2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA–AFC play-off)

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
(UEFA–AFC play-off)
Event	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
	(on aggregate)
First leg
Date	10 November 2001
Venue	Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee	Antonio Pereira da Silva (Brazil)
Attendance	36,538
Second leg
Date	15 November 2001
Venue	Azadi Stadium, Tehran
Referee	William Mattus Vega (Costa Rica)
Attendance	100,000

The 2002 FIFA World Cup UEFA–AFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between a group runner-up of the European qualifying tournament, the Republic of Ireland, and the winners of the AFC play-off, Iran. The games were played on 10 November and 15 November 2001 in Dublin and Tehran, respectively.^[1]

Ireland beat Iran 2–0 in the first leg held in Dublin, while in the second leg, Iran defeated Ireland 1–0 in Tehran. The Irish side won the series 2–1 on aggregate, therefore qualifying to the World Cup.

Venues edit

Lansdowne Road in Dublin (left) and Azadi Stadium in Tehran, venues for the series

Background edit

Republic of Ireland

Round

Iran

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Portugal	10	7	3	0	33	7	26	24
Republic of Ireland	10	7	3	0	23	5	18	24
Netherlands	10	6	2	2	30	9	21	20
Estonia	10	2	2	6	10	26	-16	8
Cyprus	10	2	2	6	13	31	-18	8
Andorra	10	0	0	10	5	36	-31	0

Final standings

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Saudi Arabia	8	5	2	1	17	8	9	17
Iran	8	4	3	1	10	7	3	15
Bahrain	8	2	4	2	8	9	−1	10
Iraq	8	2	1	5	9	10	−1	7
Thailand	8	0	4	4	5	15	−10	4

AFC play-off

Opponent

Result

1st leg

United Arab Emirates (H)

1–0

2nd leg

United Arab Emirates (A)

3–0

Match details edit

First leg edit

10 November 2001

20:10 UTC±0

First leg

Republic of Ireland	2–0	Iran
Harte 44' (pen.) Keane 50'	(Report)

Lansdowne Road, Dublin

Attendance: 36,538

Referee: Antonio Pereira da Silva (Brazil)

Republic of Ireland

Iran


GK	1	Shay Given
CB	6	Roy Keane (c)
CB	4	Gary Breen
CB	5	Steve Staunton		75'
RWB	2	Steve Finnan	85'
LWB	3	Ian Harte
CM	7	Jason McAteer		83'
CM	8	Matt Holland
CM	11	Kevin Kilbane
CF	9	Niall Quinn
CF	10	Robbie Keane
Substitutions:
GK	16	Dean Kiely
DF	12	Gary Kelly		83'
DF	13	Kenny Cunningham		75'
MF	15	Mark Kinsella
MF	17	Lee Carsley
FW	18	Clinton Morrison
FW	14	David Connolly
Manager:
Mick McCarthy


GK	12	Ebrahim Mirzapour
RB	5	Afshin Peyrovani	19'
CB	15	Yahya Golmohammadi	86'
CB	24	Rahman Rezaei
LB	3	Mehrdad Minavand
CM	6	Karim Bagheri
CM	7	Hamed Kavianpour
RW	2	Mehdi Mahdavikia
AM	8	Ali Karimi
LW	11	Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht		46'
CF	10	Ali Daei (c)
Substitutions:
MF	9	Sirous Dinmohammadi
MF	13	Javad Nekounam
FW	14	Mojahed Khaziravi		46'
FW	18	Ali Samereh
DF	20	Behrouz Rahbarifar
FW	21	Faraz Fatemi
GK	22	Davoud Fanaei
Manager:
Miroslav Blažević

Assistant referees:
Jorge Oliveira (Brazil)
Aristeu Tavares (Brazil)
Fourth official:
Paulo César de Oliveira (Brazil)

Match rules

90 minutes
3 (of 7) substitutions permitted

Second leg edit

15 November 2001

21:10 UTC+3:30

Second leg

Iran	1–0	Republic of Ireland
Golmohammadi 90'	(Report)

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: William Mattus Vega (Costa Rica)

Iran

Republic of Ireland


GK	12	Ebrahim Mirzapour
RB	5	Afshin Peyrovani
CB	15	Yahya Golmohammadi
CB	24	Rahman Rezaei
LB	3	Mehrdad Minavand
CM	6	Karim Bagheri	85'
CM	7	Hamed Kavianpour
RW	2	Mehdi Mahdavikia	47'
AM	8	Ali Karimi
LW	11	Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht
CF	10	Ali Daei (c)
Substitutions:
MF	9	Sirous Dinmohammadi
DF	13	Javad Nekounam
MF	14	Mojahed Khaziravi
MF	17	Pejman Jamshidi
MF	18	Ali Samereh
FW	20	Behrouz Rahbarifar
GK	22	Davoud Fanaei
Manager:
Miroslav Blažević


GK	1	Shay Given
CB	6	Mark Kinsella
CB	4	Gary Breen
CB	5	Steve Staunton (c)
RWB	2	Steve Finnan
LWB	3	Ian Harte
CM	7	Jason McAteer	84'
CM	8	Matt Holland
CM	11	Kevin Kilbane		85'
CF	9	David Connolly
CF	10	Robbie Keane	49'	75'
Substitutions:
GK	16	Alan Kelly Jr.
DF	12	Gary Kelly		85'
DF	13	Kenny Cunningham
FW	17	Niall Quinn
MF	14	Lee Carsley
FW	18	Clinton Morrison		75'
DF	15	Andy O'Brien
Manager:
Mick McCarthy

Assistant referees:
Erick Mora (Costa Rica)
Efraín Rodríguez (Costa Rica)
Fourth official:
Olger Mejías Ovares (Costa Rica)

Match rules:

90 minutes
30 minutes of extra-time if necessary
Penalty shoot-out if scores still level:
3 (of 7) substitutions permitted

Aftermath edit

The elimination saw Iran manager Miroslav Blažević step down to be replaced by his assistant, Branko Ivanković.

The Republic of Ireland qualified to the 2002 FIFA World Cup and were drawn into Group E with Germany, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia. They drew with Cameroon and Germany with a score of 1–1 and in the final match, they won 3–0 against Saudi Arabia. This qualified them to the Round of 16 but they were eliminated by Spain on penalties (2–3) after the match ended in a 1–1 draw.

References edit

^ "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan - Qualifiers". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2017.

[1] "2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan - Qualifiers". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2017.

[1]