Portugal draws with Iran, reaches round of 16
SARANSK, Russia — Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed penalty cost Portugal first place in its World Cup group.
It could have been worse if not for Ricardo Quaresma, who started for the first time in the tournament and scored his first World Cup goal with a shot that had about as much flare as any in the tournament.
Portugal finished second in Group B after a 1-1 draw with Iran on Monday.
The 2016 European champions will next face Uruguay on Saturday in the round of 16.
“The conclusion and the most important thing is we’re going to continue playing,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said. “We had a strong opponent.”
Quaresma became the only player other than Ronaldo to score for Portugal in three games in Russia. The Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, right, and Iran’s Omid Ebrahimi challenge for the ball in Saransk, Russia.
34-year-old midfielder also became Portugal’s oldest scorer in World Cup play by hitting a curling shot from the edge of the penalty area that went beyond the reach of diving Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand.
Quaresma’s goal came on a night when Ronaldo — who had scored all four Portugal
goals in its first two games of Group B play — was denied on a penalty by Beiranvand.
“We were on top of the game until the penalty, and we didn’t make it. It wasn’t perfect, but that’s football,” Santos said. “We did what was expected and now we have to settle down and think about Uruguay.”
Karim Ansarifard scored a late penalty for Iran, which needed to win to advance but couldn’t break through a second time despite a furious charge in the waning minutes.
The penalty was awarded after a video review showed a handball in the area against Portugal.
But although Iran coach Carlos Queiroz benefited from that review, he railed against the system for the second day in a row. In particular, he cited a decision to give Ronaldo a yellow card after his elbow struck Iran defender Morteza Pouraliganji in the face.
“Elbow is red card in the rules,” Queiroz asserted, adding that there are no written exceptions for players named Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. “The decisions they must be clear for everybody, for the people. Everybody agrees that VAR is not going well. That’s the reality. There are a lot of complaints.”
Spain won Group B after its 2-2 draw with Morocco. Both Spain and Portugal had a goal difference of plus-1, but Spain scored six goals in its three group matches while Portugal had five.
URUGUAY 3, RUSSIA 0: Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani scored a goal each and Uruguay defeated Russia in Samara, Russia, finishing undefeated in group play and handing the host nation its first loss of the World Cup. Both teams were already assured of spots in the knockout round, but Uruguay’s victory put it at the top of Group A. Russia will play Spain on Sunday. SAUDI ARABIA 2, EGYPT 1: The oldest person to play in a World Cup match let in a pair of goals despite some spectacular saves. Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, who is 45, took the field for his team’s final group match to set the record. Although he saved one penalty, he couldn’t stop Saudi Arabia from beating Egypt in Volgograd, Russia, in a game between two teams that had already been eliminated. El Hadary overtook Faryd Mondragon as the oldest person to play at the World Cup. The Colombia goalkeeper was 43 when he came on as a late substitute in his team’s 4-1 victory over Japan four years ago at the World Cup in Brazil.