But Iran was not the only team to be embarrassed last Tuesday. In four Asian elimination matches played that day, Australia was beaten 2-1 by Jordan and South Korea could only manage a 2-2 tie against Uzbekistan. Only top-ranked Japan fulfilled expectations by beating Iraq 1-0.
In the Group A standings, Iran now has four points—the same as Qatar and Lebanon. Iran holds onto second place based on goal differential, but it is a tenuous hold.
The top two teams in each group will go the World Cup finals in Brazil.
Iran played Lebanon in Beirut before 14,000 Lebanese fans on a humid day with the temperature at 32 degrees (90 Fahrenheit) at kickoff.
Lebanon was fully expected to lose. It is ranked 124th in the world by FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, versus 54th for Iran.
What’s more, in seven previous meetings between the two teams, Lebanon had never even managed to score a solitary goal.
That all changed in the 28th minute when Roda Antar punched the ball in.
Lebanon then tried to sit on that lead—and its tactic worked. Lebanon mobilized entirely for defense—that is, it mobilized for defense when it wasn’t just trying to waste time. The time-wasting was so excessive that Lebanese goalkeeper Abbas Hassan eventually drew a yellow card for just holding the ball.
But Hassan also put together a string of solid saves to show he could hold onto the ball when it really mattered. One was a dramatic stop of Mohammad Ghazi’s header five minutes into injury time that would have tied the game in the closing seconds.
Iran’s players were clearly frustrated by the time-wasting tactics. Iran dominated possession, but it struggled on the atrocious field, which lacked grass in numerous spots.
Iran has now played three of its eight games and next month will face South Korea in Tehran in a match it cannot afford to lose.
So far Iran has beaten Uzbekistan in Tashkent, tied Qatar in Tehran and lost to Lebanon on the road—an unimpressive showing against the three weakest teams in the group.
In the other group, Australia is having an even worse time. It hasn’t won a solitary game, tying Oman and Japan while losing to Jordan. It is now in third place with the same record and goal differential as Iraq.