal, we still yet to see how Isco applies his skill in defeating Iran.
Tipping
Spain will have a good win against Iran. I will call it 4-0 for Iran defeat.
Post-match commentary:
- What is this, Spain copying whatever Portugal did? In this case, also win only 1-0…? Or was it Iran that good?
(And as it happened, the 3rd game on the day – Wed 30 June – Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia IS also ended up with 1-0. What’s going on here… - But seriously, with 70% (Yes, 70%!) of ball possession, a bit worrying that Spain did not produce more goals.
- The first half ended with all zero. For whatever reason Iran has managed to disable Spain’s attack.
- Yes, finally at 54′ from the centre field, Diego Costa scored the only goal.
- Iran did manage to get the goal inside the net at 66′. Unfortunately, a violation just before it made the goal disqualified by the referee.
- A shaky performance by Spain, but they got through to the Top 16.
| # of Tips | Correct Tip | Correct Score | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
The Group Standing after 2nd group matches.
Unlike a clear cut in group A who were the 2 that qualified, Iran still has the opportunity to qualify from the group stage by beating Portugal in the last match of the group on 26 Jun. If it drew, -or- Iran lost, Portugal would be the one to advanced.
However considering Portugal is in a better form than Spain, Iran is facing an extraordinary task to beat Ronaldo and team.
On the other side, the match between Spain vs Morocco can be still somewhat important. In the unlikely case that Morocco beat Spain and Portugal doesn’t get a win (i.e: draw or lose) then Iran is through. Therefore, between Spain and Portugal, the one through is the one conceded less on that lost.
If the defeat of such scenario is exactly the same, the number of yellow cards and the red card could be important. In this case, at this moment, Spain will through with the less yellow card (less “fair play penalty point”), as Portugal had 1 more yellow card against Morocco. (Substitute Adrian Silva got the booking 2 minutes after he plays)
| Group B | # | W | D | L | Goals | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4-3 | 4 |
| Portugal | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4-3 | 4 |
| Iran | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1-1 | 3 |
| Morocco | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0-2 | 0 |
