In Iran's three World Cups, they have never advanced to the round of 16 and odds makers do not think they will do it this summer with the worst odds to win their group.
World Cup 2014 betting: odds on Iran to win Group F
Iran is the fourth biggest long shot of World Cup 2014 and they will be fortunate to score a goal. Group F odds are stacked against them as well.
Amin M. Jamali
They rely on the counter-attack to score and they stack the defense to thwart the opposing attack, which is important since the group teams they face in Argentina, Nigeria, and Bosnia-Herzegovina all have good offenses.
Iran has the fourth worst overall World cup outrights at nearly 1,000-1, according to Sports Interaction.
Iran Odds to win World Cup 2014: +15000
Iran Odds to win Group F: +3300
Besides the lack of a great attack Iran does not have much world-class talent on the squad. They play well on the wings and are good in set pieces, but scoring will be at a premium for the squad.
They have looked far from impressive in their last three friendly matches, as they lost to Oman and Guinea and played to a draw against Belarus and all of these squads are not competing in Brazil.
World Cup Prediction for Iran
While the odds are really stacked against them in group play their counter-attacking skills and set defense may disrupt the other squads. They must get three points from their first match facing Nigeria, but they will not get it.
After that it could get ugly facing Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina and Iran will not be picking up any points this summer. No matter how much they pack the back line on defense, they still cannot keep up with great attacks of Argentina and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
How Iran got to the World Cup
Iran did not play in the toughest World Cup qualifying group and they finished third. One thing that is good for Iran is that they beat Korea Republic twice in qualifying and that squad will also be playing in Brazil.
What was key for them is that in their last three qualifying matches, which they won all three, their defense came up big with three clean sheets. Overall, Iran has a qualifying record of six wins, two losses, and two draws.
World Cup Qualifying Results
15/11/11 Indonesia 1 - 4 Iran
29/02/12 Iran 2 - 2 Qatar
03/06/12 Uzbekistan 0 - 1 Iran
12/06/12 Iran 0 - 0 Qatar
11/09/12 Lebanon 1 - 0 Iran
16/10/14 Iran 1 - 0 Korea Republic
14/11/12 Iran 0 - 1 Uzbekistan
04/06/13 Qatar 0 - 1 Iran
11/06/13 Iran 4 - 0 Lebanon
18/06/13 Korea Republic 0 - 1 Iran
World Cup Group Play Schedule
16/06/14 Iran vs. Nigeria - Arena da Baixada
21/06/14 Argentina vs. Iran - Estadio Mineirão
25/06/14 Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Iran - Arena Fonte Nova
Team Key Players
Reza Ghoochannejhad FW Standard Liege - He is the main attacking player for the squad and will have to pounce when the defense gives him counter-attack opportunities.
Jevad Nekonaum MF Esteghlal - He is the captain of the squad and he is a more defensive minded midfielder that will drop back and then try to spurn the counter-attack.
Ashkan Dejagah MF Fulham - Has big match experience playing in the Premier League and he is a solid flank player that has to play well on both sides of the pitch.
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