An own goal in the 95th minute saw Iran beat Morocco 1-0 on Friday in Group B play at the 2018 World Cup. In the opener for both teams, the match looked destined for a draw in what was an entertaining and open game, but Aziz Bouhaddouz came on in the second half, tried to defend a late set piece and headed it into his own net:
Heartbreak for Morocco!
Bouhaddouz heads it into his own net in stoppage time to give Iran the lead. pic.twitter.com/7FA7Migvk5 — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 15, 2018
Absolutely heartbreaking for Morocco. They deserved a point and maybe more, but they were wasteful in front of goal and paid for it in the end. And as a result, they are likely to be eliminated from the World Cup with Spain and Portugal still left on the slate. Meanwhile, Iran has its second win in World Cup history, and first since beating the United States in 1998. One more win over either Spain or Portugal and they'll likely be through to the knockout stage for the first time ever.
Relive Morocco vs. Iran
If the live blog doesn't load properly, click here.
Iran beat Morocco 1-0 to register their first World Cup match victory since 1998. The winning goal came deep into stoppage time and was a gift by Morocco. Morocco substitute Aziz Bouhaddouz put in an unstoppable header in the near post in his attempt to clear the ball. Iran got a prized gift in form of the winning goal after their opponents had settled for a draw. Both teams will be contemplating how they got into the position they were. Morocco will be wondering how they were at the receiving end of the result while Iran will deem themselves lucky after they were second best in majority of the match.
They met each other only once previously, a tie which ended in a draw. The last time Morocco appeared in a World Cup was two decades ago in 1998, hosted by France. They entered the tournament under the tutelage of Herve Renard and will aim for a turnaround in their sixth appearance. This is the fifth time that Iran will play at a World Cup. Their first World Cup was in 1978 where they faced a first round exit. Their last three appearances were in 1998, 2006 and 2014 editions.
Live Updates of 2018 FIFA World Cup match between Morocco and Iran straight from Saint Petersburg Stadium, Russia
22:27 IST: And its over. Iran beat Morocco 1-0.
22:26 IST: 90' + 4 minutes! GOAL! Bouhaddouz heads it past his own keeper. And its an own goal. Iran get their goal. Nightmare for Morocco.
22:22 IST: Six added minutes. 90+ 6 added minutes.
22:20 IST: 90' The match has been a game of two halves. First half saw a flurry of chances missed by both the teams while the second half was witness to really less chances.
22:17 IST: 86' This match seems to be heading towards a draw unless someone from either team pops up with a winner just like the Uruguay-Egypt match.
22:10 IST: 79' Another good save by Iranian goalkeeper Ali Bairanvand. Number 7 Hakim Ziyach hits a powerful volley. Both goalkeepers having a good outing in the middle.
22:10 IST: 78' Iran's Omid Ebrahimi is clutching his ribs. Replays show bruises on his back. He is clearly struggling and is rightly substituted | Morocco 0-0 Iran after 79 minutes
22:04 IST: 72' Iran's Jahanbakhsh gets down the inside left but his attempted cross is blocked and his team gets a corner. Again, the delivery is poor and another decent attacking opportunity goes in vain.
21:58 IST: 67' SUBSTITUTION! Iran's Shojaie makes way for Taremi.
21:53 IST: 64' Little in the way of chances being created in this second half. The first half was a lot more entertaining, but the players seem to be getting more tense the longer it goes on. Nothing separates these two teams. No shots on target in the second half | Morocco 0-0 Iran
21:50 IST: 60' After a hour's play, there is no goal so far. The second half has seen both these teams scramble for chances. There was no clear cut chance for Morocco and Iran. Both teams looking for an incisive thrust.
21:45 IST: 56' Decent play from Iran, who are currently enjoying a rare period of possession. They lose the ball, however, and it's Morocco's turn to attack on the break. Their attack breaks down when Hakim Ziyech is harshly penalised for a handball he couldn't possibly avoid.
21:40 IST: 50' Iran are fantastic on the break. Only if their finishing was good enough, they could have broken the deadlock.
21:36 IST: 47' Yellow for Iran's Alireza Jahanbaksh. Not required at all. The second half has begun on a fiery note.
21:35 IST: Second half begins.
21:20 IST: Its 0-0 at halftime. After an early onslaught by Morocco, Iran got back into the game. Morocco need to rebuild and restrategise as Iran now hold the edge going into the half time. Two big moments for both team in the first half | Morocco 0-0 Iran
21:18 IST: Half time up. We are into 2 extra added minutes.
21:14: 42' El Kajoui makes a fantastic save for Morocco. Number 20 Sardar Azmoun misses a sitter. One on one situation and Iran fail to convert.
21:14 IST: As we approach half time, Morocco had a good star but Iran got a foothold in the preceedings now.
21:13 IST: 40' FOUL by Morocco's number 9 El Kaabi. Not required there. That was reckless.
21:10 IST: 38' Sardar Azmoun goes down for Iran. Referee immediately stops play after it appears he hit his head. He seems fine now.
21:08 IST: 35' Free kick for Iran. Alireza Jahanbaksh steps up to take it from almost 40 yards. Not a very good one. The ball goes to the stands. Poor free kick.
21:03 IST: 31' Morocco's Amine Harit tries to curl it in but its too easy for the Iranian keeper.
21:00 IST: 30' Scramble for possession in the middle of the park for both the teams.
20:57 IST: 25' FOUL! Morocco's number 7 Hakim Ziyach brings down Iran's number 11 Vahid Amiri
20:55 IST: 21' After dominating for the opening quarter, Iran went close to taking the lead. Attacking on the break, Iran number 10 Karim Ansarifard's attempt to pick out the man up in support is deflected out for a corner. Morocco survive.
20:52 IST: 18' Morocco players fail to put the ball into the net. A flurry of chances fell their way but Iranians were lucky to not have conceded from the set piece. Two efforts blocked by the goalkeeper. It is still goalless out there.
20:50 IST: 18' Morocco's El Hamadi is solid in midfield. He is building up play for his team. Iran are now getting their passes together but its still Morocco who look like breaking the deadlock.
20:44 IST: 14' Morocco have more than 80 per cent of the ball. They look confident here. Iran, on the other hand, look clueless. They cannot get the ball into the Moroccan half. They need to keep to ball and break Morocco's momentum.
20:41 IST: 10' Yellow card! Cynical tackle by the Iranian captain Masoud Sojaei.
20:40 IST: 8' Just wide. Morocco's number 9 El Kaabi miscues his shot and is just wide. Morocco are testing the Iranian defence every now and then.
20:36 IST: 4' Good link up play by Younes Belhanda for Morocco. Morocco are dominating proceedings early on against Iran.
20:34 IST: 3' Corner for Morocco. Good layoff but chance is spurned by Hakim Ziyech. Trivia! Morocco are 18 games unbeaten in all international games.
20:30 IST: Morocco have the best defensive record in the run up to the World Cup.
20:30 IST: Kick Off
20:25 IST: Both teams are out in the middle with their respective national anthems being played.
20:16 IST: We are approaching the game now. Stay tuned for the live match updates.
19:50 IST: Morocco: Munir, Amrabat, Benatia, Saiss, Achraf, El Ahmadi, Belhanda, Harit, Boussoufa, Ziyech, El Kaabi.
Iran: Beiranvand, Rezaeian, Pouraliganji, Cheshmi, Hajsafi, Ebrahimi, Masoud, Jahanbakhsh, Ansarifard, Amiri, Azmoun.
It's been 20 years, but now they are BACK.
Are you supporting #MAR? pic.twitter.com/hRkfB8Za97 — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 15, 2018
19:45 IST: We shift our focus to Morocco vs Iran now.
Who's ready for Round 2? Just under one hour until we go again! #WorldCup #MARIRN pic.twitter.com/hvCV2V0Ar3 — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 15, 2018
19:40 IST: The first match of the day say Uruguay beat Egypt 1-0 by a solitary goal scored by Jose Gimenez.
18:45 IST: Hello and welcome to the live match updates of the Group B match between Morocco and Iran.
Sardar Azmoun has been piling up the international goals for an Iran squad that has regularly superseded expectations.
With 23 international goals in just 32 games, the 23-year-old is already fifth on Iran's list of all-time leading scorers. Azmoun was a standout volleyball player as a teenager before concentrating solely on football, and uses his athleticism and acceleration to great effect. He was snapped up by Rubin Kazan in 2013 and while Arsenal and Liverpool have reportedly showed interest in the past, he remains in Russia.
A Dutch youth international, Hakim Ziyech ultimately elected to represent Morocco rather than the country of his birth in 2015. It was a decision blasted by Netherlands great Marco van Basten but one that helped Morocco end a 20-year World Cup absence. An attacking midfielder with the facility to penetrate the opposition, he is the fulcrum in an underrated Morocco side and has an eye for goal, finding the net eight times in 15 matches.
Two prolific seasons at Twente earned him a move to Ajax in 2016 but Ziyech is looking for a new challenge after landing the league's player of the year award and will be desperate to prove his value in Russia.
Squads:
Iran: Ali Beiranvand; Milad Mohammadi, Morteza Pouraliganji, Roozbeh Cheshmi, Pejman Montazeri; Masoud Shojaei, Ehsan Haji Safi, Omid Ebrahimi; Vahid Amiri, Sardar Azmoun, Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
Morocco: Monir El Kajoui; Hamza Mendyl, Romain Saiss, Mehdi Benatia, Achraf Hakimi; Hakim Ziyech, Mbark Boussoufa, Younes Belhanda, Karim El Ahmadi, Noureddine Amrabat; Khalid Boutaib.
The game concluded a disappointing week for Morocco, soccer-wise. The nation was beaten out for the right to host the 2026 World Cup to the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Though Iran now has three points in their group, they will have to be considered big underdogs to Spain and Portugal in the days ahead. It was Iran’s second ever World Cup win in 13 tries; they defeated the United States in 1998.
In the end, this poorly played game ended in the most appropriate fashion: with a substitute player putting the ball into the wrong net.
Here’s how Iran beat Morocco:
95’: OWN GOAL! Morocco Gifts Iran a 1-0 Lead
Iran. Iran? Iran! Improbably, it is Iran that got the game-winning goal in added time. Aziz Bouhaddouz scored it on an excellent diving header. Yes, an own goal by Bouhaddouz of Morocco, who apparently wanted to clear a cross but instead showed keen marksmanship and sent the ball into his own net.
90’: Six More Minutes
Ramin Rezaeian of Iran was the latest to go down and he theatrically rolled a full five revolutions on the ground. The ref shook his head in dismay. Here’s the added time ... 6 minutes, thanks to all the injuries.
85’: Injury Time Adding Up
The stretcher comes out for the latest injury, to Iran’s best player, Alireja Jahanbakhsh. There should be a boatload of injury time in this one.
81’: Late Push From Morocco
Chance for Morocco! Yes, soccer is still being played. A good shot by star man Ziyech drew a desperate diving save. A subsequent corner came to naught. Morocco is pressing hard here.
76’: Hits Keep on Coming
A casualty of this physical game: Nordin Amrabat of Morocco took a hit and went down hard. He sits forlornly on the sideline with an icepack on his head. He’ll be subbed out.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
70’: Fatigue Setting In
A rare corner to Iran, but it is easily cleared. The players are getting tired and the game is opening up a little, but Iran just does not look like scoring.
Andew Das: A lot of frantic running going nowhere. Iran was super in Asian qualifying, but as Saudi Arabia showed on Thursday, perhaps we need to reassess the degree of difficulty there. (And don’t forget: these Muslim teams are all coming out of Ramadan, which is not the ideal preparation for running around in the heat.)
57’: Sloppy Play Continues
We’ve commented on the physical nature of the play, but honestly it’s also just sloppy: missed passes, offensive confusion, turnover followed by turnover the other way. Hard to get much flow going.
53’: Iran Not Close to Scoring
A microcosm of Iran’s offense. The team managed to get into Moroccan territory, then Majid Hosseini launched it from 45 yards out and it sailed miles wide.
46’: Somebody Needs to Score
As the second half got under way, neither team would be too delighted with a draw; 3 points in this game seems vital to get out of a group with Spain and Portugal. Perhaps we will see more chances this half.
Halftime: Rough Play With No Score
No score in this game, but plenty of tough tackles and gritty play. Morocco will be the more disappointed side, while Iran will be grateful to be hanging on for the draw so far.
Sign up for World Cup Messenger Hey, it’s Andrew Das from the Sports desk. Sign up to get updates from Times journalists on the ground in Russia. Sign up via push alert
44’: Iran Almost Sneaks One In
This is why weaker teams counterattack. Iran nearly took an improbable lead when Sardar Azmoun got behind the defense on a counter and went in on goal. But a leg save by Mohamedi Munir of Morocco saved the day.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
36’: Iran Goes for Long Shot
Iran’s star man Jahanbakhsh lined up a free kick from far, far out and decided to go for goal. His shot went far, far over the net. A goal by Iran at this point would be quite a shock based on the play so far.
35’: Yellow for Morocco
The ref, Mr. Cakir of Turkey, finally saw enough and gave Karim El Ahmadi of Morocco a yellow card. He could have given out several more in this physical game.
Photo
33’: Much Ado About Nothing
Iran lobbed the ball into the Moroccan box, it bounced around a bit, and then both teams essentially stopped playing and began to frantically signal the referee: Iran wanted a penalty and Morocco an offisde call. No call was forthcoming and play continued.
32’: Amine Harit Takes the Shot
Amine Harit of Morocco latched on to a pass by Achraf Hakimi, beat two defenders in the box and got off a well-positioned shot. But it went straight to the keeper.
Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.
28’: Morocco Continues to Play Agressor
A couple more shots by Morocco were blocked by tenacious Iranian defenders. Still, Morocco has to feel much better about how things are going.
19’: Another Chance for Morocco but No Goal
Another chippy tackle leads to a Morocco free kick. The ball was lobbed into the box and bounced around terrifyingly for several moments before it was finally cleared. A shot by Medhi Benatia saved by a diving keeper was the closest thing to a goal.
11’: Iran Pays for Physical Play
A deserved yellow for a tackle from behind from Masoud Shojaei of Iran, whose defense has been hard-nosed to say the least.
9’: Morocco Keeps Pressing, and Missing
Ayoub El Kaabi got off Morocco’s latest shot, but it curled wide left. A one-sided match thus far.
Video
7’: Iran Gets Physical
Amine Harit of Morocco went on a mazy run in which three separate Iran players kicked him, slid into him or stomped him. The ref gave Iran a talking-to, but no cards.
4’: Morocco Misses Early Chance
Morocco bungled the opening chance. Ziyech charged in from the half moon unmarked to get a tasty cross. And he straight-up whiffed on it. Still, Morocco has had the best of the play so far.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
2’: Players to Watch
You may not know too many of the players on these teams, so here are two to watch. The mercurial midfielder Hakim Ziyech, No. 7, leads Morocco; he quit the team a while back over playing time, only to reconsider. For Iran, No. 18 Alireza Jahanbakhsh was the top scorer in Holland this past season.
Kickoff: Morocco in Red, Iran in White
It’s 500-1 vs. 1000-1 in St. Petersburg. For Morocco, in red, it’s a first World Cup since 1998. Iran, in white, was in the big show four years ago but managed just one draw.
Morocco Starting Lineup
12. EL KAJOUI
2. HAKIMI
5. BENATIA
6. SAISS
7. ZIYACH
8. EL AHMADI
9. EL KAABI
10. BELHANDA
14. BOUSSOUFA
16. N. AMRABAT
18. HARIT
Iran Starting Lineup
1. A. BEIRANVAND
3. HAJI SAFI
4. R. CHESHMI
7. SHOJAEI
8. M. POURALIGANJI
9. OMID
10. KARIM
11. V. AMIRI
18. A. JAHANBAKHSH
20. SARDAR
23. RAMIN
Iran vs. Morocco Top Story Lines
• Two of the tournament’s minnows square off. In all likelihood it will be Spain and Portugal going through from this group, but who knows? Four years ago, both Spain and Portugal were eliminated at the group stage.
• Morocco looked sharp in African qualifying, scoring 11 goals and conceding none in the final phase. Likewise, Iran dominated qualifying in Asia, scoring 10 and surrendering 2. But the competition gets a lot fiercer here.
Photo
• Both teams have players employed all around the world: Morocco’s 23-man squad plays in 10 countries, including Turkey and the UAE, and Iran’s team plays in nine, including Qatar and Sweden.
• Midfielder Hakin Ziyech of the Dutch team Ajax should be in the middle of everything for Morocco.
• Forward Sardar Azmoun of Iran will feel at home; he is a star in the Russian League. He may be set for a move soon to one of the continent’s elite clubs. Inevitably, he is known as the Iranian Messi.
Advertisement Continue reading the main story
• Iran midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi, 21, is serving a one-game ban and will miss this game.
What a wonderful week Morocco are having. First their 2026 World Cup bid hit the deck, then Aziz Bouhaddouz inexplicably threw himself at an Iran corner-kick deep in added time and headed it into his own net after his country had dominated the game. Floored, twice in three days.
Iran had won only once at a World Cup - a famous 2-1 victory over the USA in 1998. This one will join that political and footballing upset, for the unexpected nature of the Iranian triumph, and the savage consequences of Bouhaddouz’s mistake, which left him broken and weeping.
Maybe he could give Liverpool’s Loris Karius a call. Two bad errors in a Champions League final have far greater ramifications, but dooming your country to defeat in an opening must-win game in a group containing Spain and Portugal is really not much fun either.
In his defence, Bouhaddouz, who came on in the 77th minute, could point to the failure by his team-mates to convert 63 per cent possession and 431 passes to 200 into the victory that would have given Morocco a chance of qualifying from such a tough group.
