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#2 VAR comes to Spain's rescue
After going a goal down to Spain in the 54th minute, instead of wilting under the pressure of having to mount a comeback against one of the best front-runners in world football, Iran responded with that sense of purpose which has seen them qualify for their consecutive World Cup finals appearance. Just six minutes after conceding the opener, Iran were awarded a free-kick, 30 yards from goal.
They loaded the opposition penalty area with numbers, but in the excitement to get his head to the ball first, Ezatolahi failed to notice that he had strayed offside. As Iran erupted into celebrations, the referee received a message in his earpiece that the goal was being looked at retrospectively by the Video Assistant Referee.
Iran's players were pleading to the referee to allow the goal to stand while they waited for confirmation. But the presence of technology at this edition of the World Cup leaves little space for emotions to govern the decision-making processes and the goal was rightly chalked off.
Iran will not be able to help but wonder what the outcome would've been, had it been any other edition of the competition. As it turned out, they will go down in history as the first team to be denied a goal through VAR at the World Cup.
