The

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

AFC– OFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and the losing team in the AFC play-off from the Asian qualifying tournament,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The games were played on 22 and 29 November 1997 in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

respectively. Australia was hoping to play in the FIFA World Cup for the first time since

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and Iran in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

Background

Play-off match

First leg

Prior to arrival in Tehran,

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (6 January 1943 – 25 November 2023), often referred to as El Tel, was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for E ...

and others involved in the Australian national team had made negative comments about Iran, stating it as being dangerous, and going so far as to bring their own drinking water for their stay. The first leg of the play-off, on 22 November 1997, took place in

, with the result a 1–1 draw. Attendance for this match was extremely high, as 128,000 fans packed

Azadi Stadium The Azadi Stadium (, ), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium (), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium was designed by Abdol Aziz Mirza Farman-Farmaian Architects and Associates (AFFA) with other parts of the sports comple ...

, despite it only having a capacity for 100,000 fans at the time.

Second leg

The second leg, held on 29 November at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

, had a crowd of 85,022. With Australia holding a 1–0 lead at half-time and scoring a second goal just after the break, it looked likely that they would progress to the World Cup. Immediately following Australia's second goal, spectator Peter Hore, known for disrupting major events, ran onto the field and cut up Iran's goal net, causing a halt in play. However, Australia's dominance continued until a controversial booking of

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian soccer coach, manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Yokohama F. Marinos in the J1 League. As a player, Kewell represented Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Liverpool ...

following a collision with Iranian goalkeeper Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh in the 72nd minute. This seemed to quell the Australians' momentum, as an Iranian revival, led by

Khodadad Azizi Khodadad Azizi (; born 22 June 1971) is an Iranian football coach and former player who played as a striker. Early life He lived in the Piranshahr neighborhood of Mashhad. As a child, he played soccer with mismatched pair of shoes and at the ...

, saw Iran score two quick goals to make the score 3–3 on aggregate, with Iran progressing on away goals. Despite being undefeated throughout their entire qualifying campaign, Australia had again failed to qualify for the World Cup finals. Along with host nation and eventual winner

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(who as host nation did not need to qualify), and

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

, Australia were one of three teams to not lose a game in the entire campaign. The broadcast of the game on SBS featured closing comments from a clearly distraught Les Murray and

Johnny Warren John Norman Warren, MBE, OAM (17 May 1943 – 6 November 2004) was an Australian soccer player, coach, administrator, writer and broadcaster. He was known as ''Captain Socceroo'' for his passionate work to promote the game in Australia. The a ...

, with Warren openly weeping on air. In 2000, coach

said the game was "one of the saddest sporting moments of my life."''The Mourning After'' documentary, SBS, 2000

References

External links

10th Anniversary of Melbourne Showdown
''IranSportsPress.com''
First legSecond leg
{{DEFAULTSORT:FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC-OFC play-off), 1998

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1997–98 in Australian men's soccer 1990s in Tehran 1990s in Melbourne November 1997 sports events in Australia November 1997 sports events in Asia International association football competitions hosted by Australia International association football competitions hosted by Iran Australia–Iran relations