Woodwork
World Cup Russia 2018 – The teams and players of ‘Group B’
Group B Briefing
Portugal
This will be Portugal’s 7th participation in the World Cup. Their last appearance was in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Portugal is a nation that has produced generations of attacking talents and can contend with any of the ‘best’ footballing nations on any given day.
Despite winning their first major international title (Euro 2016), Portugal remains a little short in claiming a position amongst the powerhouses in world football. A World Cup title will surely shoot the Portuguese national team to be seated with the elites in world football
Spain
Winners in 2010
This will be Spain’s 15th participation in the World Cup. Their last appearance was in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Spain will need to make up for severely under-performing in the 2014 World Cup, where they exited the competition before their final group match was played.
Spain is a recent World Cup winner, and 2018 might be a perfect time to double it when the mixture of youth and experienced is available.
Can Spain expand their dominance in club footballing competition to the international football stage?
Morocco
This will be Morocco’s 5th participation in the FIFA World Cup. Their last appearance was in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.
In order to return to the FIFA World Cup after a two-decade absence, Morocco had to top a CAF qualification group that included a star-studded Ivory Coast team. The time spent away from the tournament should have Moroccans craving for a good showing in Russia.
Iran
This will be Iran’s 5th participation in the FIFA World Cup. Their last appearance was in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Iran is yet to get out of the group stages in any of their previous FIFA World Cups. Could this be the year that Iran makes a surprise move and qualify for the knockout stage?