5 Minnows who could qualify for the World Cup knockout stages

#4 Iran

Iran have a tough group to navigate through

Iran undoubtedly received one of the hardest group-stage draws. They came out of the hat as the third seeds in Group B, alongside Spain, Euro-2016 winners Portugal and Morocco.

There is, however, reason to believe that they are capable of going through. While they are not the most attractive or proactive side, former Real Madrid and Portugal coach Carlos Quieroz has them very well-organised defensively.

For example, they kept clean sheets in nine of their 10 matches during the final round of qualifying in Asia, while Argentina needed an injury-time winner from Lionel Messi to defeat them in the group stage in 2014.

So if Iran are able to defeat Morocco in their opening match, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they could hold Spain and Portugal to low-scoring draws in their subsequent two matches. If there is a victor in the game between Spain and Portugal, such a sequence of results would see Iran progress in second at the loser’s expense.