Iran vs Spain, World Cup: Final Score 0-1, La Roja get tough, narrow first win

Spain have won their first game of this World Cup, but it was far from easy. Against a very good Iranian defense, La Roja had to remain patient and continue to pressure until they found a goal. Diego Costa once again scored for Spain, and Barcelona stars Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets were very good on the night.

FIRST HALF

I wish I had 300 words to describe the first half in detail, but here’s everything you need to know about the first 45 minutes: Spain had the ball, Iran defended, Spain couldn’t score even though they tried everything.

And you know what? The second half would be exactly the same, but with Spain needing to score even more and trying more than everything. Could they find a breakthrough?

SECOND HALF

It didn’t take long for Spain to finally take the lead, with a lucky bounce hitting Diego Costa’s leg and going in. It seemed like La Roja were going to run away with the game since Iran needed to go forward, but Iran were actually quite threatening when they decided to attack and equalized, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside.

The Iranians continued to go forward looking to score, and Spain were surprisingly too cautious and decided to play it safe to maintain the one-goal lead and get the win. The plan worked and now Spain share first place with Portugal at the top of the group.

Spain will now face an eliminated Morocco side to win the group while Portugal will have to deal with a very organized Iranian side who have made every game tough in this World Cup so far. They’re not bad, not at all.

Iran: Beiranvand; Rezaeian, Pouraliganji, Hosseini, Hajsafi (Mohammadi); Ezatolahi; Taremi, Ebrahimi, Amiri (Ghoddos), Ansarifard (Jahanbakhsh); Azmoun

Goals: None

Spain: De Gea; Carvajal, Piqué, Ramos, Alba; David Silva, Busquets, Iniesta (Koke); Vázquez (Asensio), Costa (Rodrigo), Isco

Goal: Diego Costa (54’)