ST PETERSBURG, Russia – Iran national football team defeated Morocco 1-0 thanks to an own goal from Aziz Bouhaddouz here in injury time in Group B of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Friday.

Bouhaddouzm who came off the bench as Ayoub El Kaabi’s replacement, headed the ball into his own goal from a free-kick.

Morocco started better the first half and created some half-chances but lacked the cutting edge in final third.

Iran striker Sardar Azmoun missed the best chance of the first half in the 44th minute.  

It was a one-on-one situation when he received a through-ball from Alireza Jahanbakhsh and found himself one-on-one with El Kajoui in the Morocco goal.

A poor first touch from Azmoun allowed the Moroccan keeper to dart off the line and make the save.

That was a fantastic chance for Iran, who were slowly clawing themselves into the game.

In the second half, Morocco had the majority of possession and could have scored with 10 minutes remaining but Iran keeper Beiranvand made a comfortable save to punch away Amine Harit’s shot.

Bouhaddouzm scored the only goal of the match in the dying moments of the game.

Iran, making their fifth appearance in the World Cup final, face Spain in Kazan on 20 June before meeting Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in Saransk five days later.

Reporting by Maoud Hossein