MX23RW : Wednesday, April 24 14:00:20| >> :600:2401365:2401365:
[monks data]
Wales national football team
World Cup | Group Stage
Nov 25, 2022 at 10am UK
Millennium Stadium
Iran national football team

Wales
0 - 2
Iran


Rodon (45+3')
Hennessey (86')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Cheshmi (90+8'), Rezaeian (90+11')
Rezaeian (90+5'), Jahanbakhsh (90+5')

Iran score two late goals to beat 10-man Wales

Iran score two late goals to beat 10-man Wales
© Reuters
Wales' hopes of a World Cup 2022 knockout spot suffer a major blow as Iran score two late goals to beat the 10-man Dragons 2-0 in Group B.

Wales' World Cup 2022 destiny is out of their own hands after Iran struck two late goals to secure a dramatic 2-0 win over the 10-man Dragons in Group B at the Ahman bin Ali Stadium.

Carlos Queiroz's side saw Rouzbeh Cheshmi break the deadlock in the eighth minute of second-half injury time before Ramin Rezaeian put the game to bed with 101 minutes on the clock, as Wales - who had Wayne Hennessey sent off - saw their hopes of a top-two finish take a major hit.

Rob Page elected to make one change to the side who drew 1-1 with the USA on matchday one, bringing in Kieffer Moore for Daniel James, and the Bournemouth man had a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring in the 12th minute.

Moore latched onto a cross from Connor Roberts but could only send a toe-poke into Hossein Hosseini's arms from close range, receiving a boot to the face for his troubles, but he did not sustain any serious damage.

From nearly claiming an assist to nearly giving a goal away, Roberts then saw a long pass intercepted by Ali Gholizadeh, who combined well with Sardar Azmoun before tapping home in the 15th minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Wales defender Joe Rodon tackles Iran's Sardar Azmoun on November 25, 2022© Reuters

Wales were grateful for that reprieve, but they were still living dangerously, struggling to retain possession and seeing Azmoun fizz a header just wide from a free kick in the 23rd minute.

Just before the break, Ahmad Nourollahi's half-volley from range bounced awkwardly in front of Hennessey, but the Wales number one saved well as the game remained goalless after the opening 45 minutes.

Within just seven minutes of the second half, one of the most spectacular attacking episodes of the World Cup so far occurred, as Azmoun and Gholizadeh both struck the woodwork within a few seconds of each other before the former headed Gholizadeh's rebound into the grateful gloves of Hennessey, who was still sprawled on the floor.

Speaking of players sprawled on the floor, Azmoun - who had just come back from a calf tear for the World Cup - went down on the turf more than once before somehow managing to carry on each time, but his race was run in the 68th minute as Karim Ansarifard replaced him.

The Dragons backline did well to quell a sustained period of Iran attacks in the second half, but in the 73rd minute, they were grateful to see Hennessey produce a brilliant fingertip save down to his right to turn Saeid Ezatolahi's goalbound effort behind.

Wales' Gareth Bale looks dejected following defeat to Iran on November 25, 2022© Reuters

Hosseini was then called into action to tip a Ben Davies drive over the bar in the 83rd minute, but Wales were then dealt a killer blow not long after when Hennessey came out to challenge Taremi for a long ball and clattered into the Porto man with a raised leg.

The Nottingham Forest keeper was initially given a booking to the furore of Iran, but referee Mario Escobar upgraded his punishment to a red card after a brief look at the monitor in the 86th minute, as Danny Ward took on the responsibility of keeping Iran at bay for the final few moments.

Mehdi Torabi then sent a 20-yard effort just wide of the top corner in the 88th minute as Wales desperately clung on, but they would be forced to try to do so for another nine additional minutes.

After holding out for 98 minutes, however, Wales' resistance was broken, as Cheshmi hit a magnificent long-range strike which sailed into the bottom corner.

Salt was rubbed into the wounds for Page's side just two minutes later, as Wales threw bodies forward and were exposed on the counter, allowing Rezaeian to lift the ball into the back of the net over the onrushing Ward.

Iran - who face the USA on Tuesday - have now gone level on points with England before the Three Lions meet the Stars and Stripes this evening, while Wales sink to the bottom of the section and have it all to do in their final group fixture against England next week.

ID:500570:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect6984:No Data Analysis info
Game History

How you voted: Wales vs Iran

Wales
52.2%
Draw
30.3%
Iran
17.4%
1061
Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Iran players pose for a team group photo before the match on November 10, 2022
Read Next:
Iran World Cup 2022 preview - prediction, fixtures, squad, star player
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free daily transfer newsletter! Sent twice a day during the transfer window.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Result
Munar
Borges
7 6
5 4
Result
Navone
Popyrin
7 6
5 2
Result
Vukic
Daniel
2 77 1
6 61 6
Result
Bouzas Maneiro
Badosa
2 6 6
6 3 3
Result
Davis
Sherif
6 64 4
4 77 6
Result
Putintseva
Yuan
6 6
2 4
Result
Stephens
Trevisan
6 5 6
3 7 4
Result
Zhu
Jimenez Kasintseva
4 3
6 6
Result
Altmaier
Landaluce
6 7
1 5
11.30am
Rinderknech
Shevchenko
Result
Safiullin
Seyboth Wild
4 4
6 6
11.30am
Arango
Anisimova
Result
Sorribes Tormo
Pera
7 6
5 2
11.30am
Zhang
Rogers
Result
Osaka
Minnen
6 6
4 1
Result
Vekic
Siegemund
6 6
1 2
1pm
Darderi
Monfils
1pm
Karatsev
Marozsan
1pm
Van Assche
Bergs
1pm
Linette
Cocciaretto
1pm
Wang
Tomova
1pm
Wang
Dolehide
1.30pm
Dart
Bucsa
1.30pm
Raducanu
Lourdes Carle
2.30pm
Bronzetti
Gracheva
2.30pm
Frech
Cristian
2.30pm
Hibino
Krueger
3pm
Coric
Hassan
3pm
Kokkinakis
Draper
3pm
Nakashima
Bagnis
3pm
Van De Zandschulp
Eubanks
4pm
Baptiste
Saville
4pm
Bejlek
Blinkova
4pm
Errani
Wozniacki
4pm
Montgomery
Avanesyan
4.30pm
Klein
Llamas Ruiz
4.30pm
Burel
Danilovic
5pm
Moutet
Shang
5.30pm
Diaz Acosta
Shapovalov
6pm
Andreeva
Townsend
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Netherlands Netherlands32107
Q Senegal flag Senegal32016
3 Ecuador flag Ecuador31114
4 Qatar Qatar30030

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England32107
Q United States USA31205
3 Iran Iran31023
4 Wales flag Wales30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Argentina Argentina32016
Q Poland Poland31114
3 Mexico Mexico31114
4 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia31023

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France32016
Q Australia Australia32016
3 Tunisia Tunisia31114
4 Denmark Denmark30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Japan Japan32016
Q Spain Spain31114
3 Germany Germany31114
4 Costa Rica flag Costa Rica31023

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Morocco Morocco32107
Q Croatia Croatia31205
3 Belgium Belgium31114
4 Canada Canada30030

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Brazil Brazil32016
Q Switzerland Switzerland32016
3 Cameroon flag Cameroon31114
4 Serbia Serbia30121

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Republic of Korea South Korea31114
3 Uruguay flag Uruguay31114
4 Ghana flag Ghana31023


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!