Iraq 2-1 United Arab Emirates (3-2 on aggregate)
Iraq goals: Mohanad Ali (66), Al-Ammari (90+17 pen)
United Arab Emirates goal: Caio (52)
Amir Al-Ammari scored the latest of late penalties to send Iraq to the FIFA Play-Off Tournament with a 3-2 aggregate victory over United Arab Emirates on a night of incredible drama in Basra.
A tense and fraught AFC round five second leg clash had already seen 10 added minutes played when Iraq were awarded a late corner, which struck the hand of the unfortunate Yahia Nader, with the referee eventually pointing to the spot following a lengthy VAR review.
With emotions high and so much at stake for both teams, Al-Ammari was the calmest man in the stadium as he slotted into the top corner to give Khalid Eisa no chance.
Iraq had almost gifted the visitors an early advantage when some slack play between Akam Hashim and goalkeeper Jalal Hassan allowed Bruno to steal in, only to see the ball fly just wide of the goal.
Opposite number and fellow captain Eisa was called into action soon after, showing good awareness to palm the ball out from under his own crossbar following a wicked curling corner from Ali Jasim on the left flank.
The deadlock was broken early in the second half when a superb run from Nader saw him break the shackles of the Iraq midfield and bear down on the home defence before releasing Caio, who set himself with one touch before finishing superbly with his second.
Nicolas Gimenez was inches away from adding a second almost immediately when he unleashed a vicious shot from outside the box which beat Hassan all ends up, but crashed back off the crossbar.
Iraq coach Graham Arnold turned to his bench, sending on Mohanad Ali, and was rewarded almost immediately as the No10 caused chaos on the box following Amir Al-Ammari’s swerving free-kick from the left, with the ball deflecting home off the unfortunate Nader.
Ali had a chance to put Iraq in front, but a heavy touch allowed Eisa to make the save, with play immediately switching to the other end of the field where Ciao found the net from an acute angle, only for his celebrations to be immediately ended by the offside flag as he had strayed beyond the last defender.
Then came the astonishing late drama, which means the Lions of Mesopotamia now progress to the FIFA Play-Off Tournament in March, alongside New Caledonia, Bolivia, Congo DR and two Concacaf nations, with the final two tickets to the World Cup up for grabs via that competition.
