2018 FIFA World Cup Preview: Group B
Could this be the dreaded Group of Death? I think so.
Day Two of our eight day World Cup preview is upon us, which now means that we are only seven days from the start of the 2018 World Cup! That may sound exciting, but relax, as we’re here to give you our second set of previews for the 2018 FIFA World Cup! Today’s edition: Group B. Group B consists of two European teams in Portugal and Spain, one African team in Morocco and is rounded off with its Asian contingent, Iran.
Portugal
Portugal will be making their seventh appearance at a World Cup and will be looking to follow up their success at the 2016 European Championships with a strong showing in Russia. Their best ever finish was third place at the 1966 edition of the tournament but their recent tournament history is an interesting one, to say the least. Their record at the Euros is excellent, as A Seleção reached the quarterfinals in 2008, semifinals in 2012 and were victorious at the aforementioned 2016 tournament. However, their World Cup form is much more interesting. Despite finishing fourth in 2006, they reached the round of 16 in 2010 yet failed to score in three out of the four matches they played, with their only goals coming in a 7–0 group stage rampage against North Korea. (Which was, oddly enough, the only match to have ever been broadcasted on North Korean state TV.) At the last tournament in 2014, manager Paulo Bentos was sacked following a group stage exit which included a 4–0 loss to eventual champions Germany. Current manager Fernando Santos was drafted in and is looking to make a statement to the world that Euro 2016 was not an anomaly and that Portugal are a force to be reckoned with.
Portugal breezed through qualification emerging from their group with 27 out of a possible 30 points. Main man Cristiano Ronaldo came second in all of World Cup qualifying with 15 goals while strike partner André Silva managed to bag nine of his own. Not too much should be read into these numbers, however, as their qualification group consisted of low level teams such as the Faroe Islands (FIFA world ranking 93), Andorra (132) and Latvia (139). The absence of quality in their group overshadowed some midfield/defensive issues but if Silva/Ronaldo can deliver, who knows?
Spain
This team isn’t half bad, you know. Currently ranked as the La Roja will be appearing at their 15th World Cup and will certainly be looking to improve on their group stage exit seen at the last edition of the tournament. However, that failure is dwarfed by this team’s immense accomplishments this century: winning Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 through a style of play known as “tiki-taka”, which can be summarized very well as “pass the ball endlessly until the other team drops half dead.” Manager Julen Lopetegui has worked to shake off this title, however, as his Spain team has embraced the quick playing style of the new generation, which is embodied perfectly by the direct play styles seen from Isco, Thiago and Marco Asensio. However, a few members of the ‘old guard’ still remain, and they will look to provide the stability needed for this group to achieve what is expected of them as a nation and bring home that famous old trophy.
Like Portugal, Spain shoved their qualifying group aside as they finished top with 28 out of 30 points. Their group had slightly more competition as well, with the likes of Italy and Albania coming second and third, respectively. Much has been said about their exclusion of Álvaro Morata from the squad, as he was their joint highest top scorer in qualification, with five goals to his name. However, considering he was tied with four other Spaniards including the likes of David Silva and Diego Costa, I think they’ll be just fine. The fact that Cesar Azpilicueta and Marco Asensio can’t even get into the starting eleven plus the fact that Javi Martinez and Morata were deemed to be surplus goes to show the absolute wealth of talent at Lopetegui’s hands at this tournament. The question of “will they advance” doesn’t apply to this team, it’s more of a “how far will they go?”
Morocco
Coming into the tournament as the 42nd ranked nation in the world, Morocco are the lowest ranked team in this group. However, I’ll be honest with you, I think Morocco are the most underrated team at this tournament. Morocco will be making their fifth World Cup finals appearance and their first since their group stage exit in 1998. Their best result at a finals was reaching the round of 16 back in 1986 where they were eliminated by West Germany, 1–0. They made it to the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 which is certainly a better result than their failure to qualify for the 2015 edition of the tournament.
They received a bye into the second round of qualification where they dispatched of Equatorial Guinea 2–1 over the course of two legs. They were then placed into a very tough qualifying group with Ivory Coast, Gabon and Mali. They finished top of the group with 12 points and, as you may have heard by now, didn’t even concede a goal(!!!). This solidity is brought to you by Juventus’ Medhi Benatia at the heart of defense while creative midfielders Hakim Ziyech and Younes Belhanda will look to provide a spark for St. Pauli forward Aziz Bouhaddouz up top. They lack a superstar, but are filled to the brim with above average players playing in top divisions who just might sneak through come the tournament.
Iran
Like Morocco, Iran will be making their fifth appearance at a FIFA World Cup finals with their last appearance coming in 2014, where they exited in the group stage, scoring just one goal. Iran are the highest ranked Asian team at the tournament, sitting in 36th place per FIFA and, due to their high ranking (then 51) received a bye into the second round of AFC qualifying, where they topped their group, as well as gained qualification into the Asian Cup and the third round of qualifying. In the third round, they topped a group consisting of South Korea, Syria, China, Uzbekistan and Qatar.
Iran’s hopes will be resting upon the shoulders of Sardar Azmoun, who led the team with 11 strikes in qualifying. Dubbed “The Iranian Messi”, the Rubin Kazan striker will be key should Iran hope to gain anything out of this tournament. However, their best player is certainly AZ midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh, as the midfielder led the Eredivisie with 21 goals and will be looking to provide if not score some for himself.
Predictions
Spain are way too good and are going to top this group, winning all three matches and finishing with nine points. Portugal get a close second for me, edging out Morocco on goal difference while Iran lose all three matches and finish last. David Silva will be the key difference maker for Spain while Portugal will need a LeBron-esque performance to cover up for defensive weaknesses.
