FIFA World Cup : Portugal enter pre-quarters despite being held by Iran
Saransk (Russia), June 26 : Iran held Portugal 1-1 in their final Group B match here on Monday but couldn't stop the reigning European champions from entering the FIFA World Cup pre-quarterfinals.
Ricardo Quaresma gave Portugal the lead in the 45th minute but Iran found the equaliser through a penalty conversion from Karim Ansarifard in the 90+3 minute.
Following the draw at the Mordovia Arena, Iran are third on the table with four points and will now exit alongside Morocco (one point) from Group B. Portugal are second with five points - same as Spain but the latter side is ahead on the basis of scoring more goals during the group stage matches.
With the day's other game of the group, between Spain and Morocco being played at the same time, the Portugal vs Iran match had a lot of significance in terms of qualifying for the second round and the top position cushion.
Portugal, who started the match with four points - one more than the Asian outfit - had the advantage in case of a draw. And having witnessed the pragmatic style of Fernando Santos' side, the Europeans, though were expected to dominate, gave a signal of first trying to secure the qualification and then going after the top position, if chances came.
As a result, the first half between Portugal and Iran saw a slow game, with not many chances created. However, Iran, bidding to reach the World Cup knockouts for the first time, had a weird start.
They could have conceded the lead in the 10th minute of the match as Joao Mario found himself in front of an open goal thanks to a lack of communication inside the box but he shot over the cross-bar.
Goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand called to clear a cross but defender Saeid Ezatolahi decided to cut it out.
He got no distance on the clearance and then the ball dropped near Mario on the edge of the box but the latter came out with a poor shot.
Beiranvand then went through a period of lapse of concentration as he couple of times fumbled the ball but his defenders were alert.
Also Portugal didn't press as much as they should have and didn't made the most of the faults Iran made.
Portugal tried to feed their target man Ronaldo but couple of his free-kicks and headers were not on target and Portugal's slow passing of the ball didn't help their cause.
It did clearly help Iran as they tried to do some clever moves through Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
A Jahanbakhsh free-kick was headed towards goal by Ezatolahi, but the effort was straight down the throat of Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio in the 34th minute.
Portugal, however, broke the deadlock in the 45th minute when Quaresma played a quick one-two with full-back Cedric Soares, sprinted to the edge of the box before curling a gorgeous outside-of-the-foot finish into the far top corner.
Six minutes into the second half, Portugal could have added a cushion goal after being awarded a penalty after Video Assistant Referee (VAR) found Ezatolahi to have fouled Ronaldo.
But Beiranvand came up with the heroics as he dived to the left to block Ronaldo's penalty to keep Iran alive in the contest and in the World Cup.
Later, Azmoun and Jahanbakhsh kept threatening Portugal goal. Azmound also had couple of penalty shouts rejected until he found one in the third minute of the injury time.
A header from him saw fell on the left hand of Cedric Soares, leading to a penalty from which Iran levelled 1-1. Ansarifard fired to the roof of the net on the right, giving no chance to Patricio.
In the dying moments, Iranian attacking midfielder Vahid Amiri missed a golden chance to score a stunning winner as a long overhead ball saw him through the Portuguese defence but his left-footed flick hit the side-netting, ending their chances in the match.
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59 percent voter turnout in first phase in J-K, polling peaceful: CEO
Jammu, Sep 18: A voter turnout of about 59 percent -- "the highest in the past seven elections" -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said.
However, these are tentative figures and may rise after the final reports are received about postal ballots, and from remote pockets like Marwah, Wadwan, Dachhan and Machail in Kishtwar, the officer said.
Briefing mediapersons here after polling ended at 6 pm, Pole said the elections -- which covered 24 seats in seven districts -- ended peacefully without any untoward incident.
There are reports of some minor incidents of scuffle or argument from a few polling stations but "no serious incident" occurred that could have forced a repoll, he said.
Over 2.3 million voters were eligible to cast the ballot to determine the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents.
"The polling percentage of 59 percent is highest in the past seven elections -- four Lok Sabha polls and three assembly elections," he said, attributing the increase in the voter turnout to various factors including improved security situation, active participation of political parties and candidates and a campaign by the department.
He said Kishtwar district recorded the highest 77 percent turnout, while Pulwama district witnessed the lowest 46 percent.
Doda district recorded a turnout of 69.33 percent, Ramban district 67.71 percent, Kulgam district 61.57 percent, Anantnag district 54.17 percent and Shopian district 53.64 percent.
In the 2014 assembly elections, the district wise poll percentage was: Pulwama 44 percent, Shopian 48 percent, Kulgam 59 percent, Anantnag 60 percent, Ramban 70 percent, Doda 73 percent and Kishtwar 76 percent.
In Kishtwar districts, he said, the Padder-Nagseni segment recorded the highest 80.67 percent voting followed by Inderwal (80.06 percent) and Kishtwar (78.11 percent).
In the nearby Doda district, Doda west segment recorded 75.98 percent, Doda (70.21 percent) and Bhaderwah (65.27 percent).
In Ramban district, Banihal segment recorded 71.28 percent and Ramban 67.34 percent, he said.
Among the seven constituencies of Anantnag district, Pahalgam recorded the highest voter turnout at 67.86 percent, followed by Kokernag (58 percent), Dooru (57.90 percent), Srigufwara-Bijbehara (56.02 percent), Shangus-Anantnag (52.94 percent), Anantnag West (45.93 percent) and Anantnag 41.58 percent, Pole said.
In Pulwama district, the CEO said, the Pulwama segment witnessed 50.42 percent polling, followed by Rajpora 48.07 percent, Pampore 44.74 percent and Tral 43.21 percent.
In Shopian district, the Shopian segment recorded a voter turnout of 54.72 percent and Zainapora 52.64 percent.
In Kulgam district, D H Pora recorded a turnout of 68 percent, Kulgam 62.70 percent and Devsar 57.33 percent, Pole said.
He said seven districts of south Kashmir had been traditionally low poll percentage constituencies and in some of the past elections, the percentage had not even crossed the single digit.
Asked about a social media video purportedly showing a policeman losing temper and aiming his gun before being overpowered by his colleagues outside a polling station in Kishtwar, he said the district election officer and the returning officer concerned have taken note and issue was resolved amicably.
PDP and BJP candidates were involved in an argument at the polling station.
Pole expressed hope that the remaining two phases on September 25 and October 1 will also see high polling percentage.
Meanwhile, the election commission expressed satisfaction over the long queues of voters at the polling stations showcasing the entire world, the deep trust and confidence of the people of J&K in the democratic exercise.
The polling was held across 3,276 Polling Stations in the seven districts and 24 special polling stations set up for migrant pandits in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.
According to officials, 31.42 percent of the more than 35,000 eligible kashmiri migrant voters exercised their franchise. While 27 percent cast their votes at 19 polling stations in Jammu, 40 percent at four polling stations in Delhi and 30 percent at one polling station in Udhampur.
In each of the seven districts where voting was held in the first phase, the voter participation exceeded the participation during the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, the election commission said in a release.
The performance builds on the trend witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir which saw a voter turnout of 58.58 percent at polling stations, highest in the last 35 years.
Voting began at 7 am and proceeded steadily through the day. Men and women, the young and old, some too frail to walk and others patiently waiting their turn, queued up outside polling booths across Kashmir Valley and Jammu.
Security forces fanned out to ensure that there was no trouble. The day was largely without incident except for reports of clashes between political workers in some areas of Bijbehara and D H Pora.
