​Spain vs Morocco, live updates 7:59PM Genius Iran have played really well but they were powerless to stop a moment of absolute genius from Quaresma, whose goal with the outside of his right boot separates the sides. As it stands Portugal are top of Group B and will play Russia in the last 16. Iran must score and hope Spain concede if they are to go through (or score twice themselves and render what happens in the Spain game irrelevant). Credit: REUTERS 7:48PM Half-time: Iran 0 Portugal 1 After being frustrated for most of the half, Portugal go in at half-time a goal to the good and - coupled with Spain drawing 1-1 with Morrocco - top of the group. 7:47PM 45+2 min Iran 0 Portugal 1 We're playing three minutes of added on time. 7:45PM GOAL! Iran 0 Portugal 1 (Quaresma 45 min) Oh my, that is absolutely sensational! Quaresma plays a one-two with Cedric and with the outside of his right boot bends a magnificent effort into the top corner from about 25 yards out. That is one of the goals of the tournament! 7:44PM 44 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Ronaldo tries to win a corner down the Portugal left but ends up succeeding only in chesting the ball out of play. That rather sums up Portugal's half. 7:42PM 42 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 A bit more purpose from Portugal ends with Quaresma improvising an outside of the boot shot from about 10 yards out. The effort flies over the bar from a tight angle. Credit: REUTERS 7:40PM 40 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Ronaldo tries his luck from about 35 yards. It's a decent effort but is slightly deflected and ends up straight down Beiranvand's throat. 7:38PM 39 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Another Iran half-chance. They have a real threat on the counter but Amiri misplaces a pass meant for Omid just inside the box. 7:36PM 36 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Iran have been brilliant and their supporters superb. But please: enough with the vuvuzelas. Credit: REUTERS 7:35PM 35 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Jahanbakhsh delivers the free-kick, which Hosseini meets with a powerful near-post header that unfortunately for him is straight at Patricio. 7:34PM 34 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Guerreiro, who was exposed in the first couple of games, is booked after scything down Jahanbakhsh. It came from another really pacy, purposeful Iranian break, and it's a free kick in a dangerous position out wide on the right. 7:30PM 31 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 A clash of heads at a Portugal corner sees Fonte and Sardar looking a little groggy. Thankfully both look ok to carry on. 7:29PM 29 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 More diligent work from Iran ends with the striker Sardar nipping in to win the ball back and then winning a free-kick off William Carvalho. Portugal look increasingly frustrated. 7:27PM 27 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Iran are sitting very deep, and Portugal are struggling to find any space. Ronaldo tries to slip in Andre Silva but he's comfortably offside. Credit: Getty Images 7:24PM 25 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Iran look dangerous again, but Amiri can't quite latch on to Omid's through ball. Amiri inadvertently catches Patricio as he goes for the ball, and the Portugal goalkeeper is down receiving treatment. He'll be fine. Iran vs Portugal shots on goal 7:22PM 22 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 It's a decent effort from Ramin but it flies a few feet wide of Patricio's goal. 7:21PM 21 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Spain have equalised through Isco, so Spain now lead Group B. Meanwhile Adrien Silva gives away a free-kick in a dangerous area for pulling down Safi. Dangerous position for Iran. 7:19PM 19 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Spain trailing Morocco 1-0 means Portugal are top of the group as it stands. 7:17PM 18 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Adrien Silva wins a free-kick about 25 yards out, just to the right of the goal. Ronaldo fancies it but smashes his shot into the wall. He appeals for a handball but to no avail. Nothing in that. Credit: Getty Images 7:16PM 15 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Portugal win a couple of corners and unsurprisingly stick them right under Beiranvand's crossbar. He deals with them a bit more comfortably. Meanwhile in Kaliningrad, Morocco have taken a shock lead against Spain. As it stands, Spain will still be going through but an Iran goal here would send them packing. 7:14PM 14 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Iran's goalkeeper Beiranvand comes flapping out at Quaresma's cross and gets nowhere near it. Thankfully for him Hosseini is there to hack the ball away. Moments later, Beiranvand completely spills another Quaresma cross, but again his defenders mop up the danger. Horrible moments for Beiranvand. 7:11PM 11 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 What a mix-up that is! Beiranvand is absolutely furious after Ezatolahi seemingly ignores his goalkeeper's shout and clears Adrien Silva's cross straight to Joao Mario. Joao Mario should do better but blazes an effort over the bar from the edge of the area. Beiranvand shoves Ezatolahi in the chest in frustration. Lovely to see. Credit: AFP 7:08PM 8 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Iran break really cleverly, but Amiri makes a mess of his shot from the edge of the box after arriving late and latching onto Mehdi's square pass. Decent opening for Iran, who up until then had barely gotten out of their half. 7:06PM 6 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Andre Silva gets bundled to the ground by Ramin near the touchline but the referee waves play on. Iran very physical early on, as we expected them to be. 7:04PM 4 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Early shot from Ronaldo. He bustles his way into the box and pings a shot off from about 12 yards out that Beiranvand does well to hold onto. 7:02PM 2 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 Guerreiro is chopped to the ground by Omid in what is a real 'welcome to the game challenge'. Iran clear the resulting free-kick. Huge noise from the Iran supporters. 7:00PM 1 min Iran 0 Portugal 0 We're under way in Saransk. Iran will qualify with a win; Portugal need just a point to go through, and to better Spain's result to top the group. The group winners play Russia in the last 16; the runners up will play Uruguay. A reminder of the teams for this one. Iran (4-3-2-1): Beiranvand; Ramin, Hosseini, Pouraliganji, Safi; Jahanbakhsh, Ezatolahi, Omid; Mehdi, Amiri; Sardar Portugal (4-4-2): Patricio; Cedric, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro; William Carvalho, Adrien, Joao Mario, Quaresma; Andre Silva, Ronaldo. Credit: Getty Images 6:57PM The teams are out It's a sell-out crowd at the Mordovia Arena, as the two sides belt out their respective national anthems. Iran look to have by far the majority of the fans inside the stadium. 6:52PM Those Portugal changes in full Now pay attention 007, because this is a little Silva-heavy. Andre Silva, Adrien Silva and Ricardo Quaresma come in, while Goncalo Guedes, Bernardo Silva and Joao Moutinho drop to the bench. Iran replace Karim Ansarifard with Alireza Jahanbakhsh. Bernardo Silva is on the Portugal bench Credit: Getty Images 6:43PM No Bernardo Silva is a suprise Ricardo Quaresma replaces him. Portugal remember are almost certainly out if they lose here. 6:37PM Prediction Who's going to win tonight? Let our clever machine tell you based on what you think the most important factors will be. World Cup 2018 Simulator Single Game 6:26PM Down to the wire There is the possibility that tonight could end in sensational fashion with the drawing of lots. That is if Portugal and Spain both win or draw with the exact same scoreline and end up with the same number of bookings (Spain as it stands have one fewer booking). The draw would take place at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow at 9pm BST this evening. It couldn't happen, could it? Spain take on Morocco in tonight's other game. 6:11PM Team news Iran (4-3-2-1): Beiranvand; Ramin, Hosseini, Pouraliganji, Safi; Jahanbakhsh, Ezatolahi, Omid; Mehdi, Amiri; Sardar Portugal (4-4-2): Patricio; Cedric, Pepe, Fonte, Guerreiro; William Carvalho, Adrien, João Mario, Quaresma; Andre Silva, Ronaldo. Three changes from the team that scraped to a 1-0 win over Morocco. #IRNPOR // The teams are in! pic.twitter.com/tmsdH1iunk— FIFA World Cup �� (@FIFAWorldCup) June 25, 2018 5:52PM What will Portugal's tactics be tonight? Our expert JJ Bull has taken a close eye at Fernando Santos's team, and brings you this video... 5:33PM How Group C looks going into the match Portugal need a draw to qualify for the last 16. 5:30PM The Ronaldo roadshow rolls on The final group games continue tonight, with Portugal in action against Iran. A draw will be enough for Portugal to qualify for the group stages, while Iran will qualify with a win. The picture is complicated by what Spain do against Morocco in the group's other match tonight, but essentially Portugal need to better Spain's result to top the group. There's a big incentive in topping the group because the winners will face Uruguay rather than Russia in the last 16. Earlier today Uruguay were very effective in brutally dismissing the hosts Russia 3-0 in Samara. Back to Group B and the matter in hand ... Portugal will be hoping not only to win but to produce a performance more convincing than the turgid fare they produced in Wednesday's 1-0 win over Morocco. Manager Fernando Santos is known for his pragmatic tactics, but even he accepted Portugal were disappointing in the way they sat back after taking an early lead. Cristiano Ronaldo was of course the man who scored their goal to add to his hat-trick against Spain on match day one. Ronaldo has scored all of Portugal's goals at this World Cup, and he will be desperate to get a couple tonight to leapfrog Harry Kane in the Golden Boot race. Ronaldo will also want to make a point to Iran manager Carlos Queiroz after the pair fell out at the 2010 World Cup when Queiroz was Portugal manager. Cristiano Ronaldo and Iran manager Carlos Queiroz do not see eye to eye Queiroz, for his part, will be focused on stopping Ronaldo tonight as his team look to build on their impressive - if ultra-defensive - performance against Spain last time out. Iran ended up losing 1-0 but were very close to nicking an unexpected point. Given their need for a win tonight, Iran will at some point need to come out and attack. Don't expect that to happen until the latter stages though, especially if Portugal fail to score early. Portugal should get this done, but they're going to have to work for it.
{}