IRAN suffered defeat in their final warm-up game ahead of Monday’s opener against England with a behind-closed-doors clash with Tunisia.
Abulfazl Jalali was sent off for handling on the line in the 70th minute with Naim Sliti converting the resulting spot-kick.
Ali Abdi then netted with ten minutes to go to wrap up a 2-0 win in Doha for the Tunisians, who themselves begin their own World Cup campaign against Denmark on Tuesday.
No fans or media were permitted entry in what was a glorified training session, with the game not being an official tier one friendly meaning no ranking points were at stake.
But Iran boss Carlos Queiroz was happy to see some of his European-based players get some action, including ex-Brighton forward Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Brentford’s Saman Ghoddos.