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

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

Event	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
Republic of Ireland Iran 2 1
Republic of Ireland won 2–1 on aggregate
First leg
Republic of Ireland Iran 2 0
Date	10 November 2001
Venue	Lansdowne Road, Dublin
Referee	Antonio Pereira da Silva (Brazil)
Attendance	36,538
Second leg
Iran Republic of Ireland 1 0
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.

Background

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

Matches

First leg

10 November 2001

18:00 UTC±0

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

Lansdowne Road, Dublin

Attendance: 36,538

Referee: Antonio Pereira da Silva (Brazil)

GK 1 Shay Given DF 2 Steve Finnan  85' DF 3 Ian Harte DF 4 Gary Breen DF 5 Steve Staunton  75' MF 6 Roy Keane MF 7 Jason McAteer  83' MF 8 Matt Holland MF 11 Kevin Kilbane MF 9 Niall Quinn FW 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 MF 2 Mehdi Mahdavikia DF 3 Mehrdad Minavand DF 5 Afshin Peyrovani  19' DF 6 Karim Bagheri MF 7 Hamed Kavianpour MF 8 Ali Karimi MF 10 Ali Daei MF 11 Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht  45' FW 15 Yahya Golmohammadi  86' FW 24 Rahman Rezaei Substitutions: MF 9 Sirous Dinmohammadi DF 13 Javad Nekounam MF 14 Mojahed Khaziravi  45' MF 18 Ali Samereh  71' FW 20 Behrouz Rahbarifar FW 21 Faraz Fatemi GK 22 Davoud Fanaei Manager: Miroslav Blažević

OFFICIALS 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

15 November 2001

17:30 UTC+3:30

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

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: William Mattus Vega (Costa Rica)

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

GK 1 Shay Given DF 2 Steve Finnan DF 3 Ian Harte DF 4 Gary Breen DF 5 Steve Staunton MF 6 Mark Kinsella MF 7 Jason McAteer  84' MF 8 Matt Holland MF 11 Kevin Kilbane  85' FW 9 David Connolly FW 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

OFFICIALS Assistant referees: Erick Mora (Costa Rica) Efrain Rodriguez (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

Ireland qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Korea and Japan, and were drawn into Group E with Germany, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia. Ireland drew with Cameroon and Germany with the same score 1–1 and in the final match they won 3–0 against Saudi Arabia so they qualified to the Round of 16 but they were eliminated by Spain on penalties (2-3) after finishing 1-1.

Iran failed to qualify for World Cup 2002 after an aggregate defeat to the Republic of Ireland, losing 2–0 in Dublin and winning 1–0 in Tehran. The elimination saw manager Miroslav Blažević step down from the top spot to be replaced by his assistant Branko Ivanković, who stepped up from assistant coach.