Group B at the World Cup in Russia opens up with an intriguing matchup as Morocco takes on Iran on June 15th. These two are grouped with Spain and Portugal, who are the favorites to go through, but they could stumble. That means any points that Morocco and Iran could get from this game might end up being massive in the grand scheme of things.
What To Know About Morocco
Morocco are back in the World Cup for the first time since 1998, and they won their CAF group to make it to Russia. They should take to heart that they didn’t allow a goal in six qualification games, although it gets scaled back a bit when you see that Morocco went up against Gabon, Mali and an Ivory Coast that isn’t as good as they usually are. Still, they made it to Russia and that is all that matters. Khalid Boutaib scored four goals in qualification for Morocco, but this is a team that is going to have to get goals from everywhere if they’re going to make some noise here. More importantly, they have to defend well, even in this game against Iran. Captain Medhi Benetia plays for Juventus in Italy, so he has been drilled in discipline. That experience is going to be huge for Morocco.
What To Know About Iran
Iran returns to the World Cup, looking to get out of the group stage in their fourth attempt. They won their group in AFC qualification to get here, allowing just two goals in ten games. However, there is a lot of pressure on defender Jalal Hosseini, who at 36 years old will be under a lot of pressure to marshal a back line in front of Alireza Beiranvand, who is just 25 years old with 19 appearances for his country. The midfield is fine, but they have to be disciplined. Up front, Iran has a few players that can stretch the defense, but keep an eye on Sardar Azmoun, a 23-year-old striker who has been compared to Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovich. That might be a bit of an over-exaggeration, but he is definitely talented with 22 goals in 30 games for Iran.
Outlook
Morocco are the favorites in this Group A matchup with 2.25, while Iran comes in at 3.60 and a draw is rated at 2.90. These two met in the now-defunct LG Cup back in 2002, playing to a 1-1 draw. The stakes are much higher now as the first part of the match could be a cagey one, but eventually they’ll open up. As was said before, any points that either gets will be huge towards going through to the next round, but Iran might have better finishers than Morocco. They also have the experience of going to the World Cup in 2014, with a few players held over from that team. They drew against Nigeria, then lost to Argentina in injury time thanks to Messi, and had nothing left in the tank for their final game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. It’s going to be close, but an upset for Iran wouldn’t be a major surprise.
World Cup Betting Pick: Draw
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