World Cup highlights: Saudi Arabia miss out on shock as Iran produce crucial fightback

[p][a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4F8GT47ys5FB1R06txnaT0?si=pF-1m6bhRX-CUM_S4JVeaw"][b]Listen to this article on Spotify here.[/b][/a][/p][p][i][b]Flashscore[/b][/i] brings you the best of the tournament in our daily World Cup highlights throughout the competition, so you don’t miss anything important.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/soccer-world-championship-world-cup-highlights-diallo-strikes-goal-for-ivory-coast-as-sweden-revel-in-striking-duo/Qu3L3YvC/"]Catch up with day five right here.[/a][/p][h2]The headlines[/h2][p]The biggest story of the day came early on, where European champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] were held to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/cape-verde-MocyWdm7/spain-bLyo6mco/?mid=Iiqjm5Pq"]a 0-0 draw[/a] by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cape-verde/MocyWdm7/"]Cape Verde[/a]. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vozinha/Q9F1vw7H/"]Vozinha[/a] (more on him later) was instrumental for the islanders in goal, as he kept a clean sheet for a historic point on their World Cup debut.[/p][p]That opened up Group H for both [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/saudi-arabia/biSY8ox4/"]Saudi Arabia[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/uruguay/xMk44orG/"]Uruguay[/a]; however, the pair played out an enthralling [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/saudi-arabia-biSY8ox4/uruguay-xMk44orG/?mid=Olnboqfd"]1-1 draw[/a] in Miami. Saudi Arabia, who famously beat eventual World Cup winners [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/argentina/f9OppQjp/"]Argentina[/a] four years ago, smelt another South American scalp after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/al-amri-abdulelah/rZSEa8BL/"]Abdulelah Al Amri[/a] poked home the opener, only for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/araujo-maximiliano/4UXCOm0L/"]Maxi Araujo[/a] to salvage a point for Uruguay late on.[/p][p]The other two games of the day came from Group G. The two heavy hitters, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/egypt/bejDn7NN/"]Egypt[/a], met in Seattle, and it was the Pharaohs who struck first through Emam Ashour. Belgium huffed and puffed through much of the contest and needed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lukaku-romelu/dCkG0Iw0/"]Romelu Lukaku[/a] to come off the bench to help them earn [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/belgium-GbB957na/egypt-bejDn7NN/?mid=dG7zgzd5"]a 1-1 draw.[/a] His run into the box forced Egypt's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hany-mohamed/nyIZP4tk/"]Mohamed Hany[/a] to turn the ball into his own net.[/p][p]That left the chance for either [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/rLctHkpU/"]New Zealand[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/iran/xrRx85iA/"]Iran[/a] to top the group by the end of the day as they met in Los Angeles.[/p][p]New Zealand [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/iran-xrRx85iA/new-zealand-rLctHkpU/?mid=4tBriEQH"]took the lead twice[/a], both goals coming from Elijah Just, but Iran were valiant in front of a partisan crowd to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/iran-xrRx85iA/new-zealand-rLctHkpU/?mid=4tBriEQH"]level on both occasions[/a], meaning every team in the group goes into the second matchday with one point.[/p][embed guid="d05f0668-7acc-4b94-bc94-92aea473daad" url="https://x.com/Flashscorecom/status/2066719375906803760" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Goal of the day[/h2][p]You'd be forgiven for believing that when Egypt scored against Belgium, it would be [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marmoush-omar/44pYRYIC/"]Omar Marmoush[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salah-mohamed/08FBycgB/"]Mohamed Salah[/a] with a pearler, but another name took the spotlight in Seattle.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ashour-emam/fuSVhCZ5/"]Emam Ashour[/a] has been a star in Egypt's domestic league over the last few years, and has now shown the world what he is capable of on the world stage.[/p][p]Fed by Salah, the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/al-ahly/EPsYDm4A/"]Al Ahly[/a] midfielder received the ball on his right foot, before cannoning an effort past [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/courtois-thibaut/MVExOq3n/"]Thibaut Courtois[/a] to open the scoring against Belgium.[/p][image alt="Emam Ashour's goal against Belgium" id="afda2af5-f548-44f8-a55a-6fbac92968ac" credit-line="Agustin Marcarian / Reuters / Opta by StatsPerform" guid="32283321-a926-45ad-be58-4fb680891b54" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]His celebration gave a sense of nonchalance, interrupted by an unceremonious shove to the floor from Ziko - not that he was too bothered by it.[/p][h2]Player of the day[/h2][p]We had to wait until late in the day, but Iran's 36-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rezaeian-ramin/0GXvoGYk/"]Ramin Rezaeian[/a] produced one of the games of his life to see his Iran remain unbeaten at this World Cup.[/p][p]The right-back turned into a poacher for Iran's first goal before setting up the second, allowing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mohebi-mohammad/ttQWrPvN/"]Mohammad Mohebi[/a] to level for the second time for Iran.[/p][image alt="Ramin Rezaeian's heat map against New Zealand" id="6af9b124-9aa8-4b35-a887-4953bb64f1d6" credit-line="Matthew Childs / Reuters" guid="05a6728b-b0d0-4cce-9f3e-efbc2f8d3876" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The goal and the assist helped him earn a 9.0 rating using Flashscore's new-and-improved ratings system, but his defensive work was also valuable.[/p][p]He won eight of his nine duels against New Zealand's attackers, whilst showing his creative force with eight of 10 accurate passes into the final third.[/p][h2]Best of social media[/h2][p]Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha started the day with 46,000 Instagram followers, but by the end of it, that number had skyrocketed well into the millions.[/p][p]It's been a long journey of sweat and toil to reach the World Cup for the keeper. He has played in Cyprus, Slovakia and Portugal, amongst others, in a career that has featured it all, but his performance against Spain may just be his best.[/p][image alt="Vozinha's performance against Spain" id="59a80cc7-30b7-41eb-ae15-9f14c59f279f" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters / Brett Davis" guid="796a7c5d-aab7-48a1-9907-3799a66892e6" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The enormity of this tournament and his performance was seen afterwards, when his following had reached north of five million.[/p][embed guid="ff7e7e4f-2de2-4506-8c7e-d43696521343" url="https://x.com/AtaqueFutbolero/status/2066597176399073408" social-type="twitter" /][p]On air, during the post-match press conferences, he was shown the new count - then just a 'meagre' two million - and his reaction was priceless.[/p][p]Brand deals should be incoming for the World Cup's newest cult hero.[/p][p]The biggest shame for him was that his mother could not be there to witness it. In a post-match interview, he said that she was not able to join him in the USA due to visa costs - a heartbreaking admission and a telling reminder that this edition of the World Cup was not made for everyone.[/p][p]Want to know more about his story? [i][b]Flashscore[/b][/i]'s Anna Carreau has all [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/soccer-world-championship-who-is-vozinha-the-cape-verde-goalkeeper-who-single-handedly-stopped-spain/ptpnT3gn/"]the details.[/a][/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]