Group B of the2018 FIFA World Cup took place from 15 to 25 June 2018.[1] The group consisted ofPortugal,Spain,Morocco, andIran. The top two teams, Spain and Portugal, advanced to the round of 16.[2]
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance | FIFA Rankings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2017[nb 1] | June 2018 | |||||||||
| B1 |  Portugal | 1 | UEFA | UEFA group B winners | 10 October 2017 | 7th | 2014 | Third place (1966) | 3 | 4 |
| B2 |  Spain | 2 | UEFA | UEFA group G winners | 6 October 2017 | 15th | 2014 | Winners (2010) | 8 | 10 |
| B3 |  Morocco | 4 | CAF | CAF third round group C winners | 11 November 2017 | 5th | 1998 | Round of 16 (1986) | 48 | 41 |
| B4 |  Iran | 3 | AFC | AFC third round group A winners | 12 June 2017 | 5th | 2014 | Group stage (1978,1998,2006,2014) | 34 | 37 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 5 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Portugal | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 | Iran | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Morocco | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 1 |
In theround of 16:
All times listed arelocal time.[1]
The two teams had never met before.[3]
Amine Harit fired wide with a volley from the edge of the penalty area after two minutes.Younès Belhanda andMedhi Benatia squandered close-range chances in a penalty box before Iran finally countered after 20 minutes, only forKarim Ansarifard to scuff his shot when clean through on goal.Sardar Azmoun then latched ontoOmid Ebrahimi's through ball, but his shot was too low andMunir Mohamedi saved low with his feet.[4] In the final 10 minutesHakim Ziyech lashed the ball towards the bottom-left corner of the net from 20 yards butAlireza Beiranvand stopped the ball. In the last minutes,Ehsan Hajsafi's delivery from the left was met by a header fromAziz Bouhaddouz that flew into the left corner of his own net.[4][5][6]
Iran won just their second match at the World Cup (D3 L8), with this is their first victory since beating the United States2–1 inJune 1998. Iran did not attempt a single shot in the second half and were the first team since1966 to score a goal in a half of World Cup football without attempting a shot.[4][5] Iran also maintained their unbeaten streak againstCAF teams in the World Cup, having drawnAngola 1–1 in 2006 andNigeria 0–0 in 2014; while this was also Iran's first ever victory against any Arab team in the World Cup.
| Morocco | 0–1 | Iran |
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          Morocco[8] |      Iran[8] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[8] |
The two teams had met in 35 previous matches, including in the round of 16 of the2010 FIFA World Cup, won by Spain1–0. Their most recent meeting was in theUEFA Euro 2012 semi-finals, when Spain won 4–2 on penalties after a goalless draw in normal time.[9]
Cristiano Ronaldo scored with an early penalty, winning it after he was fouled byNacho inside the box.[10]Diego Costa then twisted and turned away from two Portugal defenders to score with a low shot to the left corner which brought the two sides level.[11] But just before the break,David de Gea fumbled a Ronaldo shot from outside the penalty box through his gloves and over the line.[12] Costa scored his second equaliser of the night just after the restart from close range before Nacho scored with a right foot half-volley in off the post from the edge of the penalty box, his first goal for Spain. As the clock ticked down, however,Gerard Piqué brought down Ronaldo just outside the box, with the Portugal star completing the scoring and his hat-trick with a free-kick into the top right corner of the net.[10]
Ronaldo became the fourth player to score in four different World Cup tournaments (2006,2010,2014 and2018) afterPelé,Uwe Seeler andMiroslav Klose, and also the first to score in eight consecutive World Cups andEuropean Championships. At age 33, Ronaldo also became the oldest hat-trick scorer in the World Cup, surpassingRob Rensenbrink of theNetherlands, whoscored three times against Iran in1978, aged 30.[11][12] With this result, Spain has not won any opening matches since 2006, having lost to Switzerland 0–1 in 2010 and the Netherlands 1–5 in 2014.
     Portugal[14] |      Spain[14] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[14] |
The two teams had met previously only once, a group stage game in the1986 FIFA World Cup, won by Morocco3–1.[15]
João Moutinho swung in a cross from the right after a short corner andCristiano Ronaldo headed the ball powerfully past goalkeeperMunir Mohamedi from six yards out and into the middle of the goal to open the scoring in the 4th minute. Ronaldo playedGonçalo Guedes into the box but Munir made a one-handed save. Ronaldo shot over the crossbar whenBernardo Silva's mishit presented him with a shooting chance on the edge of the box early in the second half.Rui Patrício then made a save to preserve Portugal's lead whenHakim Ziyech's free-kick was headed towards goal byYounès Belhanda, the goalkeeper diving to palm the ball away from danger. Ziyech shot another set-piece just over the crossbar from 25 yards.Nordin Amrabat andMedhi Benatia fired over with better chances.[16] With their second loss in a row, Morocco became the first team to be eliminated from the2018 FIFA World Cup.
85 international goals for Ronaldo is a new record for a European player, with Ronaldo passingFerenc Puskás to hold the record outright.[17] Ronaldo has become the first Portuguese player sinceJosé Torres in 1966 to score a goal with his right foot, left foot and head in a single World Cup tournament. Ronaldo is the first player to score five consecutive World Cup goals for his team sinceOleg Salenko for Russia in 1994.[16][18]
     Portugal[20] | Morocco[20] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[20] |
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The two teams had never met before.[3]
Spain had their first attempt on goal in the 25th minute whenDavid Silva's long-range free-kick was held byAlireza Beiranvand. Five minutes later, Silva's volley sailed narrowly over the crossbar from six yards out. At the start of the 2nd half,Gerard Piqué's close-range effort was blocked and then Beiranvand palmed awaySergio Busquets' curled effort from the edge of the penalty area.Karim Ansarifard's effort from a corner flashed intoDavid de Gea's side netting. In the 54th minute,Diego Costa picked upAndrés Iniesta's pass inside the area and sawRamin Rezaeian's attempted clearance ricochet off his leg and past Beiranvand low into the left corner of the net.Saeid Ezatolahi pulled Iran level shortly after the hour but his close-range finish after a scramble was ruled out courtesy of VAR after Rezaeian was found in an offside position.Mehdi Taremi's back-post header fizzed over De Gea's crossbar seven minutes from time as Iran pushed for an equaliser, but Spain held on for a 1–0 win.[21][22]
Iran did not manage a shot on target for the first time in 14 World Cup games.[23]
    Iran[25] | Spain[25] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[25] |
The two teams had met twice, most recently in a group stage game in the2006 FIFA World Cup, won by Portugal2–0.[15]
In the 45 minute,Ricardo Quaresma cut in from the right before scoring with a curling shot off the outside of his right foot that looped overAlireza Beiranvand into the top-left corner.Saeid Ezatolahi's foul onCristiano Ronaldo won Portugal a penalty, which Ronaldo shot low into the right, enabling Beiranvand to get down and make a stop. Iran then managed to get a penalty in stoppage time after referee used VAR to determine thatCédric's handball fromSardar Azmoun's header had been intentional, whichKarim Ansarifard converted high to his right. The game ended in a 1−1 draw, with Portugal advancing and Iran eliminated.[26][27][28]
Quaresma (34 years, 272 days old) is the oldest player to score on his first World Cup start sinceYahya Golmohammadi (35 years, 84 days old), who did so for Iran in 2006against Mexico. Iran's goal - scored after 92 minutes and 48 seconds - was the latest goal Portugal have ever conceded at the World Cup. This was Iran's best performance ever in the FIFA World Cup, winning four points and having earned their first ever draw against any European opponents since 1978, when Iran drew1–1 to Scotland.[29]
Iran[31] | Portugal[31] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[31] |
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Despite their geographical proximity, the two teams had faced each other only in two opportunities, both were in the1962 FIFA World Cup qualification phase andwon by Spain.[15]
In the 14th minute, a mix-up betweenSergio Ramos andAndrés Iniesta allowedKhalid Boutaïb to steal possession on the halfway line, burst through on goal and finish through the legs ofDavid de Gea. Iniesta andDiego Costa combined to set upIsco for a close-range finish that tied the scores five minutes later. Boutaïb was clear again in the 25th minute when Morocco took a quick throw-in, but De Gea stopped the ball.Nordin Amrabat,Manuel da Costa andMbark Boussoufa were all booked in three-minute period beforeSergio Busquets headed over the crossbar from Isco's corner. Amrabat's strike from at least 25 yards out bounced off the woodwork in the 55th minute. Isco's looping header dipped under the crossbar, butRomain Saïss made a clearance,Gerard Piqué heading wide from the resulting Isco corner.Youssef En-Nesyri scored home a header to give Morocco the lead. And whenIago Aspas turned homeDani Carvajal's cross from the right after a short corner – the goal given by VAR after a long delay – Spain was tied in the first minute of added time.[32][33]
Boutaïb's goal for Morocco was their first goal at the finals since 1998, whenSalaheddine Bassir scored in a3–0 win over Scotland. Ramos made his 16th appearance for Spain at the World Cup, overtakingXavi as their most capped outfield player in the competition. Spain have failed to win their final group game at a World Cup for the first time since 1982, having won the previous eight such games.[34]
     Spain[36] |    Morocco[36] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees:[36] |
Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers if the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:[2]
Only one of the above deductions were applied to a player in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Points | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | | | | | | | | | | ||
| Spain | 1 | −1 | |||||||||||
| Portugal | 1 | 1 | 4 | −6 | |||||||||
| Iran | 3 | 2 | 2 | −7 | |||||||||
| Morocco | 1 | 1 | 6 | −8 | |||||||||
