Final Round of World Cup Group B – Can Portugal and Spain Make it Through?

Soccer betting sites have been swarming with World Cup stats, predictions and opinions early in the summer 2018 and we’re bound to see much of the same through July too. Group B headlined by European giants Spain and Portugal has been in focus for many in the know, attracting most attention with bookies such as Betway and for great reason, as we see La Furia Roja and A Selecao das Quinas at the top with four points each and Iran holding on to their chances, sitting just a point behind.

What’s it all About

We’ve seen a great start to the competitions in the Group with a Matchday 1 3-3 thriller between Spain and Portugal stirring up the emotions worldwide, as football betting showed its unpredictable side with Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Costa both impressing on the day.

The Stats

However, we haven’t seen many goals aside from that evening and just three in three games were enough for Spain and Portugal to bag the points against Iran and Morocco, respectively, as well as Team Melli to outclass the rock-bottomed Moroccans.

We’ve thus gotten used to very narrow clashes quite quickly and the bottom two have a lot to regret despite reaping praise all around, seeing CR7 and Atletico Madrid’s Costa untangled those matchups as well.

The Goalscorers

Portugal’s one-man show was no surprise as Cristiano Ronaldo topped the charts ahead of the final tournament in Russia; Only Costa and Russia’s Denis Cheryshev have been keeping up on the Goalscorers list so far, as both have three goals to their name after two games played.

England’ Harry Kane has netted two in England’s first clash, just as Romelu Lukaku has done for Belgium, sharing the fourth spot with Artem Dzyuba of Russia. We’ve thus seen nine goals in four Group B games but both Costa and Ronaldo sit in the top of the goalscorers standings.

What Happens Next

Online there has been a lot of action and you can follow closely what’s going on with most sports betting sites. FIFA has a vivid Live Blog and coverage but there are many other ways to catch the action including live streams, as Group B got the spotlight at this point. How do you enjoy the World Cup action? Let us know in the comment section!

The Predictions

Spain and Portugal are still heavy favourites to Qualify from the Group after securing tough yet all-important wins on Matchday 2, priced at 1/100 and 1/10 with Betway, respectively. They have shown character and although we don’t feel they’re in for easy tasks on the final day of the group stage either, both Hierro’s and Fernando Santos’ men should have what it takes to seal the deal. However, many value-seekers have been feeling out Iran’s chances after seeing a rock-solid display against Spain, which could have the Portuguese fans more worried as is.

With high stakes involved, we’re more devoted to exploiting the defensive tallies of recent and top-notch performances at the back – where the impressive attacking lines still struggled to net on more than one occasion. With that in mind, many have been getting behind low-scoring clashes late in the group stage.

Interestingly, we’ve also seen Fair Play dominate in Group B and only Iran have seen more than two bookings (5 yellow cards total) in two games played so far. Portugal and Morocco have earned just two yellow cards each so far and Sergio Busquets was the only one to get booked for Spain, in the clash against Portugal.

This has many predicting similar games on the final day of the group stage and there could still be value to exploit there, as Fair Play could make all the difference in a thrilling tie breaker between Spain and Portugal – if both sides win their clashes on Monday, June 25th.

See highlights of Spain and Portugal game here: