Seattle, June 27 (IANS) Iran were left anxiously waiting to discover whether they had done enough to reach the FIFA World Cup knockout stage after a dramatic 1-1 draw with Egypt, in which a stoppage-time winner was ruled out for offside following a VAR review.
Already guaranteed qualification, Egypt finished second in Group G on five points behind Belgium on goal difference and will face Australia in the Round of 32 in Dallas on July 3.
Iran ended third with three points and will now wait to see if they can progress as one of the eight best third-placed teams. There was an early flurry of life to the fixture as Egypt took the lead inside five minutes. The move was started by Mohamed Salah but Mahmoud Saber’s shot slipped through the fingers of Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand.
Iran reacted immediately and were awarded a penalty when Mehdi Taremi was chopped down, but goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir dived the right way to deny the striker. Shobeir then made another fine save but Ramin Rezaeian drove home the rebound from a tight angle in the 14th minute.
Egypt, already through, sat back after the first-half water break and Iran gradually took control of a scrappy contest with few clear-cut chances after the manic opening. The drama returned in the last moments. Taremi’s header hit the crossbar before Shoja Khalilzadeh smashed the ball home in the third minute of stoppage time, sending the Iranian bench into wild celebration as they spilled onto the pitch believing they had secured a famous victory.
However, VAR intervened and ruled Khalilzadeh marginally offside, crushing Iran’s celebrations and ensuring their World Cup fate was no longer in their own hands.
–IANS
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