Portugal scrape through to the knockouts after dramatic Iran draw

Both sides went into the Group B clash knowing that there was the possibility of both progression and elimination, dependent on their result and Spain's, but the onus was on Iran, who sat third in the table. 

Carlos Queiroz's side realistically needed a win at the Mordovia Arena to make it to the next round, and this showed in the first half. Iran were the more offensive of the two sides, growing in threat as the half progressed. 

They had a few chances, but couldn't find the net, and they were made to regret this when Ricardo Quaresma scored a beauty on the stroke of half-time.

The goal came against the run of play in minute 45, as Quaresma cut inside from the right wing, playing a smart one-two with Adrien Silva. He received the ball back on the edge of the area, and let loose a fantastic strike with the outside of his boot, which flew past a helpless Alireza Beiranvand into the top corner.

 

June 25, 2018

The goal was a kick in the teeth for Iran, who went into the changing rooms at the break one goal down, but it almost got a lot worse five minutes into the second half, when Portugal earned themselves a penalty.

The spot kick was awarded in the 51st minute, when Cristiano Ronaldo was brought down by Saeid Ezatolahi in the area. It was initially waved away, but VAR got involved and awarded the penalty. Ronaldo was, of course, the man standing over it, but he surprised everyone by failing to convert. The forward fired it low with power, but the shot was too close to the centre of the goal, and the keeper managed to get down low to save it.

Ronaldo was at the centre of attention for the wrong reasons later on too, as he narrowly avoided being sent off the pitch. The Real Madrid man elbowed Morteza Pouraliganji off the ball in the 80th minute, and was very lucky to only see yellow, after VAR was consulted for a second time. 

That wasn't VAR's last appearance, though, as the referee used technology to award Iran their own penalty in injury time. This time it was Cedric Soares who was penalised, after the defender handled the ball inside the box. The VAR use was a bit of a shambles, the decision taking ages to be made, but Karim Ansarifard buried the penalty when it was finally given, leaving Iran just minutes to find a winner.

'Team Melli' were unable to grab a late goal though, despite Vahid Amiri coming extremely close. The 1-1 draw, combined with a 2-2 draw between Spain and Morocco, meant that Iran were unable to make it through to the knockout stages, an agonising outcome for Queiroz and co.

Portugal, meanwhile, finish second in Group B, behind Spain. This means that they will take on Group A winners Uruguay, in what should be a difficult game for them.

 

June 25, 2018