2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Review Day 7

Wednesday’s action at the 2018 World Cup saw Spain and Portugal move into a tie for first place in Group B, as their wins over Morocco and Iran gave them four points apiece. Iran, which lost to Spain, sits in third place with three points, while Morocco remains without a point in group play. In Group A, Uruguay now holds second place behind Russia, as both teams now have six points, but Russia has the advantage in goal differential (+7 as opposed to +2), so Uruguay would need to beat Russia to take the top spot in the group. As you consider your World Cup betting for upcoming group matches, take a look at the highlights from these matches.

2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Review Day 7

All to play for in Group B for #POR #ESP and #IRN in the final round of fixtures… #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/75h32KvqE6

— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) June 20, 2018

Group B: Portugal 1, Morocco 0

Morocco became the first team to undergo elimination from the World Cup when they took a 1-0 loss at the hands of Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo flicked a header into the Morocco net in the fourth minute, and that score would hold up as the game-winner, as he did not need to mount the sort of hat-trick heroics that he delivered in the side’s draw against Spain. Morocco applied pressure for much of the rest of the way, hoping to find some of the same cracks in the Portuguese back line that Spain found in their group play opener, but the best chance that the Atlas Lions found was a header from Younes Belhanda, but Rui Patricio was there to knock it away from Portugal. Moving forward, Portugal will now face Iran in their last match. They are tied with Spain in points (4) and in goal differential (+1), and so now Portugal will have to put together a staunch attack to gain the win against Iran and do so with a greater margin than Spain, if they want to win the group. Iran showed a more solid defense than Morocco has to this point. If Portugal applies pressure, while Iran have the countering ability to make them pay for opening up in the back?

Group A: Uruguay 1, Saudi Arabia 0

Uruguay clinched a spot in the round of 16 with their win over Saudi Arabia, as Saudi Arabia are now eliminated. Uruguay has reached the knockout round for the third consecutive World Cup, despite dropping back to take their ease after Luis Suarez found an open net in the 23rd minute, as Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais left his line to chase down a corner but missed it. Saudi Arabia was much more competitive on defense than they showed in their 5-0 loss to Russia in the tournament opener, and it took just one mistake on the back end to give Uruguay the win. Temperatures in this match climbed to 32 degrees Celsius, which meant that Uruguay was wise to pull back. However, they trail Russia by five goals in differential, which means that they will have to beat Russia in order to win Group A. Russia did not get tested much on defense by either Saudi Arabia or Egypt, and Uruguay struggled to find much offense against Egypt as well, so it will be interesting to see whether a scoring outburst happens when the top two Group A sides meet, or whether it devolves into a defensive duel, as Russia has nothing to gain by pushing for a win.

Group B: Spain 1, Iran 0

It was a carom off Diego Costa’s legs early in the second half that was the only goal that Spain would need to knock off Iran. It was Costa’s third goal, but what it really involved was a deflection of the ball off his legs, as Ramin Rezaeian tried to clear the ball for Iran. Iran did force some chances, as Karim Ansarifard hit a tantalizing shot into the side netting, and Saeid Ezatolahi appeared to have scored for Iran, but he was called offside (and the call was upheld by the video assistant referee (VAR). Iran’s coach had benched captain Masoud Shojaei and Alireza Jahanbakhsh for this match, as Ezatolahi returned from suspension and Mehdi Taremi got to start. The changes helped Iran stay close and apply pressure, but Spain was able to survive. Now Portugal will have to face Iran, while Spain gets Morocco last; at this point, you have to like Spain to win goal differential.