Spain barely got through Iran defense, they parked the bus in front of their goal. It worked for the first half but in second they were unlucky with that goal. Also i think Spain played just enough needed to win and saved their energy for upcoming matches.

Spain didn't play well, we need to improve a lot if we want to get through the next rounds. But Iran's play was embarrassing. They settled for 0-0 (a draw with both Spain and Portugal was enough for them to advance to the next phase) and played ultradefensively, which is a legitime strategy, if boring. However, they also decided to waste as much time as possible at any given chance, and didn't bother to hide it. The referee should have added 10 minutes of extra time just in the first half.

Spain only needs a draw against Morocco (already out) to advance to the next phase, and might even classify with a loss depending on the Iran vs Portugal result. Iran will need to change their strategy against Portugal if they want to have a chance. They showed that they are capable of something better when they were forced to react after Spain's goal. However, I always root for Portugal as my second team so I hope the two Iberian powers will be present in the next rounds.

Thanks for pointing this out. Then I can't understant why they decided to basically throw away any options to score until they were already losing. They almost managed to score when they gave it a try.

Yeah, it was hard to see what they were hoping for. Their win against Morocco means very little if they can't win against one of the "strong" teams in the group.

In my experience, the good teams do just enough to win.

I know it's a different sport but when I was a kid watching those great 49er teams of the 80s, they always seem to barely manage to beat the lesser competition during the regular season, but then trounced the really really good teams in the post season.

You play to your level of competition.

I just need to state, for the record, that the Croatian anthem is absolutely lovely and I've never noticed before.
Good job, Croatia! Solid silver medal behind Russia on the auditory front.

You noticed this hottie, right? Well, I have some news for you.

Russia’s 'hottest World Cup fan’ revealed as porn star

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/710924/russia-world-cup-fan-hottest-porn-star-adult-films-natalya-nemchinova-moscow-andreeva

Speaking of porn. Argentina got f-ed.

lol... Croatia looked good... Argentina was a total mess...

I've never seen Argentina so helpless, they couldn't do anything. Croatia was really good and had answer for everything. A well deserved win for them.

Even though Argentina got only 1 point in the first 2 games, they can still qualify for the second round. If Nigeria gets a draw or a win against Iceland, Argentina will have hope again. And if they beat Nigeria in the last game and Croatia gets minimum 1 point from Iceland, Argentina qualifies! Of course, if Iceland wins tomorrow, they will have almost no chance to qualify.

Well, if in the end Iceland wins tomorrow, at least I will have more time to play the video games that I bought in the Summer Sale :(

Oh come on, the States didn't even make it to the tourney and I'm still watching! :D

See, the States dragonballed it and died, so Mexico could take their energy. There's some positive emotional involvement to be had.
It's difficult, when you're getting hyped and sort of counted among the extended favourites and then this happens, I would think.