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.
Background IranRoundAustraliaTeam842286214833213851283231114−3118314710−310822478−18Final standingsTeam440026224124112721−1444013212−101OpponentResultFinal roundOpponentResult (N)2–3 (a.e.t.)1st leg (A)3–02nd leg (H)2–0
Play-off match
First leg 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.
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.
GK 1 Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh (c)DF2 Mehdi MahdavikiaDF 4 Mohammad Khakpour DF 16Reza ShahroudiDF 5 Afshin Peyrovani MF7 Ali Reza Mansourian MF9 Hamid Estili FW20Mehdi Pashazadeh FW23Naeim Saadavi FW11Khodadad Azizi FW10Ali DaeiSubstitutions:GK 22Nima Nakisa DF15Ali Akbar Ostad-Asadi MF8 Majid Namjoo-Motlagh MF25Mehrdad Minavand DF24Javad Zarincheh FW19Farhad Majidi MF18Ebrahim Tahami Manager: Valdeir Vieira
GK 1 Mark BosnichDF 4 Steve Horvat DF2 Craig Moore DF5 Alex Tobin (c) MF7 Robbie Slater MF6 Ned Zelic MF8 Craig Foster MF10Aurelio Vidmar MF3 Tony Vidmar FW9 Mark Viduka FW 11Harry Kewell Substitutions:GK 22Željko Kalac 12Milan Ivanović 13Stan Lazaridis 14Ernie Tapai 15Josip Skoko 16Graham Arnold 17John AloisiManager: Terry Venables
OFFICIALS Assistant referees: Salvatore Marano (Italy) Pietro Contente (Italy) Fourth official: Stefano Braschi (Italy)MATCH RULES 90 minutes 3 (of 7) substitutions permitted
Second leg 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. 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."The Mourning After documentary, SBS, 2000
GK1Mark BosnichDF 4Steve Horvat DF2Craig Moore DF5Alex Tobin (c) DF3Stan Lazaridis MF7Robbie Slater MF6Ned Zelic MF8Craig Foster MF10Aurelio Vidmar FW 11Harry Kewell FW 9Mark VidukaSubstitutions:GK22Zeljko Kalac 12Milan Ivanović 19Tony Vidmar 14Ernie Tapai 15Josip Skoko 16Graham Arnold 17John AloisiManager: Terry Venables
GK1Ahmadreza Abedzadeh (c)DF 4Mohammad Khakpour DF 5Afshin PeyrovaniDF20Mehdi PashazadehMF 23Naeem Saadavi MF2Mehdi Mahdavikia MF6Karim Bagheri MF 16Reza Shahroudi MF 9Hamid Reza Estili FW11Khodadad Azizi FW10Ali DaeiSubstitutions:GK22Nima Nakisa 15Ali Akbar Ostad-Asadi 8Majid Namjoo-Motlagh 25Mehrdad Minavand 24Javad Zarincheh 7Ali Reza Mansourian 18Ebrahim Tahami Manager: Valdeir Vieira
OFFICIALS Assistant referees: Imre Bozoky (Hungary) Belo Mezo (Hungary) Fourth official: Attila Hanacsek (Hungary)MATCH RULES 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level: 3 (of 7) substitutions permitted
References
External links 10th Anniversary of Melbourne Showdown, IranSportsPress.com First leg Second leg