It’s absolute heartache for Wales. A game that was heading for a draw quickly turned on its head as Iran beat Wales 2-0 after goals in the 98th and 101st minute.
Rob Page’s side are now on the brink of elimination from the World Cup and must beat England in the final group game to stand any chance of survival.
Here’s what was learnt from the Wales Iran match.
The tournament of politics
It’s a World Cup that has quickly become known for its off-pitch drama, as much as the actual action. Firstly, there’s the whole debate over whether Qatar should be hosting the tournament considering its human rights record.
Then some captains wanted to wear a one love armband – which features the rainbow colours – in support for the LGBTQ+ community as gay rights are illegal in Qatar – but FIFA stepped in to prevent it to the dismay of many.
However, as became apparent in the match against England, Iran have their own political issues at the tournament. In the opening fixture, the players refused to sing the national anthem while it was booed by Iranian fans as a protest against their government.
It’s all been caused by Mahsa Amini’s death, which occurred three days after she was stopped by the ‘morality police’. She was accused of not complying with the country’s hijab rules and some believe Amini was killed, despite the government claiming she had underlying health conditions.
Therefore, the government were then outraged at their players not singing the anthem and it emerged they could face punishment if they refused to do it again. For example, an Iranian MP called for all of the players to be replaced by those of the younger generation who might be willing to sing the anthem with passion.
So because of that, before the Wales game the Iranian players were seen to be singing the national anthem, but that didn’t translate to the fans who continued their booing.
Slow starts the killer for Wales
It was a similar tale for Wales. In their match against the United States of America Rob Page’s side were extremely slow out the blocks. In the first half they were constantly second to every ball, America dominated possession and had the better chances which was shown by them being one up at the break.
Wales then showed more resilience in the second half to find an equaliser but today they did not learn any lessons. Once again, they started the game slowly and Iran had the ball in the back of the net early on – only to then be disallowed for a marginal offside.
Unlike the America game, however, Wales struggled in the second half and could not gain a foothold of the contest before conceding twice at the death. If they are to get anything from the England match, Wales must start better from kick-off.
Iran are no pushovers
Iran had the worst possible start to the World Cup. Losing 6-2 to England, it caused some to think that it’s obvious they’ll finish bottom of Group B. However, today was a great reaction from Iran and showed people they are no pushovers.
Carlos Queiroz’s side started on the front foot, had the best chances of the game but also grew into the match and got better as time went on. Wayne Hennessey’s late red card obviously changed things but even before then, Iran were hounding the Wales box so thoroughly deserved their two late goals.
They should now head into that final group game against America with much confidence and it’s in Iran’s hands to qualify for the knockout stages.
Referees have shown a lack of quality this tournament
It’s not just in the Premier League that referees are at the centre of controversy, but also on the world’s biggest stage. Hennessey was sent off for the most blatant red card offence but Mario Escobar, the referee, had initially shown a yellow card and required VAR to overturn it.
In the 84th minute, the ball got sent over the top but Hennessey was caught in no-man’s land. A long way out from his goal, he challenged Mehdi Taremi with a high leg which brought the striker to the ground. Being last man, it prevented Iran a clear goalscoring opportunity and should not have required a second look at it to send off the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper.
This comes after many controversial decisions that have already happened in this tournament. Firstly, Argentina had three disallowed goals against Saudi Arabia for offside however for one of them, footage has emerged that VAR only accounted for the defender near Lautaro Martinez but not the whole backline and if it did that, the goal would have stood.
There is also the Canada Belgium match where Canadian fans feel they should have had a penalty after Axel Witsel brought down Richie Laryea without touching any of the ball.
Defence prevails at this World Cup
Before Rouzbeh Cheshmi’s 98th-minute winner, this World Cup was heading towards its fifth scoreless draw after just one full round of fixtures. Defence has been key for many teams and a lot of games have started cagey with sides wanting to make sure they are not left open at the back.
It was kind of similar in this match where, despite many chances for Iran, the Welsh defence remained strong while they weren’t given much to shout about at the other end of the pitch. It’s becoming clear that whichever team can remain the strongest in defence, has a very good chance of winning this World Cup.
