Spain failed to secure the full three-points in its opening round match against Portugal after taking a 3-2 lead. Meanwhile, Iran shocked Morocco and pulled off a stunning 1-0 victory. Now these two teams meet in a marquee Group B matchup that could have major implications on who advances to the 2018 World Cup Knockout Stage. Spain enters this match as a -650 money line favorite, meaning you'd need to bet $650 on a Spain victory to win $100. Iran enters the game as a +2000 underdog (risk $100 to win $2000), while a draw is at +650. The Over-Under on total goals scored in this 2018 World Cup match is 2.5.
Before you make your 2018 World Cup picks, you need to see what European football expert David Sumpter has to say. Sumpter is an applied mathematician who wrote Soccermatics: Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game, a book that explains how math works inside the sport. Along with other experienced analysts, Sumpter developed the powerful Soccerbot model.
The Soccerbot reads current odds and all team performance data, calculates key metrics and predicts upcoming matches. In nearly three seasons since its inception, the Soccerbot is up an incredible 1,800 percent on bookmakers' closing odds.
The Soccerbot already called Brazil-Switzerland playing to a draw (+360), Argentina-Iceland ending in a draw (+385), and Iran upsetting Morocco (+275), just to name a few.
The model is aware Iran won its first match at a World Cup since 1988 in a dramatic 1-0 victory against Morocco. A positive result and three points is promising for a team making its first ever consecutive World Cup appearance.
The Iranians showed strong defensive resolve against Morocco and kept a clean sheet in its opening Group B fixture. This is not surprising because Iran only let in five goals in its 18 World Cup qualifying matches. Iran's defense will be put to the test on Wednesday when they face Spain, which scored three goals against Portugal in its opening match.
But the Soccerbot also knows Spain should be poised for an inspired World Cup 2018 performance after it let what appeared to be a comeback win over Portugal turn into a draw.
Spain overcame two deficits and seemingly took control of the match on a late goal from Nacho. But Cristiano Ronaldo came to the rescue for Portugal with the last of his three goals with just two minutes left to salvage the draw.
So which nation takes this second-round match? Or will it end in a draw? Visit SportsLine now to see the strong Spain-Iran money-line pick, all from a European soccer expert whose powerful model is up 1,800 percent in less than three years.
