Group B of the 2018 FIFA World Cup took place from 15 to 25 June 2018. The group consisted of Portugal, Spain, Morocco, and Iran. The top two teams, Spain and Portugal, advanced to the round of 16.
Teams Draw position Team Pot Confederation Method ofqualification Date ofqualification Finalsappearance Lastappearance Previous bestperformance FIFA Rankings October 2017 June 2018 B1 1 UEFA UEFA group B winners 10 October 2017 7th 2014 Third place (1966) 3 4 B2 2 UEFA UEFA group G winners 6 October 2017 15th 2014 Winners (2010) 8 10 B3 4 CAF CAF third round group C winners 11 November 2017 5th 1998 Round of 16 (1986) 48 41 B4 3 AFC AFC third round group A winners 12 June 2017 5th 2014 Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014) 34 37
Notes
Standings
In the round of 16: The winners of Group B, Spain, advanced to play the runners-up of Group A, Russia. The runners-up of Group B, Portugal, advanced to play the winners of Group A, Uruguay.
Matches All times listed are local time.
Morocco vs Iran
The two teams had never met before.
Amine Harit fired wide with a volley from the edge of the penalty area after two minutes. Younès Belhanda and Medhi Benatia squandered close-range chances in a penalty box before Iran finally countered after 20 minutes, only for Karim Ansarifard to scuff his shot when clean through on goal. Sardar Azmoun then latched onto Omid Ebrahimi's through ball, but his shot was too low and Munir Mohamedi saved low with his feet. In the final 10 minutes Hakim Ziyech lashed the ball towards the bottom-left corner of the net from 20 yards but Alireza Beiranvand stopped the ball. In the last minutes, Ehsan Hajsafi's delivery from the left was met by a header from Aziz Bouhaddouz that flew into the left corner of his own net.
Iran won just their second match at the World Cup (D3 L8), with this is their first victory since beating the United States 2–1 in June 1998. Iran did not attempt a single shot in the second half and were the first team since 1966 to score a goal in a half of World Cup football without attempting a shot. Iran also maintained their unbeaten streak against CAF teams in the World Cup, having drawn Angola 1–1 in 2006 and Nigeria 0–0 in 2014; while this was also Iran's first ever victory against any Arab team in the World Cup.
GK 12Munir MohamediCB 2 Achraf HakimiCB 5 Medhi Benatia (c)CB 6 Romain SaïssRM 14Mbark BoussoufaCM 7 Hakim ZiyechCM 8 Karim El Ahmadi LM 18Amine Harit RF 16Nordin Amrabat CF 9 Ayoub El Kaabi LF 10Younès BelhandaSubstitutions:MF 21Sofyan Amrabat FW 20Aziz Bouhaddouz DF 4 Manuel da Costa Manager: Hervé Renard GK 1 Alireza BeiranvandCB 23Ramin RezaeianCB 4 Rouzbeh CheshmiCB 8 Morteza PouraliganjiRM 10Karim Ansarifard CM 9 Omid Ebrahimi CM 3 Ehsan HajsafiLM 7 Masoud Shojaei (c) RF 18Alireza Jahanbakhsh CF 20Sardar AzmounLF 11Vahid AmiriSubstitutions:FW 17Mehdi Taremi DF 19Majid Hosseini FW 14Saman Ghoddos Manager: Carlos Queiroz
Man of the Match: Amine Harit (Morocco)
Assistant referees: Bahattin Duran (Turkey) Tarık Ongun (Turkey) Fourth official: Sergei Karasev (Russia) Reserve assistant referee: Anton Averianov (Russia) Video assistant referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany) Assistant video assistant referees: Bastian Dankert (Germany) Mark Borsch (Germany) Jair Marrufo (United States)
Portugal vs Spain
The two teams had met in 35 previous matches, including in the round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, won by Spain 1–0. Their most recent meeting was in the UEFA Euro 2012 semi-finals, when Spain won 4–2 on penalties after a goalless draw in normal time.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored with an early penalty, winning it after he was fouled by Nacho inside the box. 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. But just before the break, David de Gea fumbled a Ronaldo shot from outside the penalty box through his gloves and over the line. 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.
Ronaldo became the fourth player to score in four different World Cup tournaments (2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018) after Pelé, Uwe Seeler and Miroslav Klose, and also the first to score in eight consecutive World Cups and European Championships. At age 33, Ronaldo also became the oldest hat-trick scorer in the World Cup, surpassing Rob Rensenbrink of the Netherlands, who scored three times against Iran in 1978, aged 30. With this result, Spain had not won any opening matches since 2006, having lost to Switzerland 0–1 in 2010 and the Netherlands 1–5 in 2014. This would end in 2022 with a 7-0 over Costa Rica, before they were held to a draw by Cabo Verde in their opening match in 2026.
GK 1 Rui PatrícioRB 21CédricCB 3 PepeCB 6 José FonteLB 5 Raphaël GuerreiroCM 14William CarvalhoCM 8 João MoutinhoRW 11Bernardo Silva AM 17Gonçalo Guedes LW 16Bruno Fernandes CF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c)Substitutions:MF 10João Mário FW 20Ricardo Quaresma FW 9 André Silva Manager:Fernando Santos GK 1 David de GeaRB 4 NachoCB 3 Gerard PiquéCB 15Sergio Ramos (c)LB 18Jordi AlbaCM 5 Sergio Busquets CM 8 KokeRW 21David Silva AM 22IscoLW 6 Andrés Iniesta CF 19Diego Costa Substitutions:MF 10Thiago FW 17Iago Aspas FW 11Lucas Vázquez Manager:Fernando Hierro
Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Assistant referees: Elenito Di Liberatore (Italy) Mauro Tonolini (Italy) Fourth official: Ryuji Sato (Japan) Reserve assistant referee: Toru Sagara (Japan) Video assistant referee: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy) Assistant video assistant referees: Paolo Valeri (Italy) Carlos Astroza (Chile) Daniele Orsato (Italy)
Portugal vs Morocco
The two teams had met previously only once, a group stage game in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, won by Morocco 3–1.
João Moutinho swung in a cross from the right after a short corner and Cristiano Ronaldo headed the ball powerfully past goalkeeper Munir Mohamedi from six yards out and into the middle of the goal to open the scoring in the 4th minute. Ronaldo played Gonçalo Guedes into the box but Munir made a one-handed save. Ronaldo shot over the crossbar when Bernardo 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 when Hakim Ziyech's free-kick was headed towards goal by Younès 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 and Medhi Benatia fired over with better chances. With their second loss in a row, Morocco became the first team to be eliminated from the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
85 international goals for Ronaldo is a new record for a European player, with Ronaldo passing Ferenc Puskás to hold the record outright. Ronaldo has become the first Portuguese player since José 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 since Oleg Salenko for Russia in 1994.
GK 1 Rui PatrícioRB 21CédricCB 3 PepeCB 6 José FonteLB 5 Raphaël GuerreiroRM 11Bernardo Silva CM 14William CarvalhoCM 8 João Moutinho LM 10João Mário CF 17Gonçalo GuedesCF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c)Substitutions:FW 18Gelson Martins MF 16Bruno Fernandes MF 23Adrien Silva Manager:Fernando Santos GK 12Munir MohamediRB 17Nabil DirarCB 5 Medhi Benatia (c) CB 4 Manuel da CostaLB 2 Achraf HakimiCM 8 Karim El Ahmadi CM 14Mbark BoussoufaRW 16Nordin AmrabatAM 10Younès Belhanda LW 7 Hakim ZiyechCF 13Khalid Boutaïb Substitutions:FW 9 Ayoub El Kaabi MF 23Mehdi Carcela MF 11Fayçal Fajr Manager: Hervé Renard
Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Assistant referees: Joe Fletcher (Canada) Frank Anderson (United States) Fourth official: Sergei Karasev (Russia) Reserve assistant referee: Anton Averianov (Russia) Video assistant referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany) Assistant video assistant referees: Jair Marrufo (United States) Simon Lount (New Zealand) Bastian Dankert (Germany)
Iran vs Spain
The two teams had never met before.
Spain had their first attempt on goal in the 25th minute when David Silva's long-range free-kick was held by Alireza 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 away Sergio Busquets' curled effort from the edge of the penalty area. Karim Ansarifard's effort from a corner flashed into David de Gea's side netting. In the 54th minute, Diego Costa picked up Andrés Iniesta's pass inside the area and saw Ramin 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.
Iran did not manage a shot on target for the first time in 14 World Cup games.
GK 1 Alireza BeiranvandRB 23Ramin RezaeianCB 19Majid HosseiniCB 8 Morteza PouraliganjiLB 3 Ehsan Hajsafi (c) CM 9 Omid Ebrahimi CM 6 Saeid EzatolahiRW 10Karim Ansarifard AM 17Mehdi TaremiLW 11Vahid Amiri CF 20Sardar AzmounSubstitutions:DF 5 Milad Mohammadi FW 18Alireza Jahanbakhsh FW 14Saman Ghoddos Manager: Carlos Queiroz GK 1 David de GeaRB 2 Dani CarvajalCB 3 Gerard PiquéCB 15Sergio Ramos (c)LB 18Jordi AlbaCM 5 Sergio BusquetsCM 6 Andrés Iniesta RW 21David SilvaAM 22IscoLW 11Lucas Vázquez CF 19Diego Costa Substitutions:MF 8 Koke MF 20Marco Asensio FW 9 Rodrigo Manager:Fernando Hierro
Man of the Match: Diego Costa (Spain)
Assistant referees: Nicolás Taran (Uruguay) Mauricio Espinosa (Uruguay) Fourth official: Julio Bascuñán (Chile) Reserve assistant referee: Christian Schiemann (Chile) Video assistant referee: Mauro Vigliano (Argentina) Assistant video assistant referees: Wilton Sampaio (Brazil) Alexander Guzmán (Colombia) Massimiliano Irrati (Italy)
Iran vs Portugal
The two teams had met twice, most recently in a group stage game in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, won by Portugal 2–0.
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 over Alireza Beiranvand into the top-left corner. Saeid Ezatolahi's foul on Cristiano 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 that Cédric's handball from Sardar Azmoun's header had been intentional, which Karim Ansarifard converted high to his right. The game ended in a 1−1 draw, with Portugal advancing and Iran eliminated.
Quaresma (34 years, 272 days old) is the oldest player to score on his first World Cup start since Yahya Golmohammadi (35 years, 84 days old), who did so for Iran in 2006 against 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 drew 1–1 to Scotland.