It was a fantastic night of football in Russia. That saw two exciting games in Group B, featuring Iran against Portugal and Morocco versus Spain. While Morocco was already out of the contention, but Iran had a chance to upset either Portugal or Spain and qualify for the first time in knockout stages of the tournament.
Carlos Queiroz side was up for the challenge. Iran by nature is a defensive side but It was game where they needed to play the positive brand of football against the mighty Portuguese. And they have shown positive intent with their limited resources. On the other hand, European Champion Portugal was needed a draw to qualify for the next round. It was an ill-tempered match, as Iran were desperate to topple Portugal.
In the first thirty minute, we saw some hard tackle and few clear chances for both the teams. Iran tackled hard for the most part of the first half. Alireza Jahanbakhsh caused Portugal lot of headaches down the right. Cristiano Ronaldo had scored 4 goals before this game, but he wasn't at his best against Iran on Monday night. Despite having kept Ronaldo quiet, Iran conceded a goal courtesy Ricardo Quaresma stunning strike in the 45th minute.
The goal, just before half-time, led Iranian heads to droop briefly. And Portugal took full advantage of that as Ronaldo earned his side a penalty in the 52nd minute. But Iran’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand dived to his left to save Ronaldo’s effort from the spot. Karim Ansarifard equalized with a stoppage-time penalty awarded after consultation from the video assistant referee (VAR). The game ended in a 1-1 draw.
But that wasn’t enough for Iran as Spain snatched a 2-2 draw against Morocco in Kaliningrad Stadium. Spain and Portugal both ended their league stage with 5 points each. Spain took the first spot from the Group B ahead of Portugal on goals scored. That means Spain will take on host Russia and Portugal will play against Uruguay in the last 16.
Even though Iran and Morocco were failed to book their spot in the last 16, they have won many hearts with their inspired display of skills in all three matches. In fact, if you closely analyze the Group B, you will find that they have played a better brand of football from the beginning. The Lack of positive strikers had let them down in the crucial situation of a match.
