This will be the first ever encounter between Iran and Spain.

Iran are winless against European opposition at the World Cup, having lost five of their six previous fixtures (D1).

Spain are unbeaten against Asian opponents at the World Cup (W2 D2), though they did lose on penalties after one of those draws (vs South Korea in 2002).

Spain have been eliminated at the group stage in two of the last three World Cup tournaments in which they’ve failed to win their first match (1998 and 2014) – however, they won the tournament on the other occasion, doing so in 2010 despite losing their first match to Switzerland.

Spain have conceded 10 goals in their last four World Cup matches – as many as in their previous 15 World Cup matches combined.