Morocco were clearly superior in the early stages, while Iran had a great chance to lead just before half-time. Due to the good positional play of the Iranians with their own weak offensive at the same time, the flow of the game was rather slow; Morocco had the only goal opportunity in the second half in the 80th minute. The decision was made by the first own goal of the tournament: After an Iranian free kick, substitute Bouhaddouz headed the ball into his own goal in an attempt to clear it.
Shortly after the start, Nacho owed a penalty with a foul on Cristiano Ronaldo, which he safely converted. The compensation for the Spaniards, who gradually found their way into the game, fell through a single action by Diego Costa, who first prevailed hard against Pepe, but without a foul in the opinion of the referee team, and then played off two other defenders before he finished to 1-1. Shortly afterwards, Isco shot the ball to the lower edge of the crossbar, from where it jumped onto the goal line. Spain dominated the game but fell behind again as goalkeeper de Gea could not intercept a shot from Cristiano Ronaldo and steered it into their own goal. After half-time, Diego Costa scored again from a free kick before Nacho gave the Spanish lead with a long-range shot. As a result, Portugal was barely able to develop a goal risk, but was equalized by a free kick that Cristiano Ronaldo converted directly.
In a heated game with many small interruptions, striker Diego Costa was able to overcome the Iranian defensive in the 54th minute. However, only with the help of opposing defender Rezaeian, who shot the Spanish striker while trying to clear a low pass from Iniesta, the ball then ricocheted off his knee and rolled over the line. A hit by the Iranian Ezatolahi a little later was not recognized after the use of video evidence because of a previous offside position.