DOHA: Iran claimed a famous 2-0 victory over 10-man Wales on Friday as Carlos Queiroz’s men scored two goals deep into added time to keep their World Cup campaign alive.
The Iran players, who sang the national anthem before kick-off, sent their thousands of supporters at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium delirious as they celebrated beating a European team at a World Cup for the first time.
Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey became the first player to be sent off at the Qatar tournament for clattering into Mehdi Taremi late in the game.
Iran, who had earlier twice struck the woodwork, finally broke the deadlock in the 98th minute through substitute Rouzbeh Cheshmi’s powerful drive.
Ramin Rezaeian clipped in a second on the counter-attack three minutes later.
Iran, who would have been eliminated with a defeat, instead climbed to second in Group B behind England, who beat them 6-2 in their opening game.
Victory for Iran on Tuesday in their politically charged clash with the United States would take them into the knockout phase for the first time.
“We need the supporters to support us like always,” said striker Taremi.
“Even those who are in Iran behind their TV, we need their positive energy and then we will win the game because we have our dream and we want to give that dream a chance.”
Wales tumbled to the bottom of the group and will have to defeat neighbors England in their final match next week to have any chance of reaching the last 16 in their first World Cup since 1958.
“We’re gutted. There is no other way to say it,” captain Gareth Bale told the BBC.
“We’ve fought until the last second. It’s one of those things. It’s difficult to take but we have to recover and go again.”
The Americans take on England later on Friday.
The Iran players opted to sing the national anthem in contrast to their stance before the game against England, when they remained silent in an apparent gesture of solidarity with anti-government protesters.
Some Iranian fans were in tears during the anthem.
Wales manager Rob Page elected to start striker Kieffer Moore, whose early volley was parried by Iran goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini.
Iran thought they had taken the lead minutes later but Ali Gholizadeh was clearly offside before he tapped in and the goal was ruled out by VAR.
A cagey game burst into life during a crazy spell shortly after half-time when Sardar Azmoun and Gholizadeh both struck the woodwork within seconds.
Rejuvenated Iran suddenly looked like scoring every time they went forward and Ethan Ampadu had to make an excellent block to deny Taremi the opening goal.
Wales had Hennessey to thank for staying on level terms with 17 minutes left, as he stretched to tip Saeid Ezatolahi’s low shot around the post.
The game opened up in a frantic final minutes as both sides knew they likely needed more than a draw.
Iran were given a huge boost in their push for a winner when Hennessey recklessly charged out of his goal and crashed into Taremi.
Remarkably, Guatemalan referee Mario Escobar only initially booked the goalkeeper, but that was corrected after a VAR review and Hennessey was dismissed in the 86th minute.
Leicester’s Danny Ward took his place and quickly saw Mehdi Torabi’s effort fly past his post.
But an emotional day for Iran and their fans finished in dramatic fashion when Cheshmi hammered home from the edge of the box and Rezaeian raced clear to chip over Ward.
Last-gasp Iran sink Wales at World Cup
https://arab.news/2j2jq
Last-gasp Iran sink Wales at World Cup
- Iran players send their thousands of supporters at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium delirious
- Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey became the first player to be sent off at the Qatar tournament
Morocco banish any doubts about ability to host World Cup 2030
- Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the 24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time
RABAT: Morocco’s successful staging of the Africa Cup of Nations means there should be no skepticism about its ability to co-host the World Cup with Portugal and Spain in 2030, even if Sunday’s final was clouded by a walk-off and defeat for the home team.
Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the
24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time.
Morocco plans to use six venues in 2030 and five of them were used for the Cup of Nations, providing world-class playing surfaces and a spectacular backdrop.
The Grande Stade in Tangier with a 75,000 capacity is an impressive facility in the northern coastal city, less than an hour’s ferry ride from Spain.
Meanwhile, FIFA President Gianni Infantino condemned "some Senegal players" for the "unacceptable scenes" which overshadowed their victory in the final when they left the pitch in protest at a penalty awarded to Morocco.
African football's showpiece event was marred by most of the Senegal team walking off when, deep into injury time of normal play and with the match locked at 0-0, Morocco were awarded a spot-kick following a VAR check by referee Jean-Jacques Ndala for a challenge on Brahim Diaz.
security personnel at the other end of the stadium, Senegal's players eventually returned to the pitch to see Diaz shoot a soft penalty into the arms of their goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
The match was played at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in the capital Rabat, which has a capacity of 69,500. The attendance for the final was 66,526.
Stadiums in Agadir, Fes and Marrakech were also more than adequate and will now be renovated over the next few years.
But the crowning glory is the proposed 115,000-capacity Stade Hassan II on the outskirts of Casablanca which Morocco hope will be chosen to host the final over Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
In all, Morocco will spend $1.4 billion on the six stadiums. Also planned is extensive investment in airports, with some 10 Moroccan cities already running direct air links to Europe and many budget airlines offering flights to the country.
An extension of Africa’s only high-speed rail service, which already provides a comfortable three-hour ride from Tangier to Casablanca, further south to Agadir and Marrakech is also planned. Morocco hopes all of this will modernize its cities and boost the economy.
On the field, Morocco will hope to launch a credible challenge for a first African World Cup success, although on Sunday they continued their poor return in the Cup of Nations, where their only triumph came 50 years ago.
They surprised with a thrilling run to the last four at the Qatar 2022 World Cup as the first African nation to get that far and will hope for a similar impact at this year’s finals in North America. They are in Group C with Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.
