1998 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–OFC play-off)

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
(AFC–OFC play-off)

Event	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
Iran Australia 3 3
3–3 on aggregate, Iran won on away goals
First leg
Iran Australia 1 1
Date	22 November 1997
Venue	Azadi Stadium, Tehran
Referee	Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)
Attendance	128,000[1]
Second leg
Australia Iran 2 2
Date	29 November 1997
Venue	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Referee	Sándor Puhl (Hungary)
Attendance	85,022
← 1994 2002 →

The 1998 FIFA World Cup AFC–OFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament, Australia, and the losing team in the AFC play-off from the Asian qualifying tournament, Iran. The games were played on 22 and 29 November 1997 in Tehran and Melbourne respectively. Australia was hoping to play in the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1974 and Iran in 1978.

Iran		Round	Australia
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Saudi Arabia 8 4 2 2 8 6 2 14  Iran 8 3 3 2 13 8 5 12  China 8 3 2 3 11 14 −3 11  Qatar 8 3 1 4 7 10 −3 10  Kuwait 8 2 2 4 7 8 −1 8		Final standings	Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Australia 4 4 0 0 26 2 24 12  Solomon Islands 4 1 1 2 7 21 −14 4  Tahiti 4 0 1 3 2 12 −10 1
Opponent	Result	Final round	Opponent	Result
Japan (N)	2–3 (a.e.t.)	1st leg	New Zealand (A)	3–0
		2nd leg	New Zealand (H)	2–0

Prior to arrival in Tehran, Terry Venables and others involved in the Australian national team had made negative comments about Iran, stating it as being dangerous, and going so far as to bring their own drinking water for their stay.^{[citation needed]}

The first leg of the play-off, on 22 November 1997, took place in Tehran, Iran, with the result a 1–1 draw. Attendance for this match was extremely high, as 128,000 fans packed Azadi Stadium, despite it only having a capacity for 100,000 fans at the time.^[1]

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification playoff

22 November 1997

21:10 (IRST)

First leg

Iran	1–1	Australia
Azizi 39'	Report	Kewell 19'

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Attendance: 128,000 ^[1]

Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)

Iran

Australia

GK 1 Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh (c) DF 2 Mehdi Mahdavikia DF 4 Mohammad Khakpour  40' DF 16 Reza Shahroudi DF 5 Afshin Peyrovani MF 7 Ali Reza Mansourian  65' MF 9 Hamid Estili FW 20 Mehdi Pashazadeh  75' FW 23 Naeim Saadavi FW 11 Khodadad Azizi FW 10 Ali Daei Substitutions: GK 22 Nima Nakisa DF 15 Ali Akbar Ostad-Asadi MF 8 Majid Namjoo-Motlagh MF 25 Mehrdad Minavand DF 24 Javad Zarincheh FW 19 Farhad Majidi  75' MF 18 Ebrahim Tahami  65' Manager: Valdeir Vieira

GK 1 Mark Bosnich DF 4 Steve Horvat DF 2 Craig Moore DF 5 Alex Tobin (c)  50' MF 7 Robbie Slater  58' MF 6 Ned Zelić MF 8 Craig Foster MF 10 Aurelio Vidmar  20'  58' MF 3 Tony Vidmar FW 9 Mark Viduka FW 11 Harry Kewell  40'  88' Substitutions: GK 22 Željko Kalac 12 Milan Ivanović 13 Stan Lazaridis  58' 14 Ernie Tapai  85'  58' 15 Josip Skoko 16 Graham Arnold  88' 17 John Aloisi Manager: Terry Venables

The second leg, held on 29 November at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, had a crowd of 85,022. With Australia holding a 1–0 lead at half-time and scoring a second goal just after the break, it looked likely that they would progress to the World Cup. Immediately following Australia's second goal, spectator Peter Hore, known for disrupting major events, ran onto the field and cut up Iran's goal net, causing a halt in play.^[2][3] However, Australia's dominance continued until a controversial booking of Harry Kewell following a collision with Iranian goalkeeper Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh in the 72nd minute. This seemed to quell the Australians' momentum, as an Iranian revival, led by Khodadad Azizi, saw Iran score two quick goals to make the score 3–3 on aggregate, with Iran progressing on away goals.

Despite being undefeated throughout their entire qualifying campaign, Australia had again failed to qualify for the World Cup finals. Along with host nation and eventual winner France (who as host nation did not need to qualify), and Saint Kitts and Nevis, Australia were one of three teams to not lose a game in the entire campaign. The broadcast of the game on SBS featured closing comments from a clearly distraught Les Murray and Johnny Warren, with Warren openly weeping on air. In 2000, coach Terry Venables said the game was "one of the saddest sporting moments of my life."^[4]

29 November 1997

20:15 (AEDT)

Second leg

Australia	2–2	Iran
Kewell 32' Vidmar 48'	Report	Bagheri 75' Azizi 79'

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne

Attendance: 85,022

Referee: Sándor Puhl (Hungary)

Australia

Iran

GK 1 Mark Bosnich DF 4 Steve Horvat DF 2 Craig Moore  78' DF 5 Alex Tobin (c) DF 3 Stan Lazaridis MF 7 Robbie Slater  76' MF 6 Ned Zelić MF 8 Craig Foster MF 10 Aurelio Vidmar  76' FW 11 Harry Kewell  72' FW 9 Mark Viduka Substitutions: GK 22 Zeljko Kalac 12 Milan Ivanović 19 Tony Vidmar  76' 14 Ernie Tapai  76' 15 Josip Skoko 16 Graham Arnold  78' 17 John Aloisi Manager: Terry Venables

GK 1 Ahmadreza Abedzadeh (c) DF 4 Mohammad Khakpour  29' DF 5 Afshin Peyrovani DF 20 Mehdi Pashazadeh MF 23 Naeem Saadavi  70' MF 2 Mehdi Mahdavikia  61' MF 6 Karim Bagheri  75'v MF 16 Reza Shahroudi  52' MF 9 Hamid Reza Estili FW 11 Khodadad Azizi FW 10 Ali Daei Substitutions: GK 22 Nima Nakisa 15 Ali Akbar Ostad-Asadi  84' 8 Majid Namjoo-Motlagh 25 Mehrdad Minavand 24 Javad Zarincheh 7 Ali Reza Mansourian  52' 18 Ebrahim Tahami  70'  84'  84' Manager: Valdeir Vieira

• 10th Anniversary of Melbourne Showdown, IranSportsPress.com
• First leg
• Second leg