SEOUL, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran lost to Portugal 2-1 on Saturday and failed to book a place in the knockout stage of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Iran opened the scoring just four minutes into the match when Reza Shekari found space at the near post to head in Ali Shojaei's corner kick for his third of the tournament.
Portugal were then forced to take the initiative in searching for a goal while Iran sat in a compact defensive posture. That was efffective until Diogo Goncalves scored a superb equalizer in the 54th minute. Portugal then created the majority of chances until in the 86th minute, they found the goal that kept their campaign alive.
Substitute Xande Silva's cross on the right wing deflected off Iran defender Nima Taheriand snuck into the far side of the net. Iran then created a couple of late chances, but Portugal held on to ensure their progession to the knockout stages.
The Iranian team had previously defeated Costa Rica 1-0 and lost to Zambia 4-2 in Group C.
Portugal will now face host South Korea in the Round of 16 on Tuesday in Cheonan.
