2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Review: Day 12

Monday’s action at the 2018 World Cup in Russia saw the host nation fall convincingly to Uruguay, 3-0. Russia will still advance to the round of 16 but now will face Spain in their first knockout game and will doubtless be a heavy underdog after the thumping they took today. Egypt saw a campaign that had started with faint hopes of advancing end with an embarrassing loss to the team with the lowest international ranking in this year’s Cup, Saudi Arabia. In Group B, both Spain and Portugal were clearly distracted in their play, taking draws against Morocco and Iran, respectively, that left Spain atop the group and Portugal in second place. Portugal drew a matchup with Uruguay in the round of 16. Take a look at our reviews for each match as you plan your World Cup betting for the knockout rounds.

2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Review: Day 12

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Group A: Uruguay 3, Russia 0

Uruguay got things off to a bang with a strong statement in the opening minutes. Luis Suarez bent a free-kick onto the net in the tenth minute to score, giving him seven goals all time in the World Cup finals. Denis Cheryshev put an own goal in for Russia, giving Uruguay a 2-0 lead in. Then, in the 36th minute, defender Igor Smolnikov drew a pair of yellow cards, ending his day and leaving Russia short the rest of the way. Russia attempted some pressure but simply could not muster enough offense to threaten the opposing goal, and Edinson Cavani took advantage of some disarray in the Russian back line to knock in the third goal of the day. Uruguay looks opportunistic moving forward, while Russia will have to come up with a replacement for Smolnikov against Spain.

Group A: Saudi Arabia 2, Egypt 1

For the second consecutive match, Mohamed Salah opened the scoring to give Egypt a 2-1 lead. However, Saudi Arabia scored twice in extra time, drawing a penalty in the waning minutes of the first half and then getting a strike from Salem Aldawsari in the fifth minute of extra time in the second half to get the win. One note for Egypt was that their goalkeeper, Essam Elhadary, became the oldest player ever to appear at a World Cup final, at 45 years, 161 days. However, had Egypt started Salah against Uruguay and gotten one point (or perhaps even three), his story might not be over.

Group B: Spain 2, Morocco 2

Spain has the video assistant referee (VAR) to thank for their 2-2 draw with Morocco, who actually took the lead in the tenth minute when Khalid Boutaib swiped the ball from Sergio Ramos and took the ball all the way to the net. Isco scored just a few minutes later, scoring from the six-yard box. Morocco took the lead in the 81st minute, as Youssef En-Nesyri knocked a header home, and it looked like they would win, but Iago Aspas’ late goal was allowed to stand thanks to VAR after initially being wiped away with an offside call. So Spain wins the group despite having just five points, thanks to the goals-scored tiebreaker with Portugal.

Group B: Portugal 1, Iran 1

Iran needed to win for a chance to move through to the round of 16, and they gave Portugal all Portugal wanted in this match. It took a penalty in injury time to give Iran the spot kick they needed to get the draw. Sardar Azmoun headed a ball and the Iranian side bellowed for a handball call, and it took a VAR review to get things right. Mehdi Taremi even had an open shot in the waning minutes that would have sent the Iranians ahead and left Portugal out of the knockout rounds for the second straight World Cup, but he hit the side netting. If Ronaldo had converted his spot kick early in the second half, things would have been easier, but he sent it right at Iran’s keeper. Now Portugal heads on to face Uruguay, while Iran heads home, having amassed just four points.