“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 video assistant referee review showed Khalilzadeh to be 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. 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.
