June 27 (THEWILL) — Egypt and Iran both booked places in the FIFA World Cup knockout rounds after producing an entertaining 1-1 draw in their final Group G encounter at Seattle Stadium.
The match burst into life almost immediately. Egypt struck after just five minutes when Mahmoud Saber calmly finished through the legs of goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to register his first international goal and hand the Pharaohs an early advantage.
Iran responded less than ten minutes later through Ramin Rezaeian, who reacted quickest after Milad Mohammadi’s initial effort was saved to level the score.
The goal also made Rezaeian Iran’s highest-scoring player in FIFA World Cup history with three tournament goals.
Egypt enjoyed the better of possession throughout the contest, controlling 62 per cent of the ball and creating 14 attempts on goal, with Mohamed Salah remaining a constant threat in the final third. Iran, however, defended resolutely and remained dangerous on the counterattack.
The game’s biggest moment arrived in stoppage time when Shoja Khalilzadeh thought he had snatched a dramatic winner for Iran, only for the goal to be ruled out following a VAR review.
The result was enough to send both teams into the Round of 32. Iran also became only the third Asian nation to complete a FIFA World Cup group stage unbeaten, joining Japan and South Korea in achieving the feat.
