With the second round of group fixtures already upon us, Spain will know that a positive result against Iran on Tuesday night will, almost certainly, see them through to the next stage of the World Cup.
Carlos Queiroz’s side will aim to make life as difficult as possible for La Roja, who may find, as England did against Tunisia, that there aren’t as many gaps in which to play their pretty passing carousels.
With Dani Carvajal returning at right-back and making his first appearance of the tournament, he’ll be keen to get involved in as many of Spain’s attacking forays as possible.
Iran do have a weakness down their left-side and if the Real Madrid man can isolate Ehsan Haji Safi, he should have the beating of him for the most part.
Safi can be nervous in possession and doesn’t like to get involved at the sharp end. That’s evidenced by the fact he made no tackles at all against Morocco in Iran’s opener, and with a poor 60 percent pass accuracy to boot, Carvajal needs to get in his face as often as possible.
Queiroz will likely opt for one up front again, and though Sardar Azmoun is unlikely to trouble Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique too much, he does like to put himself about a bit.
Against Morocco, he won seven headers and also completed two successful tackles, so he’s no stranger to hard work.
Jordi Alba will try and get as far forward as possible, to mirror Carvajal’s runs on the opposite side, but he’ll need to be on his guard against the physical endeavours of Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
The midfielder has already been booked in this tournament but was fully involved at both ends in Iran’s opening game, and he was probably their man of the match. The thought of another yellow isn’t likely to faze him, and he’ll try to stop Alba at all costs.
The midfield and attacking six of Iniesta, Busquets, Koke, Silva, Costa and Isco is likely to remain unchanged.
A mixture of guile, technique and physicality in those areas will trouble Iran, particularly centrally.
Their defensive midfielder, Omid Ebrahimi, was the worst performing player last time out, and with either Silva or Isco buzzing in and around him, he has his work cut out from kick-off.
Costa will keep both Rouzbeh Chesmi and Morteza Pouraliganji busy, so it’s vital that there are supporting midfielders at close quarters to take advantage of the second ball.
The central defensive pairing won just two headers between them against Morocco, and although Spain’s game isn’t the long-ball variant, Fernando Hierro will have taken note of it as an option.
David De Gea won’t have too much to do and for his confidence as much as anything else, he needs to remain concentrated at all times.
