Iran – Spain

After the dramatic 3-3 draw with the European champion Portugal, now it’s time for Spain to look for a first win at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Their opponent at the Kazan Arena in Kazan is going to be the surprising leader of the group – Iran. Here are our soccer betting tips for today.

Believe it or not, but Iran are leading Group B after the first round. This is possible after their 1-0 win against Morocco just a few days ago. Although they were considered underdogs against the champion of Africa, Iran waited tfor heir chance and scored just a few seconds before the end. Or to be more precise – it was Morocco who scored, because the substitute Aziz Bouhaddouz scored himself and own goal.

Now the spirits in the Iranian squad are high. Although it’s a long shot against teams like Spain and Portugal, the Iranians are dreaming for something more, for something which never happened to them so far – reaching the knockout phase of the World Cup. They are going to be complete underdogs against Spain and Portugal, but hey – we have seen all kind of things happening in football, right?

Iran’s biggest asset at this moment is their manager. Carlos Queiroz is a coach who have a lot of experience at top level. He have worked for teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid during his career. His work is pretty visible at the Iranian team – they play with a lot of tactical discipline and they are hard to beat. With a little bit more luck, they are completely capable to make a huge upset.

Against Morocco Queiroz lined up his team in a defensive 4-5-1 formation with a lot of people in midfield. We shall expect a similar approach against Spain, which will make it hard for La Roja to find space in Iran’s half. Iran will rely on their counter attack to eventually hurt Spain. It won’t be easy, but at the World Cup everything is possible.

For Spain it is a difficult time. You already know what happened in their team just a day before the start of the World Cup. The manager Julen Lopetegui was sacked, after it became clear that he signed a contract with Real Madrid. The Spanish FA took a shocking decision, which was a precedent at the World Cup. In this situation it was the technical director Fernando Hierro who showed courage and accept to lead the team in this time of crisis.

Despite of everything that happened, Spain showed some good face against Portugal. They were just a few minutes away from the win, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s individual brilliance took the win away from them. It was a bad luck, but this match showed that Spain are here to win and they have the tools to do it.

Against Selecao Spain picked an offensive 4-2-3-1 formation, filling the midfied with a lot of creativity. Players like Busquets and Koke were helping the defense, while Isco, Iniesta and David Silva played very closely to the striker Diego Costa. It worked and Spain scored three goals, but they were not enough for the win.

These are our soccer betting tips for today for the World Cup game from Group B between Iran and Spain. Iran are the current leader in the group, but this could change after this match. Despite of its status as a leader in the group, Carlos Querioz’ team remains a great underdog against Spain. La Roja on the other hand would like to prove that they are worthy contenders for the title.