Iran held to draw by Egypt, Egypt to meet Australia in last‑32

“After review,” began the Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, those two words breaking Iran hearts after they thought they scrambled an unlikely 93rd-minute winner to progress to the last 32. Moments earlier, the 37-year-old Shoja Khalilzadeh fired in from the edge of the six-yard box, whipped off his No 4 shirt in double-quick time and slid on to his knees before finding himself nestled at the bottom of a pile-on after being mobbed by his teammates. Amid the delirium, one member of Iran’s backroom team collapsed on to his back, clenching both fists in jubilation. Another planted a kiss on Khalilzadeh’s forehead before, high on adrenaline, the defender donned a pair of sunglasses given to him by one of the many substitutes who emptied on to the pitch. But the joy was short-lived, Marciniak playing party-pooper after a VAR review showed Khalilzadeh offside after Mostafa Shobeir rushed from his goal to punch clear the free-kick from which Iran thought they had snatched victory. And the late drama did not stop there either. Seventeen seconds after the minimum of six minutes of second-half stoppage time, Yasser Ibrahim made a staggering block to repel Ramin Rezaeian’s shot after the ball squirted free a few yards from goal and then six minutes and 53 seconds into added time Iran’s Saeid Ezatolahi sent a header against the crossbar. Continue reading...