2018 FIFA World Cup Group B

Group B of the 2018 FIFA World Cup took place from 15 to 25 June 2018.^[1] The group consisted of Portugal, Spain, Morocco, and Iran. The top two teams advanced to the round of 16.^[2]

Teams

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
B2	Spain	2	UEFA	UEFA Group G winners	6 October 2017	15th	2014	Winners (2010)	8
B3	Morocco	4	CAF	CAF Third Round Group C winners	11 November 2017	5th	1998	Round of 16 (1986)	48
B4	Iran	3	AFC	AFC Third Round Group A winners	12 June 2017	5th	2014	Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014)	34

Notes

1. The rankings of October 2017 were used for seeding for the final draw.

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	3	1	2	0	6	5	+1	5	Advance to knockout 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

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

In the round of 16:

• The winners of Group B will advance to play the runners-up of Group A.
• The runners-up of Group B will advance to play the winners of Group A.

Matches

All times listed are local time.^[1]

Morocco vs Iran

The two teams have never met before.^[3]

15 June 2018 (2018-06-15)

18:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Morocco	0–1	Iran
	Report	Bouhaddouz  90+5' (o.g.)

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Attendance: 62,548^[4]

Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey)

Morocco[5]

Iran[5]

GK 12 Munir Mohamedi CB 2 Achraf Hakimi CB 5 Medhi Benatia (c) CB 6 Romain Saïss RM 14 Mbark Boussoufa CM 7 Hakim Ziyech CM 8 Karim El Ahmadi  34' LM 18 Amine Harit  82' RF 16 Nordin Amrabat  76' CF 9 Ayoub El Kaabi  77' LF 10 Younès Belhanda Substitutions: MF 21 Sofyan Amrabat  76' FW 20 Aziz Bouhaddouz  77' DF 4 Manuel da Costa  82' Manager: Hervé Renard

GK 1 Alireza Beiranvand CB 23 Ramin Rezaeian CB 4 Rouzbeh Cheshmi CB 8 Morteza Pouraliganji RM 10 Karim Ansarifard  90+2' CM 9 Omid Ebrahimi  81' CM 3 Ehsan Hajsafi LM 7 Masoud Shojaei (c)  10'  68' RF 18 Alireza Jahanbakhsh  47'  85' CF 20 Sardar Azmoun LF 11 Vahid Amiri Substitutions: FW 17 Mehdi Taremi  68' DF 19 Majid Hosseini  81' FW 14 Saman Ghoddos  85' Manager: Carlos Queiroz

Man of the Match: Amine Harit (Morocco)[6] Assistant referees:[5] Bahattin Duran (Turkey) Tarik Ongun (Turkey) Fourth official: Sergei Karasev (Russia) Fifth official[broken anchor]: 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 have played each other 35 times before, including one game in the 2010 FIFA World Cup round of 16, won by Spain 1–0.^[7]

15 June 2018 (2018-06-15)

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Portugal	3–3	Spain
Ronaldo  4' (pen.), 44', 88'	Report	Costa  24', 55' Nacho  58'

Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi

Attendance: 43,866^[8]

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

Portugal[9]

Spain[9]

GK 1 Rui Patrício RB 21 Cédric CB 3 Pepe CB 6 José Fonte LB 5 Raphaël Guerreiro CM 14 William Carvalho CM 8 João Moutinho RW 11 Bernardo Silva  69' AM 17 Gonçalo Guedes  80' LW 16 Bruno Fernandes  28'  68' CF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c) Substitutions: MF 10 João Mário  68' FW 20 Ricardo Quaresma  69' FW 9 André Silva  80' Manager: Fernando Santos

GK 1 David de Gea RB 4 Nacho CB 3 Gerard Piqué CB 15 Sergio Ramos (c) LB 18 Jordi Alba CM 5 Sergio Busquets  17' CM 8 Koke RW 21 David Silva  86' AM 22 Isco LW 6 Andrés Iniesta  70' CF 19 Diego Costa  77' Substitutions: MF 10 Thiago  70' FW 17 Iago Aspas  77' FW 11 Lucas Vázquez  86' Manager: Fernando Hierro

Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)[10] Assistant referees:[9] Elenito Di Liberatore (Italy) Mauro Tonolini (Italy) Fourth official: Ryuji Sato (Japan) Fifth official[broken anchor]: 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 have once played each other in a group stage game in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, won by Morocco 3-1.^[11]

20 June 2018 (2018-06-20)

15:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Portugal	1–0	Morocco
Ronaldo  4'	Report

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow

Attendance: 78,011^[12]

Referee: Mark Geiger (United States)

Portugal[13]

Morocco[13]

GK 1 Rui Patrício RB 21 Cédric CB 3 Pepe CB 6 José Fonte LB 5 Raphaël Guerreiro RM 11 Bernardo Silva  59' CM 14 William Carvalho CM 8 João Moutinho  89' LM 10 João Mário  70' CF 17 Gonçalo Guedes CF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c) Substitutions: FW 18 Gelson Martins  59' MF 16 Bruno Fernandes  70' MF 23 Adrien Silva  90+2'  89' Manager: Fernando Santos

GK 12 Munir Mohamedi RB 17 Nabil Dirar CB 5 Medhi Benatia (c)  40' CB 4 Manuel da Costa LB 2 Achraf Hakimi CM 8 Karim El Ahmadi  86' CM 14 Mbark Boussoufa RW 16 Nordin Amrabat AM 10 Younès Belhanda  75' LW 7 Hakim Ziyech CF 13 Khalid Boutaïb  70' Substitutions: FW 9 Ayoub El Kaabi  70' MF 23 Mehdi Carcela  75' MF 11 Fayçal Fajr  86' Manager: Hervé Renard

Man of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)[14] Assistant referees:[13] Joe Fletcher (Canada) Frank Anderson (United States) Fourth official: Sergei Karasev (Russia) Fifth official[broken anchor]: 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 have never played each other before.^[3]

20 June 2018 (2018-06-20)

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Iran	0–1	Spain
	Report	Costa  54'

Kazan Arena, Kazan

Referee: Andrés Cunha (Uruguay)

Iran[15]

Spain[15]

GK 1 Alireza Beiranvand RB 23 Ramin Rezaeian CB 19 Majid Hosseini CB 8 Morteza Pouraliganji LB 3 Ehsan Hajsafi (c)  69' CM 9 Omid Ebrahimi  90+2' CM 6 Saeid Ezatolahi RW 10 Karim Ansarifard  74' AM 17 Mehdi Taremi LW 11 Vahid Amiri  79'  86' CF 20 Sardar Azmoun Substitutions: DF 5 Milad Mohammadi  69' FW 18 Alireza Jahanbakhsh  74' FW 14 Saman Ghoddos  86' Manager: Carlos Queiroz

GK 1 David de Gea RB 2 Dani Carvajal CB 3 Gerard Piqué CB 15 Sergio Ramos (c) LB 18 Jordi Alba CM 5 Sergio Busquets CM 6 Andrés Iniesta  71' RW 21 David Silva AM 22 Isco LW 11 Lucas Vázquez  79' CF 19 Diego Costa  89' Substitutions: MF 8 Koke  71' MF 20 Marco Asensio  79' FW 9 Rodrigo  89' Manager: Fernando Hierro

Man of the Match: Diego Costa (Spain)[16] Assistant referees:[15] Nicolás Tarán (Uruguay) Mauricio Espinosa (Uruguay) Fourth official: Julio Bascuñán (Chile) Fifth official[broken anchor]: 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 have played each other two times, most recently in a group stage game in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, won by Portugal 2-0.^[11]

25 June 2018 (2018-06-25)

21:00 MSK (UTC+3)

Iran	1–1	Portugal
Ansarifard  90+3' (pen.)	Report	Quaresma  45'

Mordovia Arena, Saransk

Attendance: 41,685^[17]

Referee: Enrique Cáceres (Paraguay)

Iran[18]

Portugal[18]

GK 1 Alireza Beiranvand RB 23 Ramin Rezaeian CB 19 Majid Hosseini CB 8 Morteza Pouraliganji LB 3 Ehsan Hajsafi (c)  52'  56' DM 6 Saeid Ezatolahi  76' CM 18 Alireza Jahanbakhsh  70' CM 9 Omid Ebrahimi RW 17 Mehdi Taremi LW 11 Vahid Amiri CF 20 Sardar Azmoun  54' Substitutions: DF 5 Milad Mohammadi  56' FW 14 Saman Ghoddos  70' FW 10 Karim Ansarifard  76' Manager: Carlos Queiroz

GK 1 Rui Patrício RB 21 Cédric  90+8' CB 3 Pepe CB 6 José Fonte LB 5 Raphaël Guerreiro  33' RM 20 Ricardo Quaresma  64'  70' CM 14 William Carvalho CM 23 Adrien Silva LM 10 João Mário  84' CF 9 André Silva  90+6' CF 7 Cristiano Ronaldo (c)  83' Substitutions: MF 11 Bernardo Silva  70' MF 8 João Moutinho  84' FW 17 Gonçalo Guedes  90+6' Manager: Fernando Santos

Man of the Match: Ricardo Quaresma (Portugal)[19] Assistant referees:[18] Eduardo Cardozo (Paraguay) Juan Zorrilla (Paraguay) Fourth official: Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria) Fifth official[broken anchor]: Anouar Hmila (Tunisia) Video assistant referee: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy) Assistant video assistant referees: Gery Vargas (Bolivia) Hernán Maidana (Argentina) Paolo Valeri (Italy)

Spain vs Morocco

Despite their locations, the two teams have played each other only in two opportunities, both were games for the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification, and both were won by Spain.^[11]

25 June 2018 (2018-06-25)

20:00 KALT (UTC+2)

Spain	2–2	Morocco
Isco  19' Aspas  90+1'	Report	Boutaïb  14' En-Nesyri  81'

Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad

Attendance: 33,973^[20]

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Spain[21]

Morocco[21]

GK 1 David de Gea RB 2 Dani Carvajal CB 3 Gerard Piqué CB 15 Sergio Ramos (c) LB 18 Jordi Alba CM 5 Sergio Busquets CM 10 Thiago  74' RW 21 David Silva  84' AM 22 Isco LW 6 Andrés Iniesta CF 19 Diego Costa  74' Substitutions: FW 17 Iago Aspas  74' MF 20 Marco Asensio  74' FW 9 Rodrigo  84' Manager: Fernando Hierro

GK 12 Munir Mohamedi  88' RB 17 Nabil Dirar CB 4 Manuel da Costa  31' CB 6 Romain Saïss LB 2 Achraf Hakimi  90+3' CM 8 Karim El Ahmadi  21' CM 14 Mbark Boussoufa (c)  31' RW 16 Nordin Amrabat  29' AM 10 Younès Belhanda  63' LW 7 Hakim Ziyech  85' CF 13 Khalid Boutaïb  72' Substitutions: MF 11 Fayçal Fajr  63' FW 19 Youssef En-Nesyri  72' FW 20 Aziz Bouhaddouz  85' Manager: Hervé Renard

Man of the Match: Isco (Spain)[22] Assistant referees:[21] Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan) Jakhongir Saidov (Uzbekistan) Fourth official: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates) Fifth official[broken anchor]: Mohamed Al Hammadi (United Arab Emirates) Video assistant referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany) Assistant video assistant referees: Bastian Dankert (Germany) Mark Borsch (Germany) Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)