Iran striker Karim Ansarifard confident of defeating Portugal

Karim Ansarifard is confident Iran will beat Portugal to qualify for the next round of the World Cup ahead of Monday's winner-takes-all Group B clash.

Iran are third and only a point adrift of European champions Portugal and Spain leading in to the third and final matchday in Saransk.

Carlos Quieroz's men were unfortunate not to at least claim a point against Spain on Wednesday, having an equaliser ruled out by VAR.

It was an impressive performance against the 2010 world champions and Olympiacos forward Ansarifard said Iran are ready to advance to the last 16 for the first time in their history.

"We've learned so many things from the previous World Cup and know how to play Portugal in this edition," Ansarifard said.

"Iran is led by the best coach in the world and he has taught us how to fight against our opponents. He has helped us a lot and we are ready to defeat Portugal in our last group match."

Ansarifard added: "After conceding the goal against Spain, we created so many chances. We did our best but I think we were not lucky at the end of the match. We will fight for our pride in the match against Portugal.

"Our strategy against Spain was to defend and we wanted to find the back of their net through the counter attack. We also created some scoring chances but lacked the cutting edge. Portugal have many stars but we can defeat them as a team."