Iran, who were solid in defense, conceded only following a fortuitous goal scored by Diego Costa in the 54th minute.

Iran midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi Afagh thought he had equalized, but his goal was ruled out for offside after the referee consulted the video assistant referee system.

“First of all I would like to congratulate my players for the wonderful fighting spirit against a candidate to win the World Cup… We deserved a better result. There is no doubt that Spain played wonderful stylish football, it is what they do, it is their responsibility to play like that, but I think we deserved more, we deserved much better during the game,” Queiroz told reporters at the post-match press conference.

Iran will face Portugal in their third and final game in the group stage on Monday.

 The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will continue until July 15, with the matches being played in 11 cities across Russia.