Cristiano Ronaldo has not yet wobbled under the weight of this reliant Portugal side and he will be called upon once more to find inspiration against Iran and secure safe passage from Group B.
Morocco picked at the seams of an aging Portuguese defence and though Iran do not have the same attacking prowess, when needing a goal last week, they gave mighty Spain an almighty scare in defeat.
We look at some of the key match-ups below – and it’s not all about Mr Ronaldo.
SARDAR AZMOUN v CRISTIANO RONALDO
When Ronaldo almost broke the sound barrier with his vicious header early on against Morocco, it seemed he was about to run away with the Golden Boot.
But despite scoring his fourth goal of the tournament in the fourth minute of the game, Real Madrid’s living legend could not force another – no matter how hard he tried.
Indeed this was vintage Ronaldo in snapshot form rather than his 90-minute masterclass against Spain. The 33-year-old wasted two inviting free-kicks – whereas he stuck it on the postage stamp on that fantastic opening night – and took six shots for the return of just that one goal.
However, with Bernardo Silva and Goncalo Guedes proving calamitous deputies in attack so far, Ronaldo is hardly being selfish. He knows that Portugal’s attack rests on his shoulders – a burden he is only too happy to carry.
For the first time in this tournament Sardar Azmoun will be afford a chance to really stretch his legs as Iran have no option but to release the handbrake in search of victory.
Azmoun has taken 60 touches across 180 minutes so far. That’s 38 fewer than Ronaldo and given that the 23-year-old is supposed to be Team Melli’s leading light, Carlos Queiroz must work out how to bring him more into play.
Fortunately for them the challenge of creating space in-between Pepe, Jose Fonte and William Carvalho should be a touch less difficult than the Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and Sergio Busquets triumvirate.
The Rubin Kazan striker has the pace to worry Pepe and Fonte’s creaking legs and is physical in the air should Team Melli have better luck feeding him through the air rather than on ground.
Azmoun has only scored against Algeria and Lithuania for his country this year – it’s time to step up in the big leagues.
SAEID EZATOLAHI v JOAO MOUTINHO
Joao Moutinho projects an ocean of calm amid a rather patchy midfield for Portugal. Fernando Santos relies on the Monaco star to both be an effective shield and classy distributor. He is undoubtedly both of those things – but the problem is whether that’s enough.
Partner William Carvalho had a fine game against Spain but versus Morocco, he was overran as the pace of Portugal’s two-man midfield in a 4-4-2 was ruthlessly exposed.
Moutinho is intelligent enough to make up for his own shortcomings physically and is not afraid of the rough stuff, either, having made nine tackles across those two games and wedding that to an extremely impressive pass success rate just shy of 90 per cent.
Iran’s midfield will throw their weight around and whether it’s by skill or will, look for Moutinho to have a big game.
One Iranian who certainly impressed against Spain was Saeid Ezatolahi, who made up for missing the dramatic opening win versus Morocco due to suspension.
Queiroz was right to tinker with that winning formula. The 21-year-old did what many more celebrated midfielders could not and anticipated Spain’s quicksilver passing triangles several times during the match.
The Moutinho to Ronaldo connection will be more vital than ever for Portugal with the wingers misfiring and the FC Rostov destroyer must ruffle both for Iran to succeed. Not a big ask, then …
ALIREZA BEIRANVAND v RUI PATRICIO
Alireza Beiranvand left his nomadic family to achieve his dreams in Tehran. He’s gone from sleeping rough to living out his dreams.
Only the most fortuitous of deflected goals from Diego Costa has beaten the Iran stopper so far. While he was a helpless spectator for that one, just moments before the 25-year-old was in the thick of action to stop a goal-bound effort from Pique and then a rasping effort from Busquets.
He has had the benefit of a solid and packed Iranian defensive line to help him out and he’s likely to come under more pressure here, with Team Melli needing nothing short of a win.
Surprisingly though, Portugal counterpart Rui Patricio has made more saves than Beiranvand across two games – underlining the frailties that both Spain and Morocco laid bare in that defence.
The 30-year-old has just signed for newly-promoted Premier League team Wolves on a free transfer after the falling out at Sporting Lisbon and there may not be a better signing this summer.
He somehow scrambled across his goal to keep out Younes Belhanda’s pin-point header in a save that drew comparisons with Gordon Banks’ stop against Pele in 1970. Overkill, perhaps, but not far off.
