By Algeria and Austria knew that a pedestrian draw Saturday night would have sent both to the knockout round of the World Cup.
In the wildest finish of the group stage, Algeria took the lead in stoppage time only for Austria to answer on the final play of the game, making it a win-win result for those teams and a heartbreaking loss for Iran, which was eliminated from the tournament.
“I’ve been a coach for about 40 years. I don’t remember a game that had such a dramatic course, and such an unexpected trajectory,” Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said, shaking his head. “Even at the beginning of the match, if someone would have said it would be 3-3, nobody would have believed it. Somebody would have won an incredible bet, I guess.”
