Cristiano Ronaldo produced his first Fantasy blank of the World Cup on Monday night while Isco owners were finally rewarded for their patience.
In two matches overshadowed by the VAR debate, there were still plenty of huge Fantasy events too.
We’ve got all the latest action from another set of matches in Russia as Group B reached its finale…
IRAN 1-1 PORTUGAL
TOP SCORING PLAYERS
- Ali Beiranvand (£4.5m) – 8 points
- Ricardo Quaresma (£8.0m) – 5 points
- Karim Ansarifard (£7.0m) – 5 points
- Adrien Silva (£6.0m) – 5 points
Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.0m) missed a second-half penalty against Iran as Portugal scored their first World Cup without his involvement. His first Fantasy blank of the tournament came after being signed by 139,000+ managers in the build-up to Gameround 3.
Ricardo Quaresma (£8.0m) found the net from the edge of the box short of half-time, curling it into the top corner with the outside of his right-boot after receiving the ball from Leicester City midfielder Adrien Silva (£6.0m).
Ronaldo was then adjudged to have been fouled in the penalty box after a 53rd minute VAR review. Having earned two points for winning the spot-kick, he promptly lost them as goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand (£4.5m) made an excellent stop.
The Real Madrid man later received a yellow card after a ‘red card review’ to check whether he had elbowed Morteza Pouraliganji (£4.5m) in the face came back negative. That left Ronaldo, owned by 33 percent of managers, with a match score of one.
The match will be remembered for its controversial conclusion, though. Cedric Soares (£5.5m) was wrongfully adjudged to have handled the ball deliberately in the box and after watching a video review, the referee gave a penalty. Substitute Karim Ansarifard (£7.0m) slotted it past Rui Patricio (£6.0m) to give Portugal some nervy final moments before the final whistle, which confirmed they would face Uruguay in the next round.
IRAN XI (4-1-4-1): Beiranvand; Hajsafi (Mohammadi 56’), Hosseini, Pouraliganji, Rezaeian; Ezatolahi (Ansarifard 76’); Taremi, Amiri, Ebrahimi, Jahanbakhsh (Ghoddos 70’); Azmoun.
PORTUGAL XI (4-4-2): Patricio; Guerreiro, Fonte, Pepe, Cedric; Joao Mario (Moutinho 84’), William Carvalho, Adrien Silva, Ricardo Quaresma (B Silva 70’); Cristiano Ronaldo, Andre Silva (Guedes 96’).
SPAIN 2-2 MOROCCO
TOP SCORING PLAYERS
- Isco (£8.5m) – 7 points
- Khalid Boutaib (£6.5m) – 6 points
- Iago Aspas (£8.5m) – 5 points
- Andres Iniesta (£8.0m) – 5 points
- Youssef En-Nesyri (£5.5m) – 5 points
- Faycal Fajr (£6.0m) – 4 points
- Daniel Carvajal (£5.5m) – 4 points
Isco (£8.5m) finally delivered attacking returns for his 22.1 percent ownership on Monday night as Spain drew 2-2 with Morocco. It was just rewards for those who took comfort in his strong underlying statistics.
The Real Madrid midfielder had more touches in the final third than any of his colleagues in the Gameround 1 draw with Portugal (55) and contributed to Spain’s group-high total of 408 passes in that area of the pitch in the first two matches. Furthermore, he had six efforts on goal against Portugal and Iran combined.
Those numbers paid off against Morocco as Isco lashed home an equaliser, from an Andres Iniesta (£8.0m) pull-back.
It was an important goal for Spain after Khalid Boutaib (£6.5m) had put the Atlas Lions in front in the 14th minute. Miscommunication between Sergio Ramos (£6.5m) and Gerard Pique (£6.0m) on the half-way line allowed Boutaib to steam through on goal unchallenged and slot past David De Gea (£6.0m) in goal.
It meant that, at that stage, the Manchester United man still hadn’t made a successful save at the World Cup, his first one coming in the 27th minute of his third match in Russia. In the end Spain registered just one clean sheet from a possible three in the Group Stages.
Morocco regained the lead in the 81st minute when substitute Youssef En-Nesyri (£5.5m) rose higher than Ramos to head in a Faycal Fajr (£6.0m) corner.
But Spain equalised again in stoppage time with the help of a correct VAR call. Daniel Carvajal’s (£5.5m) cross was turned into the net by Iago Aspas (£8.5m), who was initially adjudged to be offside. However, on video review by the referee he was shown to be clearly onside and the goal rightfully stood, much to the chagrin of Nordin Ambrabat in particular.
SPAIN XI (4-3-3): De Gea; Alba, Ramos, Pique, Carvajal; Iniesta, Busquets, Thiago (Asensio 74’); Isco, Costa (Aspas 74’), D Silva (Rodrigo 84’).
MOROCCO XI (4-1-4-1): Munir; Hakimi, Saiss, Da Costa, Dirar; El Ahmadi; Ziyech (Bouhaddouz 85’), Belhanda (Fajr 63’), Boussoufa, Amrabat; Boutaib (En-Nesyri 71’).
World Cup Data
We’re delighted to offer World Cup data as an early addition to our regular season offering to help those playing Fantasy games over the summer.
We’ve secured Opta data, not only for the tournament itself, which begins on June 14 but also from the Qualifying Rounds for Europe and South America and for international friendlies involving the participating nations. This includes all the matches played right up to the tournament kick-off.
Just to stress, this World Cup offering comes packaged with the regular Fantasy Football Scout membership.
Check out this new trailer previewing the World Cup content below…
McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy
Join our McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy league ‘FantasyFootballScout’ using the code: HEWJPVYR
Fantasy iTeam
Fantasy Football Scout is supporting Fantasy iTeam, a free World Cup game available on a number of mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPodTouch and Android. We have an official Fantasy Football Scout League open to UK users only, with a £1000 of Amazon vouchers to give out, split between the top three performers. There’s also the small matter of £10k worth of prizes available in the main competitions: Overall World Championship and Manager of the Gameround.
Click here for details and here to sign up.
Our League name is Fantasy Football Scout and the pin is 1887.
Please note, users must be over 18 and based in the UK to join our league.
