Iran recovered from their first game hammering by England to register a historic win against Wales in the ongoing FIFA World Cup at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium.
Rouzbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Rezaeian scored goals in the added time of the second half after Wales’ keeper Wayne Hennessey was sent off to lead their side to a first win over a European opposition in World Cup.
The game’s first chance fell to Neco Williams who curled his effort over the bar before Kieffer Moore tested Hossein Hosseini in Iran’s goal as Wales made the quicker start.
Ali Gholizadeh then had the ball in the back of the net but his effort was ruled out following a VAR check.
Both sides traded threatening crosses but could not find a breakthrough till the first-half whistle blew.
Iran started the second stanza better with Sardar Azmoun hitting the post shortly after the restart to signal what was to come.
Hennessey kept his side in the contest with a couple of saves but made a critical error when he brought down Mehdi Taremi when he was through on goal and was sent packing for his error after a VAR review changed his yellow card to red.
His dismissal gave Iran some extra verve and they were finally rewarded when Cheshmi connected sweetly with the ball from outside the box in the 98th minute which beat substitute keeper Danny Ward.
With Wales looking for an equaliser and committing bodies forward Iran caught them on the counter and Rezaeian finished things off with a chipped goal to give his side the first win against a European team in the World Cup after going winless in the previous 9 attempts.
Iran now moves to second in Group B with three points from two games while Wales slips to fourth behind the USA.
