Bosnia send Iran out of World Cup

Iran's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup last 16 ended as they lost to already-eliminated Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Carlos Queiroz's Iran side could have progressed to the second round with a win but their hopes were dented when Edin Dzeko gave the Bosnians a deserved lead with a crisp shot from 25 yards.

Roma's Miralem Pjanic slid home a second after the break.

Reza Ghoochannejad pulled one back but Avdija Vrsajevic sealed it to give Bosnia their first World Cup win.

Their first ever victory in a major tournament at least gives the Bosnians something to show for their efforts in Brazil.

Safet Susic's side were knocked out before Wednesday's match after narrow defeats by Argentina and Nigeria in their opening two games, but had created enough chances to have taken something from both games.

Dzeko's well-taken goal against the Iranians was scant consolation for the Manchester City forward after he had an effort ruled out incorrectly against Nigeria when the score was 0-0, and subsequently missed a number of opportunities to get his side back in to that game.

His 23rd-minute strike was little more than the Bosnians deserved after a positive start in which the City man had twice forced saves from Iran's Alireza Haghighi.

With the Iranians needing to win and hope Nigeria lost if they were to progress, they went on the attack immediately and Masoud Shojaei saw his shot come back off the crossbar less than a minute after Bosnia had scored.

It would have been their first goal in a World Cup finals since a 1-1 draw with Angola in 2006, but the half ended with Susic's side looking more likely to be the next team on the scoresheet.

Bakudaily.az