World Cup 2018, Morocco vs Iran: What time is kick-off, what TV channel is it on and what is our prediction?
What is it?
The World Cup 2018 group B opener as Morocco take on Iran.
When is it?
Friday June 15.
What time is kick off?
It's a 4pm BST start.
Where is it being played?
The game will be played in the Saint Petersburg Stadium.
World Cup 2018 stadium: Saint Petersburg Stadium
What TV channel is it on?
The game will be shown on ITV1 as well as ITV's HD channel with coverage starting at 3:30 pm.
Who is in each 23-man squad?
Morocco
Goalkeepers: Mounir Mohamedi (Numancia), Yassine Bounou (Girona), Ahmad Reda Tagnaouti (Ittihad Tanger)
Defenders: Mehdi Benatia (Juventus), Romain Saiss (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Manuel Da Costa (Basaksehir), Nabil Dirar (Fenerbahce), Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid), Hamza Mendyl (Lille)
Midfielders: Mbark Boussoufa (Al Jazira), Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord), Youssef Ait Bennasser (Caen), Sofyan Amrabat (Feyenoord), Younes Belhanda (Galatasaray), Faycal Fajr (Getafe), Amine Harit (Schalke)
Forwards: Khalid Boutaib (Malatyaspor), Aziz Bouhaddouz (St. Pauli), Ayoub El Kaabi (Renaissance Berkane), Nordin Amrabat (Leganes), Mehdi Carcela (Standard Liege), Hakim Ziyech (Ajax), Youssef En Nesyri (Malaga)
Iran
23-man final squad: Alireza Beiranvand, Rashid Mazaheri, Amir Abedzadeh; Ramin Rezaeian, Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh, Morteza Pouraliganji, Pejman Montazeri, Seyed Majid Hosseini, Milad Mohammadi, Roozbeh Cheshmi; Saeid Ezatolahi, Masoud Shojaei, Saman Ghoddos, Mahdi Torabi, Ashkan Dejagah, Omid Ebrahimi, Ehsan Hajsafi, Vahid Amiri; Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Karim Ansarifard, Mehdi Taremi, Sardar Azmoun, Reza Ghoochannejhad
World Cup 2018 Simulator Single Game
How have the teams prepared?
Morocco
Unbeaten throughout the qualification round this Moroccan team came into the final month of their World Cup preparation looking competitive. Manager Hervé Renard has put his side through the paces in an intense ten-day period where the team played three friendlies, leaving just six days to recover before the opener against Iran.
They performed well in the three games, winning two and drawing one, with their last game a convincing 3-1 victory over Estonia.
Morocco has been absent from the World Cup for 20 years but should be feeling confident with their strong defence and fast attacking style. Don’t be surprised if they turn a few heads in a competitive group B.
Iran
Iran had a clear route through qualifying, becoming the second team overall to secure their spot in the tournament with a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan in June 2017. Since then they have been slowly building up to this year's tournament with two recent friendlies, including a clash against Turkey.
Despite having more possession and more shots on goal, Iran lost 2-1.
Iran's second game went much better with a 1-0 victory over Lithuania. A subdued match, played behind closed doors, failed to offer much excitement.
Off the field, preparation has been less than ideal with boot suppliers Nike having to pull out due to US sanctions. Although unlikely to affect this team's performance come kick-off, it's another problem manager Carlos Queiroz to deal with.
What are the betting odds?
Morocco 5/2
Iran 3/1
Draw 2/1
What is our prediction?
Morocco 1 Iran 0
World Cup 2018 | Fixtures, groups, squads and more
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