Russia 2018: Ronaldo battle Spanish stars, Atlas Lions in Group B
GROUP B PORTUGAL FIFA RANKING: 4 WORLD CUP HISTORY 6/20 FINALS / QUALIFYING CAMPAIGNS FIRST FWC: 1966 LAST FWC: 2014 BEST ACHIEVEMENT: 3rd place 1966 FIRST STAGE 6 APPEARANCES SEMIFINALS 2 APPEARANCES FINAL 0 APPEARANCES TITLES 0 CHAMPIONSHIPS THE COACH FERNANDO SANTOS Santos was appointed in 2014 after a successful spell with Greece, whom he […]
GROUP B
PORTUGAL
FIFA RANKING: 4
WORLD CUP HISTORY
6/20 FINALS / QUALIFYING CAMPAIGNS
FIRST FWC: 1966 LAST FWC: 2014
BEST ACHIEVEMENT: 3rd place 1966
FIRST STAGE
6 APPEARANCES
SEMIFINALS
2 APPEARANCES
FINAL
0 APPEARANCES
TITLES
0 CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE COACH
FERNANDO SANTOS
Santos was appointed in 2014 after a successful spell with Greece, whom he led to the last eight at EURO 2012 and the Round of 16 at Brazil 2014. The Lisbon-born coach made history by leading Portugal to their first major tournament success at EURO 2016 and followed that up by guiding them through the Russia 2018 qualifiers.
THE GOAL
POR – SUI (2-0) 10 OCT 2017
Capping off qualification in style, a slick, flowing move that sliced open a normally water-tight Swiss backline was polished off by Andre Silva, sending the European champions to Russia.
THE STAR
CRISTIANO RONALDO
Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers in history. He is the all-time leading scorer for both Portugal and Real Madrid and has been named The Best FIFA
Men’s Player for the last two years running.
SPAIN
FIFA RANKING: 10
WORLD CUP HISTORY
14/18 FINALS / QUALIFYING CAMPAIGNS
FIRST FWC: 1934 LAST FWC: 2014
BEST ACHIEVEMENT: Champion 2010
FIRST STAGE
14 APPEARANCES
SEMIFINALS
2 APPEARANCES
FINAL
1 APPEARANCES
TITLES
1 CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE COACH
JULEN LOPETEGUI
A former Barcelona and Real Madrid goalkeeper, who was part of Spain’s 1994 World Cup squad, Lopetegui was appointed to succeed Vicente Del Bosque after UEFA EURO 2016. Prior to taking charge of Spain, he had coached FC Porto and Spain’s youth teams, winning both the U-19 and U-21 UEFA European Championships.
THE GOAL
ESP – ITA (3-0) 2 SEPT 2017
Setting his usual stomping ground of the Santiago Bernabeu alight, Isco left jaws on the floor against Italy with a brace, the first of which being a sublime free-kick.
THE STAR
SERGIO RAMOS
Ramos is Spain’s second-most capped player and is closing in on Iker Casillas’ all-time record of 167.
He also captains La Roja and was a key player in the teams that won two European Championships and one World Cup between 2008 and 2012.
MOROCCO
FIFA RANKING: 41
WORLD CUP HISTORY
4/14 FINALS / QUALIFYING CAMPAIGNS
FIRST FWC: 1970 LAST FWC: 1998
BEST ACHIEVEMENT: Round of 16 1986
FIRST STAGE
4 APPEARANCES
SEMIFINALS
0 APPEARANCES
FINAL
0 APPEARANCES
TITLES
0 CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE COACH
HERVÉ RENARD
The first coach to win the CAF Africa Cup of Nations with different countries, Renard is a figure respected throughout the Mother Continent and the wider world. He took charge of Morocco in 2016 and led the Atlas Lions to their first FIFA World Cup since 1998.
THE GOAL
CIV – MAR (0-2) 11 NOV 2017
Needing at least a draw in their final game, captain Medhi Benatia went one step further against Côte d’Ivoire and sealed three points for the Atlas Lions with a timely back-post finish from a corner kick.
THE STAR
MEDHI BENATIA
Powerful, athletic and good on the ball, Benatia is one of the best defenders in Africa.
The centre- half’s talents have taken him to European superpowers Bayern Munich and Juventus in big-money moves.
IR IRAN
FIFA RANKING: 37
WORLD CUP HISTORY
4/10 FINALS / QUALIFYING CAMPAIGNS
FIRST FWC: 1978 LAST FWC: 2014
BEST ACHIEVEMENT: First stage 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014
FIRST STAGE
4 APPEARANCES
SEMIFINALS
0 APPEARANCES
FINAL
0 APPEARANCES
TITLES
0 CHAMPIONSHIPS
THE COACH
CARLOS QUEIROZ
The vastly experienced Portuguese coach will be in the dugout for a third FIFA World Cup, having led his native country in 2010 and Iran in 2014. Queiroz, who also won two FIFA U-20 World Cup titles with Portugal, oversaw a near-flawless Russia 2018 preliminary campaign, with Iran the first Asian team to qualify.
THE GOAL
IRN – UZB (2-0) 12 JUN 2017
The goal that booked back-to-back qualification for the first time, Mehdi Taremi’s shimmy and curling finish was the icing on the cake of Iran’s road to Russia.
THE STAR
SARDAR AZMOUN
Touted as the heir to Iran goalscoring icon Ali Daei, striker Azmoun has enjoyed prolific form for his country since bursting on to the scene at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Something of a poster-boy
among supporters of Team Melli, the silky-skilled Azmoun plays his club football for Russian side Rubin Kazan.