KAZAN, RUSSIA – JUNE 20: Diego Costa celebrates with team mates during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group B match between Iran and Spain at Kazan Arena on June 20, 2018 in Kazan, Russia. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Spain pushes past Iran for 1-0 win, tying for first in Group B

by Nicole Mastria

Spain and Iran went head to head earlier today for their first ever match against one another. After a well-fought game, Spain was able to achieve their first win of the 2018 World Cup thanks to a goal scored by Diego Costa.

Iran already had one win going into today’s match against Spain—their second ever World Cup win—which meant they were second and ahead of both Spain and Morocco in Group B. Had the game ended in a draw, Iran would have been completely tied with Portugal for first in their group.

From the first minute of the match, it was clear to those watching that Iran intended to play for a draw. The Iranian squad had few attacking plays and was playing extremely defensively, with nearly six men making up their back line every time the ball was in their half.

KAZAN, RUSSIA – JUNE 20: Iran fans enjoy the pre match atmosphere outside the stadium prior during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group B match between Iran and Spain at Kazan Arena on June 20, 2018 in Kazan, Russia. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Spain continued to prove that their Tiki Taka style of play was just as effective as ever. The Spanish squad completed a whopping 718 passes to Iran’s 152 completed passes. The match statistics for the first half showed Spain held possession of the ball for 82% of the time and Iran for only 18%. Unfortunately for Spain, they could not score with the additional Iranian players fiercely defending in the back—shutting down Spanish attacks left and right.

Though Spanish players David Silva and Isco had a few opportunities to score and Iran’s Karim Ansarifard’s incredible shot was just wide of Spain’s goal, the game remained scoreless until the 54th minute when Diego Costa scored his third goal of the tournament. Andrés Iniesta set Costa up with a cross in the box, but after Costa turned with the ball, Iranian defender Ramin Rezaeian got a foot on it and hit it into Costa before he was able to score.

Diego Costa celebrates his game-winning goal against Iran
Photo Credit: Getty Images/FIFA.com

Iran’s determination to score picked up after conceding a goal. They immediately lessened the amount of time defending and began piling on the attacks. In the 62nd minute and less than ten minutes after Spain’s goal, Iran scored off a set piece to equalize, only for the goal to be disallowed after the VAR showed Saeid Ezatolahi was offside, incidentally the sixth implementation of VAR (Video Assistant Referee) in the 2018 World Cup.

Iran played well but must look forward to their next and final group stage match against Portugal on June 25th with more trepidation than hope. Luckily for Spain, the squad was able to keep a tight back line and hold the score at 1-0 for the remainder of the game, tying them with Portugal for first in Group B. Spain will play Morocco for their final match of the group stages (also on June 25th).

Iran Lineup (with substitutes): #1-Alireza Beiranvand; #23-Ramin Rezaeian; #8-Morteza Pouraliganji; #19-Majid Hosseini; #3-Ehsan Hajsafi (#5-Milad Mohammadi); #6-Saeid Ezatolahi; #17-Mehdi Taremi; #9-Omid Ebrahimi; #11-Vahid Amiri (#14-Saman Ghoddos); #10-Karim Ansarifard (#18-Alireza Jahanbakhsh); #20-Sardar Azmoun

Spain Lineup (with substitutes): #1-David de Gea; #2-Dani Carvajal; #3-Gerard Piqué; #15-Sergio Ramos; #18-Jordi Alba; #5-Sergio Busquets; #11-Lucas Vásquez (#20-Marco Asensio); #21-David Silva; #6-Andrés Iniesta (#8-Koke); #22-Isco; #19-Diego Costa (#9-Rodrigo)

Cards Issued:

#11-Vahid Amiri (Yellow card 79’)

#9-Omid Ebrahimi (Yellow card 90+2’)