Spain take on Russia on Sunday afternoon in their last 16 tie to be held in Moscow. Fernando Hierro’s team finished top of Group B, despite drawing to Morocco in their final group match, while hosts Russia finished second in Group A, losing to Uruguay 3-0 in their final group match.
Many fancied Spain as pre-tournament favourites, despite sacking coach Julen Lopetegui two days prior to the start. However, Fernando Hierro has guided them through the group stage and they’ve looked similar to the Spain team that won in 2010. They are the only team in the tournament to have a passing accuracy of over 90%, while they’ve also made the most successful passes in the tournament so far with 2,079. This combined with Diego Costa’s potency upfront, he has three goals so far, has ensured that they’re one of the more dangerous teams left in this year’s tournament. Costa isn’t the only threat though and Isco has been involved in 12 goals in his last 15 matches.
As for Russia, they won convincingly against Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the group, but they were thumped against Uruguay, the first good team they’ve played in the tournament so far. It’s their first knockout game since Euro 2008, but it’ll prove to be a very tough one and this is likely to be the one where they wave farewell to their own tournament.
Spain vs. Russia Predictions
Host nations do pull out surprises in W. Cups, but Spain have the potential to pass Russia off the pitch and wear them out. This should be a routine win for them and they’ll win by a couple of goals.
Spain vs. Russia Betting Tips
Head to Head
- Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia have never beaten Spain (D2 L4). Their last encounter ended 3-3 in a friendly back in November 2017.
- Spain have scored 10 goals in their last three games against Russia (7 in two games at Euro 2008, 3 in a friendly in November 2017).
- Spain are unbeaten in their last 23 games (W15 D8), the longest current run amongst the 32 teams at the 2018 W. Cup. Their last defeat came two years ago against Italy in the round of 16 of the European Championships (0-2, June 2016).
- Since (and including) the 2006 W. Cup, Spain have dominated possession in 32 of their 33 games at major tournaments (W. Cup and Euros). The only exception was in the Euro 2008 final against Germany where they had 46% of the ball.
- This is Russia’s first ever W. Cup knockout match since the breakup of the Soviet Union. At major tournaments, they’ve only played in the knockout stages once, reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2008 when they were eliminated by Spain.
- Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia have kept only two clean sheets in their 12 games at the W. Cup. Meanwhile, Spain have failed to find the net only once in their last 12 matches in the competition (vs. Chile, June 2014).
- Russia had just three shots in their last match against Uruguay, the fewest by a host nation in a W. Cup match since USA against Brazil in 1994 (3). Russia also both won a match by five goals (5-0 vs. Saudi Arabia) and lost one by three goals (0-3 vs. Uruguay), the first time that had happened by such margins in a W. Cup group stage since 1982, when Hungary won 10-1 against El Salvador but lost 4-1 against Argentina.
- Russia scored eight goals in the group stages despite posting an Expected Goals total of 3.06. This means that they would have been expected to score around three goals based on the quality of their chances.
- If he plays, this will be Andres Iniesta’s 30th game at major tournaments (W. Cup and Euros), becoming the third Spanish player to reach that tally after Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos. He hasn’t converted any of his last 32 shots at the W. Cup/Euros. His last goal dating back to the 2010 final against the Netherlands.
- Isco has been directly involved in 12 goals in his last 15 international matches for Spain (10 goals, 2 assists).
- Fyodor Smolov scored two goals against Spain in their encounter last November (3-3), the only game in which he’s found the net more than once for Russia, He’s yet to attempt a single shot in 111 minutes of action at this W. Cup.
Spain Team News
David De Gea (Manchester United), Pepe Reina (Napoli), Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Nacho Monreal (Arsenal), Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad), Nacho Fernandez (Real Madrid), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Isco (Real Madrid), Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich), David Silva (Manchester City), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid), Rodrigo Moreno (Valencia), Lucas Vasquez (Real Madrid)
Russia Team News
Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Gabulov (Brugge), Andrei Lunev (Zenit St. Petersburg), Vladimir Granat (Rubin Kazan), Fedor Kudryashov (Rubin Kazan), Ilya Kutepov (Spartak Moscow), Andrey Semenov (Akhmat Grozny), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit St. Petersburg), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Mario Fernandes (CSKA Moscow), Yuri Gazinskiy (Krasnodar), Alexander Golovkin (CSKA Moscow), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Alexander Erokhin (Zenit), Yuri Zhirkov (Zenit), Daler Kuzyaev (Zenit), Roman Zobnin (Spartak Moscow), Alexander Samedov (Spartak Moscow), Anton Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal), Artem Dzyuba (Arsenal Tula), Alexei Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Fyodor Smolov (Krasnodar)