What a marvellous treat this group is about to bring us! There is a game that cannot be missed for the world — the reigning European champions Portugal and a former World Cup winner Spain, two neighbours, are competing in one group and might be fighting for the top place in the group (sorry Iran and Morocco). Both teams are playing against one another on the 19th of June, and we bet a lot of fans across the globe will tune in in a desire to see these two heavyweights on the pitch. Let's take a look at everything we need to know about Group B.
Portugal
After surprising a lot of people in 2016 by stunning France and winning the European Championship, Portugal will now face a very serious task and opponent in this group, Portugal's biggest star Cristiano Ronaldo having to stand against half of his Real Madrid team-mates who know his game well. Everyone was quick to criticise Ronaldo's performance last year but he's proven that he is back on track and the goals he scored for Real Madrid in a variety of tournaments remind us that he is, in fact, one of the best players on the planet. Fernando Santos, the head coach of the Portuguese national team, named his squad in March, bringing a mixture of young and experienced players side by side. The team Santos named was not a big surprise for observers, except for the absence of former Manchester United, currently Sporting Lisbon player Nani. If we take a look at history, Portugal's track record at the World Cup is not entirely stunning. The national team did not make it past group stage in Brazil in 2014, finishing in the third place and allowing Germany and the United States to get through. It went a little better the previous time around, in 2010, with the team making it to the last 16 but losing to — yes, Spain! Although experts are claiming that “Ronaldo’s hopes of winning the World Cup with Portugal are running out”, do you really think that Portugal stands no chance of winning?
Spain
Spain was pretty much dominating the world in the years from 2008 up until 2012, winning two European Championships and a World Cup in 2010 along the way. What a dream-team it was! Former Spanish national team player Xabi Alonso recently opened up, stating that his former squad has chances of winning everything. Spain's win over Argentina at the end of March with a smashing score 6–0 might ring a bell about how dangerous the Spanish team actually is. We certainly hope that Spain is gonna do a lot better this year — World Cup 2014 in Brazil was very unsuccessful, leaving the previous champions stumbling in the back. They finished finished third in the group, losing to The Netherlands (the Dutch team had their moment of revenge for their loss in the final of 2010) and Chile, securing their only 3 points by surpassing Australia. Currently Spain is ranked Nr. 6 in the FIFA rating, appearing at the World Cup for the 15th time — quite an impressive score. The Fury also kept their ground against Germany, current World Cup winners, having a 1–1 draw. Spain's captain Sergio Ramos will lead his squad against his good friend Ronaldo — who'll come out as the winner of this very anticipated match?
Iran
Iran were the first Asian team to qualify for Russia 2018 and the third team to qualify after hosts Russia and Brazil. This World Cup will mark as Iran's fifth appearance. The team is also the top squad in Asia according to the latest FIFA ranking — it stands as the 33rd football team in the world. Things started looking better for Iran when coach Carlos Queiroz joined the national team. In 2014 Cup in Brazil Iranians found themselves in a very difficult group containing Nigeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina. At one point there were hopes for Iranians that they could make it further for the first time in the World Cup history but Lionel Messi decided otherwise. As mentioned, qualification period was quite an easy game for the team and it was made clear that Iran is going to Russia with two more games to come. All in all, Iran was unbeaten in 18 (!) qualifying games in two rounds. Now the commentators claim that they’ve got chances — the team is younger but with more international experience for players. Although commentators remain sceptic about Iran's chances, the team itself will definitely show to the world what wonders they can do. Experts also claim that some of the team's talented players may get a chance to show their skills to many managers present in Russia and move to bigger leagues. We are certainly excited to see Iran's team in action.
Morocco
Believe it or not but it has taken Morocco 20 years to be back in the World Cup. The best performance of the team was back in the 1986 when they advanced to the second round, also being the first African nation to reach such result. In France 1998, the Moroccan team was almost as lucky as in 1986 but they lost at that chance at the very end. Today, Morocco national team features some very promising young talents, as observed by professionals, including Hakim Ziyech from Ajax and Younes Belhanda who is currently playing for Galatasaray. The Moroccan team, also called the “Atlas Lions”, is trained by the French national Hervé Renard. He is no newcomer to African teams — Renard already had his success with Zambia winning the African Cup of Nations in 2012, as well as helping the Ivory Coast to win the Cup three years later. The last such victory for Monacco happened a very long time ago, to be precise — in 1976. Morocco will begin their campaign in Russia with a match against Iran on June 15. Teams have already faced each other twice in the past with the Atlas Lions winning both matches.
The predictions vary but most of them see Spain as the winner of the group and derby against Portugal — Portuguese squad to qualify behind them. Commentators see Morocco coming third, with Iran being the last team of the group. What are your feelings about this group? Could any of the teams make it to the final or even win the Cup? It is a long way ahead but we are more than enthusiastic.
World Cup will forever stay our favourite event, and we are more than happy to bring you the experience of the games live — come to Ticombo, take a look at our website and browse through the matches you don’t want to miss. Russia is calling!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to be in the know!