Portugal played Iran in their final match of Group B of the World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal entered the field against Iran to secure a spot in the round-of-16 of the World Cup, and they did their job, even though Portugal finished second. Ricardo Quaresma’s terrific strike in the first half gave Portugal the lead, before Iran equalised in injury time for a 1-1 draw.
With this result, Portugal finished second of the Group B, and will now face Uruguay in the knock-out round.
Iran were strong defensively in the first half, keeping the spaces tight and not giving enough room to Portuguese attackers, Ronaldo in particular. However, it was the individual brilliance of Ricardo Quaresma, at the brink of half time, which gave Portugal a 1-0 lead in the match.
Ronaldo won a penalty early in the second half after it was referred to VAR. However, he failed to convert it as Beiranvand made a perfect dive towards his left to deny the Portuguese forward his fifth goal of the tournament. Portugal continued to lead attacks on the Iranian defence, but Quaresma’s goal remained to be the only goal for Portugal.
In injury time, Iran equalised as VAR gave them a penalty, but it wasn’t enough for the Asian nation to go through to the next round.
In the other Group B match, Spain and Morocco played a 2-2 draw, with Spain being the second team from the group to qualify for the next round. Spain will now play the Group A runners-up and host nation, Russia.
Here are some tweets from the match –
Ronaldo escapes with a yellow as Portugal held its breath.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 25, 2018
Cristiano Ronaldo has missed his first penalty of 2018 for club and country (out of 5). #POR #PORMAR #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/IdDBbJ4edB
— RM_DNA (@officialrm_dna) June 25, 2018
Some confusion with the VAR verdict, seems to be on the blink. #IRNPOR pic.twitter.com/da6DbsIvqH
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) June 25, 2018
Ronaldo misses a penalty. He’s no Harry Kane is he? 😉
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 25, 2018
Ronaldo always copying the goat. We see ya with that miss 😂
— NAZ (@FCNazalona) June 25, 2018
Cristiano Ronaldo purposely missed his penalty just so he could become the first Portuguese player to miss a penalty in World Cup history. Man just loves to set new records.
— Mike Sanz (@mikesanz19) June 25, 2018
An Iranian and an Englishman showing Ronaldo and Messi how to take penalties.
That’s the story of the World Cup so far.— Jonathan (@jonmikesav8) June 25, 2018
Think a yellow was just about right for Ronaldo. It wasn’t absolutely clear and obvious.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 25, 2018
Anyone other than Ronaldo would’ve walked for violent conduct but FIFA’s VAR turns a blind eye.
— Jim Beglin (@jimbeglin) June 25, 2018
Why is Ronaldo always copying Messi?#WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Dm0mkaciHX
— JΛKE BUCKLEY 🇦🇺 (@TheMasterBucks) June 25, 2018
Messi fan boys chill, it’s not like Ronaldo is going to retire after missing a penalty like someone we know. #IRNPOR #worldcup
— The Fresh Prince Of Chitown🇿🇼 (@ShadayaTawona25) June 25, 2018
Messi and Ronaldo missing penalties #IRAPOR pic.twitter.com/0AeSbcUMwz
— 🇩🇪 MR. AB 🇧🇪 (@IAmABdulBasitAB) June 25, 2018
Messi and Ronaldo now both missed penalties at the World Cup. It’s almost as if you can’t use penalties as a measurement of how good a player is or not.
— Xav Salazar (@XavsFutbol) June 25, 2018
