The Dragons earned a draw in their opening group game against the USA thanks to Gareth Bale’s late penalty.
Wales
Rob Page will be hoping he doesn’t have to give his Wales side another half-time dressing down as they search for a first win at the World Cup finals since 1958. The Dragons earned a draw in their opening group game against the USA thanks to Gareth Bale’s late penalty. Still, the goal hero admitted the players “were torn up by the gaffer” at the break after a dismal opening 45 minutes in which their opponents dominated them. Whilst Page will have been pleased with the second-half display, that 1-1 result means Wales are now without a win in six matches, their worst run since losing half a dozen games in a row between 2010 and 2011.
Wales will be desperate to end that winless run here and set themselves up for their final group game and a chance of qualification when they play old foes England, who could end up resting players if they beat the USA in the late Friday game.
Iran
Iran, on the other hand, have just played England and suffered their heaviest World Cup defeat, a 6-2 thrashing. Their players still earned respect from across the globe, though, after bravely refusing to sing their national anthem in protest at harrowing events taking place back home. It was a rare loss for Carlos Queiroz’s side on the field issues, who can still boast a record of having won 12 of their last 15 competitive fixtures. The manager may still opt to ring the changes, though, and one option for him is Vahid Amiri, who was an unused substitute.
The Trabzonspor midfielder is Iran’s oldest player at 34, but he was stillborn ten years after the only previous H2H meeting between these two countries, which Wales won 1-0 in Tehran in 1978. If selected, Amiri hopes to improve Iran’s dreadful World Cup record of just two victories from 16 outings, 13 of which saw them concede the first goal!
Bale’s goal against the USA was his fourth in a major tournament for Wales and means he has scored four times in his last nine games for his country. Meanwhile, Mehdi Taremi’s brace against England moved the Iran striker onto 15 goals for club and country this season, with nine of his 11 goalscoring appearances being the first or last of the game. Wales are unbeaten in their previous six games against teams from outside of Europe. Wales’ 64-year gap between their first and second appearances at the World Cup finals is the longest of any nation.