Fifa World Cup 2018 Group B guide: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran - final standings, table, results, teams, squad, permutations, betting tips/odds

Standard Sport29 June 2018

Spain scored in the final minutes to hold off a late challenge from Portugal to seal top spot in Group B

We again saw VAR take centre stage as first Iago Aspas' goal was awarded after initially being ruled out while Iran were given a penalty on review. The two late goals saw Portugal slip to second. Spain will now face hosts Russia.

Youssef En-Nesyri was almost the hero for Morocco, heading home in the 81st minute to put his nation ahead against Spain, but found themselves bottom of the group without a win come full-time.

Here's your complete guide to Group B...

Group B P W D L F A Pts
Spain 3 1 2 0 6 5 5
Portugal 3 1 2 0 5 4 5
Iran 3 1 1 1 2 2 4
Morocco 3 0 1 2 2 4 1

Fixture schedule and TV channels

Portugal

AFP/Getty Images

Coach: Fernando Santos

Star player: Cristiano Ronaldo

World Cup best: Third place 1966

Portugal enjoyed an intense battle with Switzerland for automatic qualification but came out on top. Buoyed by winning their first major title at Euro 2016, the Ronaldo-inspired Portuguese will be hoping to cause another upset in Russia.

  Portugal  
1 RUI PATRICIO GK
2 BRUNO ALVES Def
3 PEPE Def
4 MANUEL FERNANDES Mid
5 RAPHAEL GUERREIRO Def
6 JOSE FONTE Def
7 CRISTIANO RONALDO Fwd
8 JOAO MOUTINHO Mid
9 ANDRE SILVA Fwd
10 JOAO MARIO Mid
11 BERNARDO SILVA Mid
12 ANTHONY LOPES GK
13 RUBEN DIAS Def
14 WILLIAM Mid
15 RICARDO Def
16 BRUNO FERNANDES Mid
17 GONCALO GUEDES Fwd
18 GELSON MARTINS Fwd
19 MARIO RUI Def
20 RICARDO QUARESMA Fwd
21 CEDRIC Def
22 BETO GK
23 ADRIEN SILVA Mid

Spain

Coach: Fernando Hierro

Star player: Isco

World Cup best: Winners 2010

The previously all-conquering Spanish suffered the ignominy of a group-stage exit at the 2014 World Cup, before bowing out in the round of 16 at Euro 2016. But the squad's evolution is bringing results working and March's 6-1 shellacking of Argentina was a warning to the world.

  Spain  
1 DE GEA David GK
2 CARVAJAL Dani Def
3 PIQUE Gerard Def
4 NACHO Def
5 BUSQUETS Sergio Mid
6 INIESTA Andres Mid
7 SAUL Mid
8 KOKE Mid
9 RODRIGO Fwd
10 THIAGO Mid
11 VAZQUEZ Lucas Fwd
12 ODRIOZOLA Alvaro Def
13 ARRIZABALAGA Kepa GK
14 AZPILICUETA Cesar Def
15 RAMOS Sergio Def
16 MONREAL Nacho Def
17 ASPAS Iago Fwd
18 ALBA Jordi Def
19 COSTA Diego Fwd
20 ASENSIO Marco Mid
21 SILVA David Fwd
22 ISCO Mid
23 REINA Pepe GK

Morocco

Coach: Herve Renard

Star player: Medhi Benatia

World Cup best: Second round 1986

Well-travelled coach Renard will have relished beating his former employers the Ivory Coast to top spot in a tough qualifying group. The north Africans are back at the finals for the first time since 1998.

  Morocco  
1 BOUNOU Yassine GK
2 HAKIMI Achraf Def
3 MENDYL Hamza Def
4 DA COSTA Manuel Def
5 BENATIA Mehdi Def
6 SAISS Romain Def
7 ZIYACH Hakim Mid
8 EL AHMADI Karim Mid
9 EL KAABI Ayoub Fwd
10 BELHANDA Younes Mid
11 FAJR Faycal Mid
12 EL KAJOUI Monir GK
13 BOUTAIB Khalid Fwd
14 BOUSSOUFA Mbark Mid
15 AIT BENNASSER Youssef Mid
16 AMRABAT Noureddine Mid
17 DIRAR Nabil Def
18 HARIT Amine Mid
19 EN NESYRI Youssef Fwd
20 BOUHADDOUZ Aziz Fwd
21 AMRABAT Sofyan Mid
22 TAGNAOUTI Ahmed GK
23 CARCELA Mehdi Mid

Iran

Coach: Carlos Queiroz

Star player: Sardar Azmoun

World Cup best: First round 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014

This will be Iran's fourth appearance from the last six World Cup finals, but their only victory came against the United States in 1998. Won their final qualifying group ahead of South Korea under former Manchester United assistant Queiroz.

  Iran  
1 BEIRANVAND Ali GK
2 TORABI Mehdi Mid
3 HAJI SAFI Ehsan Def
4 CHESHMI Roozbeh Def
5 MOHAMMADI Milad Def
6 EZATOLAHI Saeid Mid
7 SHOJAEI Masoud Mid
8 POURALIGANJI Morteza Def
9 EBRAHIMI Omid Mid
10 ANSARIFARD Karim Fwd
11 AMIRI Vahid Mid
12 MAZAHERI Rashid GK
13 KHANZADEH Mohammad Reza Def
14 GHODDOS Saman Fwd
15 MONTAZERI Pejman Def
16 GHOOCHANNEJHAD Reza Fwd
17 TAREMI Mehdi Fwd
18 JAHANBAKHSH Alireza Fwd
19 HOSSEINI Majid Def
20 AZMOUN Sardar Fwd
21 DEJAGAH Ashkan Fwd
22 ABEDZADEH Amir GK
23 REZAEIAN Ramin Def

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