No one is expecting anyone other than Spain and Portugal to emerge from Group B. The two giants from the Iberian Peninsula have each won a major tournament this decade with Spain winning the 2010 World Cup and Portugal winning the 2016 European Championship.
That means Morocco and Iran are going to have their work cut out for them. Both sides will be heavy underdogs when they take on those two teams, but we have seen incredible upsets before at this stage.
Once every four years, the world's most popular game has its biggest tournament. The World Cup is as big as it gets all over the world, especially for the 32 countries who have earned the right to partake in this tournament. We think of the World Cup as a four-week tournament in June and July every few years, but this is actually a tournament where every FIFA team in the world has a chance to make it to the big stage.
The 2018 World Cup in Russia will begin on Thursday, June 14 and run through the final on Sunday, July 15. All of the action can be seen on FOX, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2.
FIFA 2018 World Cup Group B Betting Odds
Spain -185
Portugal +200
Morocco +1800
Iran +3500
Spain
No team was a bigger disappointment than Spain at the 2014 World Cup. La Roja were hammered by the Netherlands 5-1 in their first match and a 2-0 loss to Chile in their second match meant that they would not have a chance to defend their title. Now, Spain is looking to prove it is one of the elite teams in the world once again.
Spain performed very well in qualifying, hammering Italy and cruising past every other team on its way here. There are plenty of veterans from that 2010 World Cup winning team on this roster, particularly in the back. Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, and Sergio Ramos were all part of that squad and will look to make their mark once again.
The key might be the performance of the youngsters. Isco and Alvaro Morata have been hailed as the future of this team, but neither player has performed particularly well lately. Both are in the doghouse at their respective clubs and may need a jolt of confidence prior to the World Cup.
Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo is a man lacking no confidence. Ronaldo has done what Lionel Messi couldn’t in leading his country to a major international tournament win, and winning the World Cup would be the icing on the cake.
This team does have plenty of talent around Ronaldo. Andre Silva is an up and comer who many our excited about, and both Joao Moutinho and William Carvalho are good set-up men. They will be able to get the ball to Ronaldo and leave him to finish.
The concern is the back four. Pepe and Bruno Alves are both over 35, and no longer the players they once were, and none of the younger players have really stepped up to fill in at the other spots.
Morocco
If you’re a fan of defensively sound football, you will love this Moroccan team. Morocco is not going to find the back of the net often, but defense is what got them to this point. They did not allow a goal in their final six World Cup qualifiers, and the Atlas Lions have allowed more than one goal just once in their past 14 months of international play.
Mehdi Benatia is the leader of the team and the glue in the final four. He has spent the last half-decade with top teams like AS Roma, Bayern Munich, and Juventus. Benatia is a tough, physical defender who can attack balls in the air off of set pieces.
Iran
This will be Iran’s fifth World Cup appearance. Iran is just 1-3-8 all-time at the World Cup, but has not been as uncompetitive as you might think. They have managed a result in every one of their appearances thus far.
Iran has performed well in international play over the last year. They haven’t dropped a match since March 2017, and they were able to pick up draws on the road against both South Korea and Russia. The best performance was a 2-1 win in a neutral site game against Panama where they scored twice in the first 20 minutes and focused on defense the rest of the way.
There are some talented strikers on this team like Sardar Azmoun and Karim Ansarifard. Don’t be surprised if they play a more aggressive style.
