2018 World Cup Odds and Prediction: Iran Team Betting Preview

Team Melli are making a second consecutive appearance on the world stage and if they somehow manage to win against Morocco on Friday, it’ll mark just their second ever win at the World Cup. Their current World Cup betting odds in that match are +267.

2018 Iran World Cup Betting Odds

Odds to advance to knockout stages: +550

Odds to win the World Cup: +58,700

Number of World Cup wins: 1

FIFA world ranking: No. 37

Manager: Carlos Dejagah

Captain: Ashkan Dejagah

Iran Players to Watch

Alireza Jahanbakhsh doesn’t play in one of the big four leagues in Europe but he was the top scorer in the Eredivisie this past season. He scored 21 goals and produced 12 assists as well which helped AZ Alkmaar to a third-place finish in Holland’s top league.

Iran World Cup Formation and Projected Starting 11

Carlos Queiroz is a manager who’s been around the block at some of the bigger football clubs in the world. He’s gained a reputation as a manager who is unpredictable with his formations and his team selections. Iran have predominantly used a 4-2-3-1 setup over the years, but they’ve experimented with at 4-1-4-1 formation in their last few friendlies.

Bettors can bank on Alireza Beiranvand as Team Melli’s starting keeper with Morteza Pouraliganji and Pejman Montazeri as the centre back pairing. Ramin Rezaeian and Milad Mohammadi should occupy the full back positions.

The starting midfield is expected to include Saeid Ezatolahi, Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Hajsafi – the later poth play at two of the bigger clubs in Greece. We expect Queiroz will deploy forwards Mahdi Taremi and Alireza Jahanbakhsh in advanced midfield positions with Sardar Azmoun playing in the central striker role in front.

Iran Strengths

Goals might not be a problem for Iran. Jahanbakhsh was the golden boot winner in the Eredivisie, Karim Ansarifard and Kaveh Rezaei were among the leaders scorers in Greece and Belgium and Sadar Azmoun is rounding into form that had many predicting a move to a big European club from his spell in Russia.

Iran Weaknesses

Carlos Queiroz is a conservative manager and Team Melli kept clean sheets in 12 of their 13 World Cup qualifying matches. Still, only one of the seven defenders to make the squad played last season at European club. There is a lack of top level talent at the backline and it’ll be much more difficult keeping Spain and Portugal off the score sheet than the competition Iran faced in a weak qualification group.

Iran News

Queiroz’s first choice defensive midfield, Saeid Ezatolahi, is suspended for Iran’s first World Cup match due a red card issued during a qualifier against South Korea last August. His omission could be a costly one as Iran face Morocco in its first match.

Iran Betting Predictions

Group B is dubbed as the Group of Death for the 2018 World Cup and most are expecting Iran to be the first from the Group B to be eliminated. They’ve got a chance against Morocco and they might be able to scrap a draw against Portugal.

Bettors should expect some goals in their matches. There are too many offensively gifted players on the pitch for Iran to be held off the score sheet for too long. It might be worth a punt to take the over 2.5 goals (+190) in their match against Morocco at Sports Interaction.