2018 World Cup Betting Preview & Pick: Morocco vs. Iran.

2018 World Cup Betting & Pick: Morocco vs. Iran

Written by on June 12, 2018

Unless you are a dedicated follower of world football, there are probably going to be a few teams in this tournament that you know very little about. These are generally going to be the nations that really have no shot at getting beyond the group stage. As such, you may simply decide to ignore the games that these teams play against one another, but that may prove to be a mistake. This is a long tournament and watching the playing style of every single team can give you a distinct 2018 World Cup Betting edge as the tournament progresses. Previous World Cups have also shown that the best games often end up being the ones that feature the minnows of the tournament. I think we may be in for one of those types of games on Friday morning when Morocco and Iran go head to head in Group B action. Given that Portugal and Spain are the other two teams in this group, this match may be the only shot that either of these two teams has at picking up points. With that in mind, I think there is a very good chance that both go all out for the win, but there’s only one favorite at the latest soccer odds, so let’s find out who’s the team with the edge and which one is offering a better value at MyBookie Sportsbook!

Morocco vs. Iran 2018 World Cup Betting Preview & Pick

  • When: Friday, June 15 at 11 AM EST
  • Where: Saint-Petersburgh Stadium, St. Petersburg
  • TV: FOX
  • Radio: TuneIn
  • Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
  • 2018 Worl Cup Betting Odds: Morocco +127 (Over/Under at 2 goals)

Why bet on Morocco?

Morocco is an incredibly well-organized team, as they showed in their impressive qualifying run. They won their final qualifying group in grand style, going 6 games without conceding a single goal. While that may suggest that they do not attack, the reality is that they play a possession style of football that comes from a packed midfield in a 4-5-1 formation. Since beating the Ivory Coast 2-0 in the final qualifying game for Russia, Morocco has played 5 games, winning 4 and drawing 1, which means they are coming into this tournament on a very good run of form. They were their typical defensively solid lot during that 5-game run, but they also proved that they could score goals, outgunning their opponents 9-3 during that stretch of games.

Possible Line-Up

  • 12-Munir
  • 2-Hakimi
  • 6-Saiss
  • 5-Benatia
  • 16-Amrabat
  • 8-El Ahmadi
  • 18-Harit
  • 14-Boussoufa
  • 10-Belhanda
  • 7-Ziyech
  • 9-El Kaabi

Why bet on Iran?

The Iranians made no friends with their style of play at the last World Cup, packing the defense and barely venturing outside their own half. A lot can change in 4 years, though, and they now adopt more of an attacking formation, although they are still defensively solid. Iran cruised through Asian qualifying and actually set a record by going on a 12-game run where they did not concede a goal. Iran comes as the 2018 World Cup Betting underdog against Morocco. Their build-up to the World Cup has not been as impressive as what Morocco has delivered, going 4-2 in their last 6 games. The good news is that Iran was able to make it through their schedule without picking up any injuries, so we should be seeing the team that totally dominated in the qualifying stage.

Possible Line-Up

  • 1-Beiranvand
  • 23-Rezaeian
  • 4-Cheshmi
  • 8-Pouraliganji
  • 5-Mohammadi
  • 18-Jahanbakhsh
  • 7-Shojaei
  • 3-Hajsafi
  • 17-Taremi
  • 20-Azmoun

Expert 2018 World Cup Betting Pick & Score Prediction

These two teams have never met before, so it’s certainly going to be interesting to see how this one plays out. There may be a little feeling out period early in the game, but I think this one will quickly start to open up. Both teams are solid in defense, but I think we are getting goals here, and I like Iran as my 2018 World Cup Betting pick here. Score: Morocco 1 – Iran 2