Iran 1-1 Portugal: Ronaldo misses penalty to cost them top spot with dramatic Spain draw

Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty miss ultimately costed Portugal a Group B top spot as they held out for a dramatic 1-1 draw with Iran.

2018 World Cup

1-1

Match Events

2' CHANCE! Ronaldo's shot saved

Ronaldo! The Real Madrid star has the first chance of the game as he cuts in off the left wing and weaves his way between three Iranian defenders before putting the ball straight to Beiranvand in goal at the near-left post.

8' CHANCE! Mario's shot over the bar

Joao Mario! What a chance for Portugal. Ronaldo floats a lovely cross in from the left that is cleared to the feet of his teammate after a mix-up between Iranian keeper Beiranvand and Ezatolahi, only for the midfielder to blast it well over the crossbar. 

The two Iran players have a little scrap themselves after that breakdown in communication.

33' CHANCE! Ezatolahi's header saved by Patricio

 After some delay, it's Ezatolahi who lands a header on the free-kick, curled in neatly - but the power behind his effort is lacking and Patricio has no trouble making the save.

44' GOAL! Iran 0-1 Portugal (Quaresma)

QUARESMA, MY WORD! 1-0 TO PORTUGAL! 

It's the breakthrough that Fernando Santos and his side needed; on the stroke of half-time, his right-winger, on his first World Cup start, cuts in off the right with an Adrien Silva pass, slips around two defenders and launches an absolute screamer off his right foot that nestles itself in the top-left corner from 18 yards. That is a cruel goal for Iran to concede.

53' Penalty Missed! (Cristiano Ronaldo)

 Iran have kept Ronaldo rather quiet tonight but now he cuts into the opposition box, and goes down with a barge from Ezatolahi. The Portugal captain cries for a penalty but the referee waves him away.

Play is yet to be restarted in Saransk and all of a sudden, referee Caceres jogs off to the side to look at the VAR screen. He studies for a moment, returns - and gives the penalty!

Ronaldo steps up, strikes right - and IT'S SAVED!

Alireza Beiranvand is the hero of Iran as he reads Ronaldo's low effort and dives to his left to grab it. It wasn't the finest of strikes but full credit to the keeper who has been lacking in confidence at the back. Portugal's lead stays at 1-0.

71' CLOSE! Ghoddos’s shot wide out

Ghoddos! My word, that was close from the substitute. A long ball played to Azmoun is nudged to him and he blasts a shot wide by a couple of inches at the left post from 20 yards out.

93' Penalty Goal! Iran 1-1 Portugal (Ansarifard)

ANSARIFARD SCORES! 1-1! The substitute almost misses as he puts it high and the ball flies into the roof of the netting on the right side.

Match Report

Mehdi Taremi wasted a gilt-edged chance after Karim Ansarifard's penalty had thrown Iran a lifeline, but Portugal survived with a 1-1 draw to make the World Cup last 16 despite Cristiano Ronaldo's missed spot-kick in a match dominated by VAR.

The usually prolific Ronaldo was off target with a 53rd-minute penalty, awarded after a video-assisted review, as Portugal failed to build on Ricardo Quaresma's first-half stunner in the crucial Group B contest.

That miss from Ronaldo, who was perhaps fortunate not to see red for another VAR check after swinging an arm into the face of Morteza Pouraliganji, was punished when Cedric Soares was pinged for handball after referee Enrique Caceres again went to his video monitor.

Unlike Ronaldo, Ansarifard made no mistake with a powerful finish into the roof of the net to set up a grandstand finish in Saransk.

But Taremi fluffed his lines in the dying embers, firing into the side-netting from close range as Portugal held out for a crucial point.

It means the European champions are into the last 16 in second place, behind Spain – who themselves secured a dramatic 2-2 draw with Morocco – only on goals scored, while Iran settle for third with four points.

Line-ups

Iran XI: Ehsan Haji Safi, Morteza Pouraliganji, Ramin Rezaeian, Omid Ebrahimi, Mehdi Taremi, Sardar Azmoun, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Alireza Beiranvand, Vahid Amiri, Saeid Ezatolahi, Majid Hosseini

Subs: Masoud Shojaei, Ashkan Dejagah, Reza Ghoochannejhad, Karim Ansarifard, Pejman Montazeri, Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri, Saman Ghoddos, A. Abedzadeh, Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh, Mehdi Torabi, Milad Mohammadi

Portugal XI: Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Quaresma, Pepe, José Fonte, Rui Patrício, Adrien Silva, Cédric Soares, William Carvalho, Raphael Guerreiro, André Silva, João Mário

Subs: Bruno Alves, Manuel Fernandes, João Moutinho, Beto, Anthony Lopes, Mário Rui, Ricardo Pereira, Gelson Martins, Gonçalo Guedes, Bruno Fernandes, Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva