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Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty and Portugal blew the chance to finish top of Group B, with a dramatic climax seeing them draw 1-1 with minnows Iran.<\/p>\nCristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty and Portugal blew the chance to finish top of Group B, with a dramatic climax seeing them draw 1-1 with minnows Iran.<\/p>\n
The European champions were leading through Ricardo Quaresma’s stunning goal but were dramatically pegged back in stoppage time by a controversial spot-kick – and they would have gone out of the tournament had Mehdi Taremi not missed a golden chance at the end.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo should have ended doubts about the outcome, and taken his goal tally for the tournament to five, when Portugal were awarded a 51st-minute penalty in Saransk.<\/p>\n
But the Real Madrid superstar suffered a rare blip as he saw his effort beaten away by Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand.<\/p>\n
Things almost got worse for Ronaldo when he was the subject of a lengthy red card review by the video assistant referee, but his apparent swing of the arm was adjudged only worthy of a yellow.<\/p>\n
But his night ended still in huge disappointment after Karim Ansarifard equalized from the spot in stoppage time.<\/p>\n
A 1-1 draw condemned Portugal to second place, behind Spain, and they will face Uruguay in the second round.<\/p>\n
Quaresma, starting his first World Cup match, had earlier scored a memorable goal on the stroke of half-time.<\/p>\n
Quaresma played a quick one-two with full-back Cedric Soares, sprinted to the edge of the box and curled the ball with the outside of his right boot into the far top corner.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo’s big moment arrived via VAR, after he was brought down in the area by Morteza Pouraliganji’s clumsy challenge.<\/p>\n
Referee Enrique Caceres initially gave nothing but after a second viewing pointed to the spot.<\/p>\n
Yet Ronaldo was denied by a fine save from Beiranvand, diving to his right to beat the ball away.<\/p>\n
It was a save in sharp contrast to the keeper’s first-half performance, when he kept dropping crosses and was involved in a defensive mix-up which almost gifted Portugal an opening goal.<\/p>\n
Fortunately for Beiranvand, Joao Mario could only lift the loose ball over the top.<\/p>\n
But it was a poor first half from Portugal, who could have fallen behind had Saeid Ezatolahi placed his header either side of Rui Patricio, rather than straight at the goalkeeper.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo’s World Cup was in the balance with eight minutes remaining after he caught Pouraliganji off the ball.<\/p>\n
But after a long, hard look at the replay Caceres returned to the pitch and showed the Portugal captain the yellow card.<\/p>\n
The drama continued deep into added time with yet another VAR referral and Soares harshly adjudged to have handled in the area.<\/p>\n
After Ansarifard had tucked away the penalty Portugal were suddenly in danger of exiting the tournament – and they would have if Taremi had found the target, instead of the side-netting.<\/p>\n